Showmen compete to see who has the best bird

Four young people from Niagara: Jerusha Kumar, Hadessah Lodewyk, Haven Stec, and James Crompton, participated in the showmanship portion at the Ontario Poultry Breeders held recently at the West Niagara Fairgrounds. ~ Ann Marie Chechalk photo

By Ann Marie Chechalk

It takes bravery to put yourself out in front of any audience or in front of a judge. Who likes to be judged?

But these four young showmen came out early in the morning with their washed and fluffed birds to be judged at the showmanship competition, which was part of a recent Ontario Poultry Breeders show held at the West Niagara Fairgrounds.

Haven Stec owns four hens and five roosters, they are Belgium D’ucle Mille Flere.

“First the judge asked me to tell him everything I knew about my bird, so I showed him all the body parts. He also asked me a few questions, I did not know what faking meant,” Stec said, who later found out that faking is when someone conceals a defect in their bird.

“Real breeders show their birds as they really are. Sometimes an off-colour feather is only a point or two off the final score. A real breeder wants to know where their bird actually stands in the competition, even with its faults,” said Stec.

Hadessah Lodewyk owns one hen and two roosters.

“Her name is Hen Solo, get it? She is a blue silkie with red leakage. I would like to buy a solid colour silkie while I am here at the show and start a lineage,” she said. But she only brought $10 to the show. A silkie at the show would cost $100.

James Crompton is always smiling. He joined 4-H two years ago to be part of the goat club but he did not own a goat. He did own chickens. Being part of the poultry club has given him invaluable knowledge. He has also apparently started to learn how to bargain, as he tried to convince his fellow showmen to trade him a chicken for a large bottle of maple syrup, though the deal did not happen.

However his knowledge of poultry did manage to earn him second place in showmanship ages six to 12, winning a small trophy with a chicken on top.

Crompton will continue on with the poultry club and raising and breeding his many ducks and chickens, Wyandottes, muscovys and bar rock bantams.

Jerusha Kumar came late to the showmanship ring. As a third-year animal biology student at the University of Guelph, she enjoys learning new things.

“I showed Marnie, a black copper maran that was hatched in March. She is a dual meat/eggs chicken. The judge showed me that if these types of chickens have red ear lobes they will lay rich dark brown chocolate eggs. Who knew?” she said.

Here are the results:

Showmanship class, ages 6-12: First, Kevin Zehr; second, James Crompton; third, D. Martin.

Showmanship class, ages 12-18: First, Fred Fleming; second, Taylor Beamer; third, Hadessah Lodewyk.

Showmanship class, adult: First, Victoria Beamer; second, Stephen Vooys. 