# Showing Chickens?



## mikayladawn (Apr 5, 2013)

My little brother has some rhode island reds that we get eggs from , and he wants to add some 'show' chickens to our little flock. He wants to try showing, but we have no clue how.   What traits do you look for in a show quality chicken? We are familiar with goat and sheep shows, but no idea about chickens. How do those shows work?


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## Southern by choice (Apr 5, 2013)

you may want to start here...

http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/


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## farmgirl01 (May 29, 2013)

That's a good place to start.  Find a local Poultry club or a local FB group.  Get to know a few ppl and they will take you under their wing.  Poultry ppl are generally very nice and full of information.  Poultry show usually start around October and can run until early Spring.  You have plenty of time to get some nice young birds.  You might want to get a hold of a copy of the Standard of Perfection which tells all about the different breeds of poultry.  RIR's are a nice bird to start with.  You shouldn't have a hard time finding good quality ones.


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## cgmccary (Aug 28, 2013)

mikayladawn said:
			
		

> My little brother has some rhode island reds that we get eggs from , and he wants to add some 'show' chickens to our little flock. He wants to try showing, but we have no clue how.   What traits do you look for in a show quality chicken? We are familiar with goat and sheep shows, but no idea about chickens. How do those shows work?


I show a breed of chicken called Buckeyes. The APA (American Poultry Association) has a _Standard of Perfection _(SOP). Each APA accepted breed has a description in the SOP as well as weights for Cockerels, Cocks, Pullets & hens for each breed, color (surface, undercolor, shank color, etc.), definitions, explains point system, disqualifications (DQ) for all breeds and then (DQs) specific to each breed. The newspaper called _Poultry Press _lists the various shows all over the country. APA sanctions shows. To get points, you must be an APA member. 

Also, there is a Backyard Chicken Forum (BYC) that is popular and lots of knowledgeable poultry folks: http://www.backyardchickens.com/f/

We give our chickens a bath before shows, train them to behave in a cage, etc. There is a lot to showing chickens just like everything else.


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