The show is now over, and you are packing up and heading home. But just as you took some time to get ready for the show, there are responsibilities to address after the experience is done.
If you are bringing your exhibits home, it is essential that you do a post-show cleanup. The birds will have been out in public and exposed to any number of things that can harm your other birds back home.
Most fairs require only that the birds have a P-T test and that they be free of external parasites. There are many diseases your birds may be exposed to, however, especially at fairs where older poultry are shown or where birds have been to big shows all over the country. These individuals will not necessarily show illness at the show, but the stress and strain of a competition can activate many diseases and conditions that will most likely show up in your birds a few days to several weeks after you return home.
Quarantine. In all cases, have a place back home where you can isolate your show birds from the rest of the flock for a month. This may seem harsh and inconvenient, but the consequences of not doing it can be catastrophic to the remaining fowl that you have at home.
I once lost all 20 birds I took to a show because they picked up an untreatable respiratory condition. I am still thankful I did not introduce those 20 back into their breeding pens or I would have lost everything.
Parasite protection. This is the easiest thing to do. You can check for parasites with simply a quick glance, but it is better to spray each bird again as a safety precaution. Once you leave the show, immediately spray or dust your birds for parasites, then repeat in a week just to make sure no living creature made it home to your flock. Again, it may seem like a lot of work, but it can pay off in the long run. Shortcuts usually lead to long-term frustration.
There are two ways to bring your show birds back into good health. You can go the antibiotic route and give them a low dose of antibiotic for a few days. From a biological perspective, this can lead to lower effectiveness of antibiotics in the future; thus, my preference is not to treat unless a condition arises.
The best alternative is to put a higher dose of vitamins and a low dose of probiotics in their water for a few days. Probiotics help restore proper flora to the birds’ digestive tract and help support their own natural immune systems. The birds have had a shock to their systems from the stress of the exhibition time and need a boost to make things go smoothly again.
Watch your birds’ stools to see rather quickly if there are issues. Loose, watery stools in chickens are a clear indication of health issues, but in waterfowl runny stools are not a problem in most cases.
Off-color stools are also usually indications of stress in any type of poultry. A lot of deep green is a bad sign, as it means that kidney function is not at its peak. You will soon notice the difference between a stool that is deep green from eating lots of green leafy vegetables and one that is green from an impaired excretory system. A green stool caused by stress is almost a greenish blue, much brighter than a stool resulting from eating lots of green leafy vegetables.
Your birds need to recover from the stress they endured in the disruption of their routine when you took them to the show. Birds appreciate a routine, so the sooner you return them to their regular pen and food and water, the sooner they will resume being their normal, contented selves. If you were working with them regularly before the show, they will be less stressed than those that did not experience the cage practicing and people exposure, and they will recover more quickly.
Chickens and ducks, in most cases, will return to regular behavior soon. Guineas are easily stressed and do not do well in these situations. Geese will typically molt after a show, partly because of the season and partly from the stress of the entire event. Turkeys will frequently drop some feathers.
Game birds will usually be a mess when they return home. They will drop many feathers, and in severe cases will look as though they have been plucked. The best approach for guineas and game birds is to get them back into their normal routine as quickly as possible and reduce their stress load.
If you choose to bring your birds back to health with the natural method, this is the time to get them out on pasture and give them lots of deep-green leafy vegetables, special treats such as sunflower seeds, or other foods to get their systems regular again.
In some shows there is a championship show sale, and you may be lucky enough to get a large sum of money for your project, should you choose to part with your top prizewinner. There are several things to think about when it comes to parting with your bird.
If you are in a meat or commercial class, it is probably a great idea to reap the benefits and get the cash, as the birds cannot be used for breeders anyway.
If you are exhibiting heritage birds or have just been awarded top prizes for standard-breed birds, you may want to keep them and exercise one of two options. Many shows now allow two ages of birds to be shown: those less than 1 year old and a separate class for older birds. If your show has an older bird class, you should consider keeping those that won top of their division or class and either using them as breeding stock for next year’s show or showing them in the older class the following year.
I recall judging one show for seven or eight years straight, where one young exhibitor had a superb Blue Cochin cockerel her first year of 4-H. She took fabulous care of the bird and brought him back for the next six years. He did well every year, but toward the end he started to be outclassed in the finals by his children. This is a perfect example of a high-quality bird that can win again and produce winners as well. In fact, I even ran into his outstanding offspring in neighboring counties.
Remember to take good notes on what you learned and what you plan to do for the show next year. While the experience may seem unforgettable now, a year can cause a slip in the memory and you may have forgotten by the next season.
If you have reached the point where you are ready to move to the next level, start planning your breeding pens and figuring out which male should go with which female or females. Once you start doing well at shows, it is time to consider moving to that next level and start breeding your own birds.
Each and every year, keep working on the areas that you did not do as well in and keep working toward the next level, either by breeding your own lines for showing or expanding to new and different types of fowl.
Another great way to learn is to attend as many seminars on raising and showing poultry as possible. There are never too many opportunities to learn, and you never know when or where you will pick up a great piece of information.
Take the time to get involved with any local poultry clubs and learn from the masters. Many poultry clubs have longtime poultry enthusiasts who are eager to share their knowledge and tips with a young person to carry on the fancy. In some cases, they will even donate some of their prize-winning stock to a young person to help get them started.
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