Rural Gardening: Anyone know how to show poultry? , 1 by silkiechick

silkiechick wrote:
i show here in pa and in ny in both sanctioned and unsanctioned open shows. each state requires different things as well as depending on if it is a sanctioned or unsactioned show or if the show is state funded or not. sactioned shows go strictly by apa and aba rules and regulations and r alot harder and stricter usually there is about 3-5 liceansed judges depending on how big the show is. the judge will take ur birds out and examine them, some birds r weighed on scales and such. where as the others like local fairs r usually unsanctioned and more leaniant with only one not liceansed judge and apa and aba is used as guidlines they don't have to follow the rules to a t and usually birds r left cooped and just looked over when judged.

when i show in ny i only need perminant #'ed leg band on each bird and a negative testing for pollorum so many days prior to ea show. here in pa they r alot stricter, i have to have ai and pt testing both so many days prior to the opening of each show and they must be vaccinated for ILT along with a permanant #'ed leg band. i am a pa liceancesed poultry tech so i do the bloodwork for my flock as well as for other exhibitors/farmers in the area among other things also. i take the bloodwork to our ag lab to have it tested then they email me the results as well as the exhibitors. every bird i draw blood on i have to put a pa dept of ag perminant id band on so that their paper work matches who is entering that bird and id #. we also have to do an owner verification form also for the show listing bird, id #, description ect. in pa the birds have to be 4mths or older to take their blood on them for testing.

tx is one of the more stricter states with disease control so definately check to make sure ur state doesn't require any bloodwork or vaccines before entering. i have never had to give my ss# to exhibit and i definately would leave that blank they have no reason to ask for it. a trio is a male and 2 females and a quad would be 1 male/3 females or 2 pair i can't remember. cockeral is a rooster under 1 year old, and cock is one over a year, pullet is one under a year old and hen is one over a year old. the part that said old or young should be for turkeys they go by young tom old tom ect. the # can be even a plastic id band with a # on it doesn't have to be alluminum ones like i have to use unless ur state is like ours and the id has to match ur paperwork. i also see their is an entry deadline by aug 19th if u didn't register them before that they can't be shown. i'm not sure if it is a sanctioned show or not their rules r basically the same as r but look more legal written there is info missing like premium prices and such if it was their i could answer that one better and it doesn't say anything about apa and aba going just by what i see i'd say it is an open not sactioned show though.

i have shown many breeds over the years but the ones i liked best that i only show now r silkies, showgirls, polish and welsummers. there is many things that can dq a silkie they can be very hard to work with but showing is loads of fun and an awesome adventure! i like it cause it shows me as a breeder how i have improved my lines or what i need to work on to do better with them but most importantly i do it for fun for mike and i and our 5 kid's. i hope u do get the chance to show i'm sure u will love and enjoy it as much as me and my family do.

if u need any other help just ask,
silkie