Tulbagh Agricultural Show 2024,
by a spectator who knows little to nothing about poultry shows.
This year the annual ‘Tulbagh Skou’ was held from the 19th to the 22nd September 2024, at the showgrounds in the picturesque town of Tulbagh in the Western Cape of South Africa. The peaceful Tulbagh valley is home to wine and olive farms, amongst others, and the surrounding mountains make for beautiful backdrops to stunning country life scenery.
Caption - Left: Tulbagh in the winter time. Right: at the Tulbagh Agricultural Show 2024.
The show’s main attractions were the competition show horses, some of which were bred in the Tulbagh valley, but what drew me to the event were the chickens! …as well as the reasonable entry fee. The ‘Wes-Kaap Pluimveeklub’ (Western Cape Poultry Club) put on a show in a dedicated poultry hall within the showgrounds. The judging of the poultry took place on the first two days of the event, Thursday and Friday; and we attended on the Saturday, taking us a little over an hour to drive there by car.
Caption - Left: ‘Pluimveer Saal’, the dedicated poultry hall in the Tulbagh showgrounds. Right: inside the poultry hall.
I have only ever been to one other poultry show before and that was an extremely lively and noisy affair held in Worcester, with all the roosters at that show, large and small, competing for sound supremacy, so I was ever-so-slightly dissatisfied by what greeted me as I walked into this show’s somewhat sombre poultry hall, but that dissatisfaction soon evaporated once I got to interact with these seemly more docile chickens than the ones seen (and heard!) at the previous poultry show I attended.
Caption - Left: myself at my first poultry show held in Worcester. Right: inside the show hall in Worcester.
The first two chickens to catch my eye were two very large roosters standing with their feet apart and their chests puffed out, like sentinels standing watch over the proceedings. They both did not seem to be phased by the visitors bustling by. I think if they could speak, they would have said something like, “Keep moving on, yes, in an orderly fashion, if you will.”
Caption - The two sentinels.
The sentinel rooster that was on the left is a Brahma breed in a ‘Buff Blue Columbian’ colour, owned by the Schmidt family. This cockerel, under 12 months of age, won ‘Beste in Kleur’ (Best in Colour) as well as a rosette for ‘2nd Best in Breed’.
Caption - Left and right: Brahma rooster in ‘Buff Blue Columbian’. Note his amazing eye pattern and colour.
The next chicken that caught my attention was a plucky little Old English Game cockerel owned by Johannes Botha. This cockerel is a tiny thing, yet alert and spunky. I liked him a lot. He won ‘Beste in Kleur’ (Best in Colour) which is Blue Red. And next to him was a delightful little hen of the same breed, also owned by Johannes Botha, and also a winner of ‘Beste in Kleur’ (Best in Colour), for a Wheaten colour.
Caption - Left: Old English Game cockerel. Right: Old English Game hen.
On the opposite side of the aisle to the two little Old English Game chickens was a cock who just wanted to sleeeeep. When I first set eyes on him, he had his head leaning against a bar on the front of his pen. When I tried to take a photograph of him, he opened his one eye and gave me a look that said, ‘Gone fishing. Will be back later. Now go away.’ Well, being a champion must be hard work because he went right back to sleep, since he won ‘Beste in Kleur’ (Best in Colour), Blue, and came in first for the Cochin breed, winning a rosette for ‘Best in Breed’. He is also owned by the Schmidt family. He was not the only one ‘snoring’, for a few pens over, between the Jersey Giants and the Orpingtons was another sleeping rooster. This one did not open his eyes to see the camera pointing at him; not even opening them a crack.
Caption - Left: sleeping Cochin. Right: ‘Sleeping Giant’ not sure of the breed, but could be a Jersey Giant.
Further along the line to the Old English Game chickens was a friendly little fella who was very interested in my camera and kept pecking at it, thus not stepping back to let me take a full-length uninterrupted photograph of his interesting plumage. Only when I inspected my photographs on a computer screen did I see that I had managed to accidentally capture his full figure, but the image shows wire bars in front of him and is of poor quality, for which I apologise. He is a Modern Game cockerel owned by the Schmidt family, and he won ‘Beste in Kleur’ (Best in Colour), Black Breasted Black Red, as well as won a rosette for ‘Best in Breed’. He was friendly and adorable; and I could have easily been persuaded to take him home, had anyone asked.
[Oh My Hat! While I am typing this at my desk, I just heard a Fish Eagle calling from overhead. Anyhow, back to the article…]
Caption - Left and right: the Modern Game cockerel.
Then I found the show favourite unobtrusively in the back corner of the hall. An Orpington pullet, under 12 months of age, owned by Michael Chapman. She won ‘Beste in Kleur’ (Best in Colour), Black; a rosette for ‘Best in Breed’; and a BIG rosette for ‘Beste Sagteveer Grootras’ which directly translates from Afrikaans to Best Soft Feather Big Breed. After I had gone a few steps past her pen, her owner came, along with his family, to check in on her. I could tell that the whole family were very proud, as they stood to have photographs taken next to her pen. Later in the day, I unexpectedly was fortunate to have a charming chat with the lovely mother of that family and she informed me that this was only the second time they had entered a poultry show, having won the grand award of having the best chicken at the first show. What an achievement for new comers to showing poultry! Well done.
Caption - Left and right: Orpington pullet, the show favourite.
My personal favourite on show, in the pen alongside the grand winner and also owned by Michael Chapman, was a very friendly Orpington hen. She stole my heart with her sweet personality. She was trying to get some feed that was out of her reach in front of her pen. I pushed some of the grains towards her with my finger and she happily pecked away at it in a satisfied manner.
It was somewhere at this point that the hall became a little busy with people crowding down the narrow aisles, so I was unable to stop and take photographs at will without causing congestion. I then moved through the rest of the poultry relatively quickly, but I did stop to see two chickens who were clearly enthralled by one another. Their pens were each facing different aisles but were back-to-back with just wire bars between them, so they could see each other. I do not know if they are a breeding pair, as I only noted the hen’s information sheet, which was on the front of her pen facing the aisle I was in. She is a Langshan, Deutsche/Modern, owned by the Schmidt family; and she won ‘Beste in Kluer’ (Best in Colour), Black, and ‘Best in Breed’.
Caption - Left: my personal show favourite, a sweet Orpington. Right: two chickens enthralled with each other.
For me the strangest looking chicken on show was a Rumpless/Persian hen owned by the Schmidt family. She had ‘DQ’ scribed in handwriting on her printed information sheet. I can only but wonder why she was disqualified as no explanation was given. Another strange, but not too strange, looking chicken was a Frizzle/Strupphuhn cock owned by the Schmidt family. It won ‘Beste in Kluer’ (Best in Colour), being Black Red.
Caption - Left: the strange Rumpless/Persian hen. Right: Frizzled for sure.
I found the Phoenix and Onagadori cock, owned by the Schmidt family, to be the most exquisite looking bird on show. His colour is ‘Silver Duckwing’ for which he won ‘Beste in Kleur’ (Best in Colour) and he also received the rosette for ‘Best in Breed’.
Caption - Left and Right: the beautiful Phoenix.
You may have noticed that the chickens that I have selected to be in this writeup are only the ones that had grabbed my attention on the day or that I personally found noteworthy, but they are just a few of the many fine chickens and poultry breeds, including ducks, that were on display at the show. On a whole this poultry show atmosphere felt relaxed, enjoyable and family friendly. If I may, the one thing that I felt was missing was an easily identifiable and approachable person from the club to ask poultry related questions of, but I am assuming that perhaps this show was not big enough to warrant it, which to a degree is understandable; or perhaps the person did not make themself visible enough? The important thing was that there WAS a show for me to attend, and get my “chicken fix”, at an affordable price, so thank you to the Tulbagh Show organisers and the ‘Wes-Kaap Pluimveeklub’ (Western Cape Poultry Club) for putting the chickens on display for the public to view. I left the show with a smile on my face and feeling happy.
[All the images taken and owned by me.]
by a spectator who knows little to nothing about poultry shows.
This year the annual ‘Tulbagh Skou’ was held from the 19th to the 22nd September 2024, at the showgrounds in the picturesque town of Tulbagh in the Western Cape of South Africa. The peaceful Tulbagh valley is home to wine and olive farms, amongst others, and the surrounding mountains make for beautiful backdrops to stunning country life scenery.
The show’s main attractions were the competition show horses, some of which were bred in the Tulbagh valley, but what drew me to the event were the chickens! …as well as the reasonable entry fee. The ‘Wes-Kaap Pluimveeklub’ (Western Cape Poultry Club) put on a show in a dedicated poultry hall within the showgrounds. The judging of the poultry took place on the first two days of the event, Thursday and Friday; and we attended on the Saturday, taking us a little over an hour to drive there by car.
I have only ever been to one other poultry show before and that was an extremely lively and noisy affair held in Worcester, with all the roosters at that show, large and small, competing for sound supremacy, so I was ever-so-slightly dissatisfied by what greeted me as I walked into this show’s somewhat sombre poultry hall, but that dissatisfaction soon evaporated once I got to interact with these seemly more docile chickens than the ones seen (and heard!) at the previous poultry show I attended.
The first two chickens to catch my eye were two very large roosters standing with their feet apart and their chests puffed out, like sentinels standing watch over the proceedings. They both did not seem to be phased by the visitors bustling by. I think if they could speak, they would have said something like, “Keep moving on, yes, in an orderly fashion, if you will.”
The sentinel rooster that was on the left is a Brahma breed in a ‘Buff Blue Columbian’ colour, owned by the Schmidt family. This cockerel, under 12 months of age, won ‘Beste in Kleur’ (Best in Colour) as well as a rosette for ‘2nd Best in Breed’.
The next chicken that caught my attention was a plucky little Old English Game cockerel owned by Johannes Botha. This cockerel is a tiny thing, yet alert and spunky. I liked him a lot. He won ‘Beste in Kleur’ (Best in Colour) which is Blue Red. And next to him was a delightful little hen of the same breed, also owned by Johannes Botha, and also a winner of ‘Beste in Kleur’ (Best in Colour), for a Wheaten colour.
On the opposite side of the aisle to the two little Old English Game chickens was a cock who just wanted to sleeeeep. When I first set eyes on him, he had his head leaning against a bar on the front of his pen. When I tried to take a photograph of him, he opened his one eye and gave me a look that said, ‘Gone fishing. Will be back later. Now go away.’ Well, being a champion must be hard work because he went right back to sleep, since he won ‘Beste in Kleur’ (Best in Colour), Blue, and came in first for the Cochin breed, winning a rosette for ‘Best in Breed’. He is also owned by the Schmidt family. He was not the only one ‘snoring’, for a few pens over, between the Jersey Giants and the Orpingtons was another sleeping rooster. This one did not open his eyes to see the camera pointing at him; not even opening them a crack.
Further along the line to the Old English Game chickens was a friendly little fella who was very interested in my camera and kept pecking at it, thus not stepping back to let me take a full-length uninterrupted photograph of his interesting plumage. Only when I inspected my photographs on a computer screen did I see that I had managed to accidentally capture his full figure, but the image shows wire bars in front of him and is of poor quality, for which I apologise. He is a Modern Game cockerel owned by the Schmidt family, and he won ‘Beste in Kleur’ (Best in Colour), Black Breasted Black Red, as well as won a rosette for ‘Best in Breed’. He was friendly and adorable; and I could have easily been persuaded to take him home, had anyone asked.
[Oh My Hat! While I am typing this at my desk, I just heard a Fish Eagle calling from overhead. Anyhow, back to the article…]
Then I found the show favourite unobtrusively in the back corner of the hall. An Orpington pullet, under 12 months of age, owned by Michael Chapman. She won ‘Beste in Kleur’ (Best in Colour), Black; a rosette for ‘Best in Breed’; and a BIG rosette for ‘Beste Sagteveer Grootras’ which directly translates from Afrikaans to Best Soft Feather Big Breed. After I had gone a few steps past her pen, her owner came, along with his family, to check in on her. I could tell that the whole family were very proud, as they stood to have photographs taken next to her pen. Later in the day, I unexpectedly was fortunate to have a charming chat with the lovely mother of that family and she informed me that this was only the second time they had entered a poultry show, having won the grand award of having the best chicken at the first show. What an achievement for new comers to showing poultry! Well done.
My personal favourite on show, in the pen alongside the grand winner and also owned by Michael Chapman, was a very friendly Orpington hen. She stole my heart with her sweet personality. She was trying to get some feed that was out of her reach in front of her pen. I pushed some of the grains towards her with my finger and she happily pecked away at it in a satisfied manner.
It was somewhere at this point that the hall became a little busy with people crowding down the narrow aisles, so I was unable to stop and take photographs at will without causing congestion. I then moved through the rest of the poultry relatively quickly, but I did stop to see two chickens who were clearly enthralled by one another. Their pens were each facing different aisles but were back-to-back with just wire bars between them, so they could see each other. I do not know if they are a breeding pair, as I only noted the hen’s information sheet, which was on the front of her pen facing the aisle I was in. She is a Langshan, Deutsche/Modern, owned by the Schmidt family; and she won ‘Beste in Kluer’ (Best in Colour), Black, and ‘Best in Breed’.
For me the strangest looking chicken on show was a Rumpless/Persian hen owned by the Schmidt family. She had ‘DQ’ scribed in handwriting on her printed information sheet. I can only but wonder why she was disqualified as no explanation was given. Another strange, but not too strange, looking chicken was a Frizzle/Strupphuhn cock owned by the Schmidt family. It won ‘Beste in Kluer’ (Best in Colour), being Black Red.
I found the Phoenix and Onagadori cock, owned by the Schmidt family, to be the most exquisite looking bird on show. His colour is ‘Silver Duckwing’ for which he won ‘Beste in Kleur’ (Best in Colour) and he also received the rosette for ‘Best in Breed’.
You may have noticed that the chickens that I have selected to be in this writeup are only the ones that had grabbed my attention on the day or that I personally found noteworthy, but they are just a few of the many fine chickens and poultry breeds, including ducks, that were on display at the show. On a whole this poultry show atmosphere felt relaxed, enjoyable and family friendly. If I may, the one thing that I felt was missing was an easily identifiable and approachable person from the club to ask poultry related questions of, but I am assuming that perhaps this show was not big enough to warrant it, which to a degree is understandable; or perhaps the person did not make themself visible enough? The important thing was that there WAS a show for me to attend, and get my “chicken fix”, at an affordable price, so thank you to the Tulbagh Show organisers and the ‘Wes-Kaap Pluimveeklub’ (Western Cape Poultry Club) for putting the chickens on display for the public to view. I left the show with a smile on my face and feeling happy.
[All the images taken and owned by me.]
