Junior Poultry Showmanship ~ Nov 23-25 '12 Red Deer

At the CHB December Show in Red Deer this year we would like to introduce the Junior Poultry Showmanship Class.

Canadian Heritage Breeds is proud to be holding our Second Annual Junior Poultry Showmanship Class @ the Nov 23-25th Show in Red Deer!

The Jr Showmanship Class is gives the young poultry fanciers a chance to show what they know about their bird/s.
This is a great chance for young enthusiasts to showcase their skills, knowledge, and care of their bird. This class is not judged on the birds traits or breeding (crossbreds can compete in this class).

The class will be judged on the youths abilities like : carrying bird, control of bird, knowledge of the birds structure and care (cleanliness, body condition, freedom of parasites, etc).

The judge will ask questions and score the youths depending on their age.

We will still have the normal Junior Class for Poultry and will be judge according to the normal APA/ABA standards. In this class juniors will only compete against juniors. A junior entry will not be allowed to compete in the open class; therefore the exhibitor must decide open or junior class.

The same bird can be entered in the junior class and showmanship class.

k.r.l wrote:
We will still have the normal Junior Class for Poultry and will be judge according to the normal APA/ABA standards. In this class juniors will only compete against juniors. A junior entry will not be allowed to compete in the open class; therefore the exhibitor must decide open or junior class.

I was really looking forward to attending this show with my 5 children but was disappointed to read that that the junior's birds will not be allowed to advance through the open class.

I feel that having to choose between junior or open entry may discourage quality competition between the juniors as they may choose to show in the open instead in order to find out how their birds rate against birds in the open class.

It is great to encourage the juniors with extra ribbons and placings just for them as they are definitely the future of the fancy.
However I think that limiting them to the junior competition may send the wrong message to the juniors that they are not equal competitors and fellow fanciers.

I suppose it would make the judging simpler if the categories were kept separate but I think that if a bird that is being shown in the junior class is worthy of competing with the birds in the open class it should be allowed to advance.
Otherwise, if some of the best birds have to remain in the junior class, the overall placings may actually be incorrect!

What do other people think about this decision?

KLR mentions APA rules. Do these rules say that junior and regular shows remain separate?

Miry young fanciers can choose to compete in the open show or the junior show, or they can also do what some young exhibitors did last year one bird in each show.

If the quality of competition in the junior class last year was any indication of the quality of what the upcoming show will contain it shouldn't be a problem. There were many junior exhibitor out there that had nicer quality birds than many in my flock.

This is the same way the Junior Show was held last year. Our goal is not to limit the juniors growth in the hobby. Not only does it it make judging easier for the Junior Show, it also makes it easier for everyone to see the birds the juniors are competing with and it makes it simpler to showcase the young exhibitors accomplishments.

I have no doubt that the juniors have got good stock KRl, my worries are more that because they are forced to make the jump to Open class if they want to see how their birds compare in the much bigger classes, it will end up with the junior competition having the "lower quality" birds being exhibited there.
If, as you say, they can choose to show one bird in each, my guess is that they will choose the better bird to show in the Open class, relegating the "lower quality" bird to the junior show.
If you have a junior show area that is separate but then the birds can advance if they are excellent birds, then you would have the best of both worlds in my opinion

Miry I agree with you that Juniors here are better served by showing in the open show, as I think it helps improve the quality of their birds faster and they learn so much by listening and talking to adult breeders of their chosen breed.

Many shows in the states have junior shows along with there open shows but these are huge (somtimes as large as the open show) and are judged excatly like the open show, with no slack given because they are juniors.

With many shows the juniors show with the adults in the open show and then the showmanship portion is held separately to show their knowledge of their breed and poultry in generally. Because we don't have tons of Juniors here most judges are fine with a bird being out for showmanship classes and the clubs work their timing of the showmanship classes around it.

I personally have befriended many a junior and if I give them birds I expect they will show in the open class largely but do encouage them to do showmanship as it is important for them to know as much about their poultry as possible.

Just my opinion and please don't think I am against junior shows I will judge them fairly no matter how a show sets it up, but I think when showing for conformation "Slack" not be given just because it's a junior bird. I have put many a junior up to Best in Show purely because they deserve it as their bird is outstanding. When I judge I am not looking to see if the particular speciman is a junior bird even though it may have a JR. on the card and at the end of the day find that many junior birds are far better conditioned because they spend more time with their birds. "Go Juniors" as they are the future of the fancy

One show that I judge at every other year holds it junior show the evening before and then the kids show in the open show the next day and also do showmanship on Saturday and Sunday. I think because they work it this way it is downright amazing how the quality of these kids birds improved tenfold over the years with the Juniors now winning a very large majority of the major prizes and more importantly it allowed the kids and parents the oppertunity to network with breeders and bring up the quality of the junior exhibits because lets face it if the parents don't have the interest it can be very diffucult for the child to improve the stock. I fully support Juniors who have thier parents behind them to ensure and nurture the childs interest and just last week sent a lovely Modern cockerel out to a young fellow in Alberta by way of some friends of mine as he had some females of mine he was given from someone who was retirng and travelling. I knew there was no male with the flock so off went one of my boys to Alberta(Brrr come winter) to hopefully help build his flock(it was a surprise for him). Every adult should ensure if you are giving Juniors birds that they are of the best of quality and not culls with major defects so long as they have the housing for them and of couse that unbridled enthusiasm that so many adults lose when they deceide to make a business of it.

Heather

viczoe wrote:Just my opinion and please don't think I am against junior shows I will judge them fairly no matter how a show sets it up, but I think when showing for conformation "Slack" not be given just because it's a junior bird. I have put many a junior up to Best in Show purely because they deserve it as their bird is outstanding. When I judge I am not looking to see if the particular speciman is a junior bird even though it may have a JR. on the card and at the end of the day find that many junior birds are far better conditioned because they spend more time with their birds. "Go Juniors" as they are the future of the fancy

Heather

Thank-you Heather! Thank-you for helping youngsters to be treated like the adults they will become. As a teacher I applaud you.

May I also add that I applaud fanciers that nurture youngsters with both quality birds and quality advice. The furure of the poultry fancy is in our and in their hands.