My 1st Poultry Show

I am showing my Blue Laced Red Wyandotte rooster and one hen this weekend at the Coomb's Fall Fair. I have never been involved in anything like this before, have you? Any tips would be gratefully accepted! I don't think I will tackle bathing them this time around but I will scrub their feet and legs squeaky clean, maybe give them a beak, comb and wattle wash too. Hmmm, what else should I do? Yes I am starting to fret!

XOX Monika

If you have time I would wash them, it make a huge difference in the birds looks. We have only shown once and we took the time to bathe them and it was amazing the difference in them.
We were told you can oil the legs and combs to make them shinier as well.
Clip toe nails as well.
We also caged our birds for a week prior to the show to get them used to that, and I think it helped a lot. The cochin Hen we had was well handled and the silkes but the ducks were crazy every time you walked by their cage, but by the show they were happy to just sit in their little cages and take it all in.

Hopefully more experienced show people will chime in to help you out. Good luck at the show.

Good Luck , and have fun.

No I haven't, but how exciting! Please don't fret. (I say this knowing I would be doing the exact same thing, lol)
You're going to have a blast and learn so much. Best of luck at the show.


OT, but I miss going to Coombs. We always got a kick out of the goats munching away on their grass on the roof.

Good idea about the toenails HR and putting them in cages to get them used to it. I better start on them early tomorrow. But bathe them egads I wouldn't know where to start. We do have a raised dog tub outside with hot water hose etc. Guess I would have to blow dry them, can't imagine that would go over well. OK now I am definitely fretting, well if anyone has any tips on the bathing please let me know.

XOX Monika

I was sorry to have missed the feather fancier's club meeting. The last one had a demonstration on prepping the birds for show! But, I only get so much time for a swap with a one year old!
Good luck, have fun and I agree, don't worry much about it the first time around. Just get your feet wet and learn the process of it. Then you can put more effort in for the next one. Fair season has only just begun after all!!
Good luck!

Thanks for the encouragement guys I searched a few sites about bathing and from what I can see I may be too late for bathing as there is not enough time for them to get there natural oils back for the show. I have a whitening shampoo that I use for my Maltese but also thinking about using Dawn dish detergent like in the commercials for ducks in oil spills. Any suggestions?

I don't think you want to whiten your BLR hen,I did use a regular pet shampoo though.
we were surprised how much ours didn't mind getting bathed at all it is something about the warm water I think, they really relax into it, especially this one rooster we did.

The blowdrying too, they seemed to think it was great, kind of hypnotized by the blowing air!

I think we did a glycerin rinse at the end to help with getting them glossy again.

Sounds like your are all set up already with dog tub etc so go for it!
Good luck at the show!

I would maybe stay away from a dish soap this close to the fair as it will degrease the coat. But you can get a horse shine spray like show sheen and that will help add some sheen back.

And go and have fun! You will learn alot and meet more chicken crazzy people!

Anne