What happens after the show?

When I was a kid, my dad said I could show my chickens but that they could never come home after - they would have to be sold at the show or eaten. We had a pig farm, so he didn't want to take any risks of any disease on the farm, poultry or otherwise. He never bought animals from the market or from shows. If he won a live turkey at a turkey shoot, it was dropped off and processed before it came home. He was pretty careful about it all.

I am curious what you all do when you return home from a poultry show. Do you put the chickens back to the flock? Do you isolate them - how far away and for how long? Do you sell them? Eat them? What happens to your show birds when you get home?

I want to start showing next year, but I want to do it safely and without jeopardizing my flock. I really do want to know what others do, so I can make good decisions if I can get out to a show.

Coming from a horseman first, I could not afford to put down my horse after the show. Showing livestock..if you want to live in a bubble that is fine, but the way I look at it is that I trust other exhibitors to bring healthy stock and also I consider my flock to be strong and resistant to most all that comes to them they forage outside and share accommodation with magpies and other wild birds who fly all over. Some disease like ILT is just horrific and birds cannot deal with it or become resistant and if they do get infected they will be livelong carriers. I solve that one by vaccinating, ok thats a whole other subject and lets not spoil your thread with ILT opinions. Now when I go to the mall and walk by a person with snot flying, that sucks and I can get sick. I can also get over the sickness and will likely bot die from it. After the show I observe them a week separate usually and if all good go back in. Last week I came home tired and put all birds together right away. Stupid maybe, but hey if the birds cannot hack it, they can all die..is that cruel, I think killing your birds after a show is even more cruel.

I should add, I think that here people in North America compare way too much to the commercial industries when it is not necessary. The commercial farmers raise weak animals in huge numbers in comparatively tight spaces. Any disturbance on those herds can mean enormous losses in the pocket book. I can understand it from a farmers point of view whose livelihood depends on it, why take a risk, but then he should also run his truck through a disinfecting bath when he comes home and his clothes and clear out his own nostrils etc. Back when I grew up in Holland we lived on the edge of a small town, I raised birds in our backyard and at a farmers place who I helped out a kilometer away. There were at least 7 other backyard flocks in between me and him that I can remember. We all went to shows and they were cooped up side to side, but our roosters already knew each others crow if you know what I mean. Plus if showing is so scary, what about the biggest spreaders off all disease, the wild birds and other critters, the wind and bad hygiene. All should be taken into consideration. A show is just another way to contract bugs, but it is definitely not the only way to get it and if I had to keep my birds in a bubble I would quit in a hurry. Chickens are extremely strong animals!

Thanks Piet. The photos of the birds you had in the show were beautiful.

You are certainly right about the wild birds. I'm definitely faced with the wild birds when I move in a few weeks...there are two magnificent feral turkeys (unfortunately both boys...) now hanging out with the pigs and sheep (my pigs and sheep get to live there before I do). And there are some pretty pesky ravens I have some concerns about, especially come lambing time - my chickens have to be in covered runs so should be safe from the ravens - but they are clever. And here I do have the wild birds helping themselves to chicken food, much to the chickens dismay. So yes, there is definitely the wild bird factor. And my vet says it's only a matter of time before I have Merek's, as it is all through the island.

I think because of my dad's warnings as a kid, and I worry, but showing does look like a lot of fun, and will be the only way for me to have an expert go over my birds so I know where to go next. I do see the value in showing.
And I don't want to live in a bubble. But there is a that little bit of worry of what one infected bird could do...

I suppose I need to deal with things in order of importance too, as predators are the real threat to the chickens at this moment, I sure seem to have an escalating problem with the raccoons. Those evil menaces got another poor girl last night who didn't get inside the house before dark (they are in runs racoons can't get into but they can reach into - so if they can get their claws on a chicken, and it doesn't run and hide in the house, that poor chicken is done). I have to have live birds before I can show them. And all through the island here flocks are being decimated by mink so another real worry. I am already installing electric perimeter fencing at the new place, not even packed to move yet, and I was over at the new place all day putting up an electric fencing system. Not sure how effective it will be at keeping out mink, but it will keep out the coons.

I will try to book off time for some of the shows next year...not sure yet if I will take birds or not, but gathering information will help me make that decision.

Luckily we have no raccoons here yet, but I heard they are getting closer. They really can do damage. A good friend of mine in Toronto almost had all his birds wiped out by racoons. Yes, visit shows. It gives better insight and even more to work towards. The judges are great to watch at work and talk to, much respect for the way they can handle the birds and what they all look for. Nothing gets by them! I show rabbits also and its a bit more boring at times and I notice how the poultry world is much bigger here. In Europe its more even between the two and many people raise both fur and feathers. Piet

My aunt lives near Ponoka...had a family of coons show up in their shed this summer. They are definitely moving to your area.

I will book off some of the show days, even if I don't have birds to show I'd love to get out to some, and I may be able to book them off if the show days are known already - I have to book my off days for the entire next year - within the next week. There-in lies a big challenge. For the dog tracking trials atleast I know the trial dates for the next 6 months, the fall dates are a guess. Atleast I know the date of the CHB show next year.

Piet wrote:I should add, I think that here people in North America compare way too much to the commercial industries when it is not necessary.

This is a consideration that I think those who are anti-ILT inoculation are confused by.  I have read suggestions by gov't agencies that it is not a good idea to inoculate your flocks.  But these suggestions are being made to commercial operations with high bio security and birds that are rarely kept long.  

Hobby farmers, exhibitors and promoters of heritage breeds know the importance of educating others about our fowl.  This goes hand in hand with precautions against known problems like ILT.

That said, pre show I will make sure I am up to date with the ILT and when I am washing my birds, I give them a couple drops of My mite and louse med to prevent infestation from bird to bird.  

After show I will isolate the birds for two weeks to ensure they have not picked anything up.  And birds I buy there are isolated for a month or more.

I am also trying out a new Mycoplasma preventative.  It is given to chicks in their water for the first 5 days of life then again , 4 weeks later for 24 hours.  Apparently it will prevent treated birds from ever contracting Mycoplasma for the rest of their lives.  I first tried it out last hatching season and so far so good!  If this is an effective med it would be a huge advantage to anyone who hatches and has an open flock.