My First Poultry Show

I went to my first poultry show two Saturdays ago. It was held at the Texas A&M Livestock Pavilion in College Station, about two hours away from me. What a beautiful (although kind of deserted) ride…I’ll have to do it again sometime soon to explore some of the little towns along the way.

So, I arrive at this pavilion, which is uber-muddy and lacking parking. Not the kind of place you bring a new car to park…especially when you might pick up a new passenger. (More on that later on.)

I enter and it’s like my backyard x 10,000!!!! There’s crowing and cooing and bawk bawking everywhere, along with lots of stinky screeching geese. Geese freak me out. I got bitten by a couple as a kid feeding them and I’ve always been shy of them since. This is the same person that hugs 14 pound roosters. 🙂

Those are Silkie chickens in the immediate foreground. They freak me out too. Their fur is like a cat, they’ve got alien faces, and in my opinion, they smell funny. (I sniff things, I’m very scent-oriented.) Sweet chickens, except I just can’t get all crazed about them like other people do. Did you know their bones are BLACK? Here is an article about it if it strikes your fancy…just don’t forget to come back and read the rest of my entry 😦 lol

There were tons of my favorite chickens, the Barred Rock. I love this one’s “I’m so smug, I’m a fat chicken” look. 🙂 I’ve never seen a Barred Rock Rooster before…those have to be some of the hugest I’ve ever seen!

Barred Rock Rooster

Speaking of which, there were lots of roosters getting into snits with each other, which I thought was hilarious. These two were relentless. Anytime one settled down, the other would start in, and this went on the entire time I was there. It’s like one wanted the last word and the other one would have none of that.

I also learned two things from this show…

Thing I Learned #1 — My Black Copper Marans Rooster is NOT a full-blooded BCM. He would have been disqualified for having “bare legs” instead of feathered legs. I also figured out he’s 1/2 Australorp. He’s also 2x the size of the breed.

A real Black Copper Marans. (Image links back to owner of image. I do not claim any credit for this image.)

My Black Copper Marans/Black Australorp hybrid rooster, Mr. Roasty. I think he’s prettier than “full blooded” Black Copper Marans. 

Thing I Learned #2 — My chicken’s eggs are probably not show-quality….they’re too round. They want pinchy-ended eggs. I guess that means chickens need to have tight little pinchy tushies for the pinchy eggs to come out of.  😛 Mine just lay around complaining like pre-menstrual middle schoolers and the rooster looks on in concern like they’ve never brought a freaking egg into the world. 🙂

Huevos of Glory.

This was one of the egg judges. I didn’t get a chance to talk to her, but she was passionate about eggs. 

So, my dad brought home a friend. The guy wanted him gone, and he was 5 bucks. My dad named him “Chuck.” Chuck is a BIG SWEETIE. For some reason, he loves to cuddle up to my father, so he became my dad’s “pet rooster.” Doesn’t my dad look like Walter White from “Breaking Bad?” bwahahaha

(Well in all seriousness, he’s had Class 4 heart failure since 2005, his kidneys failed, and most of his hair fell out so he just keeps it shaved off now 😦 )

Bad news: we took a new car, and Chuck didn’t come with a box. We didn’t bring a box. So, we decided to wing it and just stick him in the backseat and pray. On the 2 hour drive back, he stayed in his seat, looked out the window, and didn’t need to poop once. Better than most 4 year old children. LOL

He’s settled in beautifully. Chuck is a Black Australorp rooster. Mr. Roasty REALLY likes him…we were stunned. He kind of let him take over managing the flock so he can chill. But more photos/stories about this later! 🙂