09/08/2025
THE REAL REWARDS OF POULTRY SHOWS: PROGRESS, PRESERVATION & EDUCATION
Attending and participating in local poultry shows is not about scoring ribbons or points- at least not for us. Those are very nice expressions of validation for the consistent hard work put into birds. But the nuance is that not every judge will have the same assessment. And a bird that catches the eye of one judge may be invisible to another.
What’s the point of even showing then?
Visibility.
You read the standard. You’re presenting your interpretation and you get to show your poultry peers what you’ve been working on. It’s not always about winning. It’s an opportunity to show and tell to a community of breeders who can relate to a lot of the same experience, and that should be a source of joy if you’re in this for the right reasons. How do you think any of the breeds we have today got started? Because someone cared more about showing folks a cool bird they made instead of winning all the prizes.
Feedback.
From judges but more importantly, your peers in the breed/variety. Your peers shouldn’t be seen as competition if you are collectively working on improving the quality of a breed/variety: ideally it’s a collaboration. Chasing notoriety and exclusivity of lines does not help in the preservation nor promotion of the poultry hobby. Your biggest competitor should be your previous year’s hatch. Your peers in the breed/variety relate the most to your experience and can give you ideas to bounce off of and try for next season- and you can do the same for them. Our favorite thing to do is trade birds that could compliment each other’s programs and get hatching. Together, we raise the bar, and together we work towards getting the judge to enjoy our birds.
Education & Networking.
You learn so much just talking to other fanciers- even outside your breed/varieties. You come back from every show with more husbandry knowledge than you could ever imagine. New methods of treating common ailments to try- new conditioning ideas: all of it just from sharing experience in the poultry hobby. You meet new people as well, forming a community of folks that can share in the joys and the rough times in this hobby. Almost every question about chicken keeping we’ve seen on chicken groups could be answered if they went to a poultry show. It really can be the best place to start in learning how to care for the animals in the best way you can- sanctioned shows will often have vendors with books, supplies and learning materials as well.
If you’d like to find out where and when poultry shows are happening near you, check out poultryshowcentral.com. You’ll see us at a few in the New England area this fall!
Cobleskill, NY
Windsor, ME
Carver, MA
(And possibly the Ohio national!)
