2024-2025 Show Season

[RossAcres]

I'm going to use this thread to post my show experiences and wins this fall. I will be posting where I'm showing, what I'm showing, and my thoughts throughout the process.

Fall show season officially starts tomorrow! It's the "Davey Classic" in Lawrenceburg, TN. It's technically a fair show, BUT it's ABA and APA sanctioned just like a normal show. This means it will be judged by licensed judges and points will be up for grabs. It is also a double show, which means there will be two judges going over the same birds at different times. This means double points and different winners. The entry fee is $6 per bird, but that covers both shows. So it's technically $3 per bird, per show. This is the normal cost for a double show.

I have entered the following birds:

• Buff Duck Young Drake
• White Call Duck Old Drake
• White Call Duck Hen
• Gray Call Duck Young Drake
• White Bantam Wyandotte Cockerel
• White Bantam Wyandotte Pullet

This will be my first time showing the Buff Duck drake. I have never shown any breed larger than a bantam. I am a little nervous, but I know he will be too. I am hoping he does well, not awards-wise, but mentally. I hope that the show helps him calm down for the future shows.
I have read my standard and still feel a little iffy on my understanding of it. This is why some judges disagree on show winners. The wording in the standard makes it subjective, which is the fuel for the debate fire. Even better, the latest APA standard has so many flaws in it that they have rewritten the entire thing and are issuing replacements for anyone that bought one. I plan on keeping mine solely for the value it holds as the biggest mistake the APA has made.

I will also be showing the white Wyandotte cockerel. He's a great bird. Wide head, tail angle is good, great comb shape. But he's missing two toenails. I have been wondering what caused it for months now. Frostbite? Genetics? Freak incubator accident? I didn't hatch him myself, I bought him as a baby. So I had no idea what happened. Until... I saw the breeder post a picture of another white male that he hatched. He was talking about how great the cockerel looked except for the missing toenail. Side note: For every toenail missing, 1 point is deducted from the final judgement. I read the comments under the picture and found out that the cages he uses to grow out his birds is the reason for a few having missing toes. That's good news for me. That means I don't have to worry about it being a genetic thing that could be passed down. Anyway, I'm showing him regardless of the 2 missing toenails. I want to see what the 2 judges think about him otherwise. It may be that they don't even notice it lol. But I know at least one of the judges and he definitely wont miss it.

The show is about 2 hours from me, so I won't be staying in a hotel the night before. I am hopefully going to wake up around 5 am and be on the road by 6 am. I will be grabbing the birds that are being shown tonight, that way I can just leave straight from the house in the morning. (If you are confused, my birds stay on a seperate property) I am excited for the new show and showing large fowl for the first time. Now I just need to strategize how I am going to clip the large duck's nails with one arm holding him and the other clipping

 

[Debbie292d]

You could also make your own page in the https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/pictures-stories-of-my-chickens.39/ forum.

Regardless, it's interesting!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I'm going to use this thread to post my show experiences and wins this fall. I will be posting where I'm showing, what I'm showing, and my thoughts throughout the process.

Fall show season officially starts tomorrow! It's the "Davey Classic" in Lawrenceburg, TN. It's technically a fair show, BUT it's ABA and APA sanctioned just like a normal show. This means it will be judged by licensed judges and points will be up for grabs. It is also a double show, which means there will be two judges going over the same birds at different times. This means double points and different winners. The entry fee is $6 per bird, but that covers both shows. So it's technically $3 per bird, per show. This is the normal cost for a double show.

I have entered the following birds:

• Buff Duck Young Drake
• White Call Duck Old Drake
• White Call Duck Hen
• Gray Call Duck Young Drake
• White Bantam Wyandotte Cockerel
• White Bantam Wyandotte Pullet

This will be my first time showing the Buff Duck drake. I have never shown any breed larger than a bantam. I am a little nervous, but I know he will be too. I am hoping he does well, not awards-wise, but mentally. I hope that the show helps him calm down for the future shows.
I have read my standard and still feel a little iffy on my understanding of it. This is why some judges disagree on show winners. The wording in the standard makes it subjective, which is the fuel for the debate fire. Even better, the latest APA standard has so many flaws in it that they have rewritten the entire thing and are issuing replacements for anyone that bought one. I plan on keeping mine solely for the value it holds as the biggest mistake the APA has made.

I will also be showing the white Wyandotte cockerel. He's a great bird. Wide head, tail angle is good, great comb shape. But he's missing two toenails. I have been wondering what caused it for months now. Frostbite? Genetics? Freak incubator accident? I didn't hatch him myself, I bought him as a baby. So I had no idea what happened. Until... I saw the breeder post a picture of another white male that he hatched. He was talking about how great the cockerel looked except for the missing toenail. Side note: For every toenail missing, 1 point is deducted from the final judgement. I read the comments under the picture and found out that the cages he uses to grow out his birds is the reason for a few having missing toes. That's good news for me. That means I don't have to worry about it being a genetic thing that could be passed down. Anyway, I'm showing him regardless of the 2 missing toenails. I want to see what the 2 judges think about him otherwise. It may be that they don't even notice it lol. But I know at least one of the judges and he definitely wont miss it.

The show is about 2 hours from me, so I won't be staying in a hotel the night before. I am hopefully going to wake up around 5 am and be on the road by 6 am. I will be grabbing the birds that are being shown tonight, that way I can just leave straight from the house in the morning. (If you are confused, my birds stay on a seperate property) I am excited for the new show and showing large fowl for the first time. Now I just need to strategize how I am going to clip the large duck's nails with one arm holding him and the other clipping

Would you like me to try and get photos of how I handle my large ducks by myself for nail clipping?

 

[RossAcres]

Would you like me to try and get photos of how I handle my large ducks by myself for nail clipping?

Yes! That would be very helpful!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Yes! That would be very helpful!

Okay, I'll try to grab one of my larger ones today.

 

[BantyChooks]

Even better, the latest APA standard has so many flaws in it that they have rewritten the entire thing and are issuing replacements for anyone that bought one. I plan on keeping mine solely for the value it holds as the biggest mistake the APA has made.

Glad I got the 44th. I sent in a few emails to relevant persons a year or so ago with some errors to fix in the next edition... sad to hear it was poorly done.

 

[RossAcres]

Glad I got the 44th. I sent in a few emails to relevant persons a year or so ago with some errors to fix in the next edition... sad to hear it was poorly done.

Luckily they are offering to replace it with the new edited version. They fired everyone that allowed the 45th to come out that bad.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

What kinds of errors? I think mines the 44th, I've had it a few years now

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Yes! That would be very helpful!

My older ones are growing wise to my catching methods, so Potato is our lovely volunteer for today.

You'll need both hands to catch the bird originally, so put your tools where you want to be (I find a dry, flat piece of ground and just go on my elbows and knees. You might want a towel so you don't get them dirty or ruin their chest feathers if they decide to try and move) and then grab the duck. I fill a feed bowl and just grab them when they first start eating. Bring them over to your tools, and gently pull the legs behind so they're resting on their stomach. Unlike chickens, they don't really use their wings to try and escape unless they're really panicked, they just rest there and complain.

It looks uncomfortable, but Potato didn't seem to mind apart from being mad I was messing with him. Hold enough that they can't pull away and they generally stop trying after a few kicks don't get anywhere.

Use a finger (I have tiny hands so I have to use my middle just to reach enough) to curl the toes of one foot so the nails are pointing up. Helps to see the quicks a bit easier, I've learned. I forgot to take a picture of the dewclaws, you just put your thumb between the foot and the back toe to lift it up amd snip.

Repeat with the second foot, usually you'll have to set the clippers down and readjust your hold a bit. This is when I tend to have escapees if I do.

Lifted his legs a bit more than intended with this shot, but he still didnt make a single complaint. You can see how my pinky is curved to lift up the foot enough to get the nails where I want them.

I hold them the same way when trimming wings, just plop them down, spread the wing, put your foot between the wing and body and snip snip. Takes like 3 minutes a bird tops once you figure out how to do it comfortably