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The same will be done with each group
within the variety and the coop cards will
be marked with a 1, 2, or 3, etc. After all
of the birds in a variety have been
judged, a best and second best representative of the variety is selected and
marked Best of Variety (BV) or Reserve
of Variety (RV).
After all of the varieties within a breed
have been judged for Best and Reserve,
the official will pick from those birds the
two that they consider to best represent
the breed and will mark them Best of
Breed (BB) and Reserve of Breed (RB).
Judges
Show judges may be licensed by the
American Poultry Association and/or the
American Bantam Association. The licensing process requires years of practice, an apprenticeship, and passage of a
strenuous written and practical test.
Judges are poultry fanciers who have taken the hobby to its full extent and are a
wealth of knowledge. It is good etiquette
not to talk to or interfere with a judge
while they are judging, whether you are
an exhibitor or a spectator.
Want To Show
Chickens ???
One Last Thought
After all of the breeds in a Class have
been judged, the official will place a Best
and Reserve of Class from the Best and
Reserve of Breeds. Typically a show will
Whether you want to show your birds or
simply enjoy them as a part of your everyday life make sure you care for them
properly. The content of this brochure
won’t be useful unless you have healthy
and happy birds — and that only happens if they have the correct feed, plenty
of fresh water, and appropriate housing.
Members of the PNPA are a wonderful
resource to guide and support you and
you won’t find more enthusiastic and
friendly folks. Contact us for more information about poultry or to join our club.
Pacific Northwest Poultry Association
www.pacificnorthwestpoultry.org
Copyright 1999, revised 2010 & 2011
Original content prepared by Loren & Betsy Hadley for the
PNPA
have a Champion Row where the best &
reserve bird in each class is displayed.
From Champion Row, the judges will select a Champion Large Chicken and
Champion Bantam. Finally a Grand
Champion, or Best Bird of Show, may be
selected from among the best of the waterfowl, turkeys, guineas and chickens.
OTHER RESOURCES:
American Poultry Association (APA)
www.amerpoultryassn.com
American Bantam Association (ABA)
www.bantamclub.com
International Waterfowl Breeders Association
www.iwba.org
Society for Preservation of Poultry Antiquities
http://feathersite.com/Poultry/SPPA/SPPA.html
4-H
Pacific Northwest
Poultry
Association
(PNPA)
www.pacificnorthwestpoultry.org
HOW SHOWS ARE SET UP
CLASS
Poultry shows are generally open to four types of
fowl recognized by the American Poultry Association: Chickens, Turkeys, Waterfowl and Guineas.
We will focus on chickens here as these are the
most common type of fowl at most shows.
The next thing you may notice is that birds are
broken down into classes. For large chickens, the
classes are named after the area of origin (e.g.,
American, Asiatic, English, Mediterranean, Continental and All Other Standard Breeds). Bantam
classes are characterized by physical characteristics. These include Single Comb Clean Legged
(SCCL), Rose Comb Clean Legged (RCCL), All
Other Comb Clean Legged (AOCCL), Feather
Legged (FL) and Game classes. Every breed will
be listed in one and only one class—except some
bantam breeds with single & rose comb varieties.
When you enter the showroom it may at first
glance appear that there are wall to wall chickens
in no particular order, however someone has
worked hard to organize the birds. The pattern
may not be apparent, but once you know what
you’re looking at, it will start to make sense.
has only been admitted for Plymouth Rock
Bantams. Variety may also be distinguished
by comb type, as with the Rose Comb and Single Comb Light Brown Leghorn, or beard, as
with the Bearded and Non-Bearded White
Silkies. Each of these varieties has distinctive
traits that sets it apart from other varieties.
You may find some of the same color varieties
appearing in a number of breeds. For example, there are Buff Cochins, Buff Minorcas and
Buff Orpingtons, to name a few. The Standard
of Perfection will describe the characteristics
of each variety.
Gender and Age
Breed
LARGE CHICKEN OR BANTAM?
The first thing you may notice is that there are
large birds & small birds. You might even
notice that some look almost identical in appearance except for size. The large birds are
known as large chicken or standard size. The
small birds are bantams — commonly called
“banties”.
A few breeds come only in large chicken or
bantam, but most can have either. The relationship is similar to “toy” or miniature dogs
and their “standard” size counterparts. The
goal is to have virtually the same type bird
except for size.
Typically large chickens will weigh 6—12
pounds while a bantam is 2—3 pounds. Large
chickens are the standard size for a chicken,
but bantams are popular because they are easier to handle, require less space and eat less
while providing many of the benefits of standard chickens. In the show, large chickens and
bantams are shown separately.
Within each class will
be several breeds.
One example of a
breed is the Plymouth
Rock. Each breed has
at least one unique
characteristic that will
distinguish it from
other breeds. Breeds
will differ in shape,
feather characteristics,
comb and other attributes. Some breeds have been
bred for meat production, some for egg production
and some for both — called “dual purpose”. Other
breeds originated from Asiatic or European
fighting game stock while a few breeds have been
developed purely for their ornamental qualities.
The Standard of Perfection will provide information on breeds, their characteristics and history.
Variety
Within a breed you will find that there are often
many color patterns or varieties represented. For
example, large and bantam Plymouth Rocks are
recognized in the Standard of Perfection in Barred,
White, Buff, Silver Penciled, Partridge, Columbian
and Blue varieties. At this time, the Black variety
Within each variety, birds are judged according to gender and age. A cock (C) is a male
bird over one year old while a cockerel (K) is a
male bird under one year old. A hen (H) is a
female over one year old while a pullet (P) is a
female under one year old. Birds might also be
exhibited as a trio, which will either be an old
trio (OT—one cock and two hens) or young
trio (YT– one cockerel and two pullets).
Scoring Birds
Judges score birds using a detailed point system that compares various physical points on
each bird. Certain characteristics are disqualifications and preclude a bird from being considered for placing. The closer a bird approaches the Standard of Perfection, the more
points it will score and the better its chances of
placing. For more information on the scale of
points, see the Standard of Perfection — a
copy should be available at the information
desk.
Placing
Judges will examine the birds, placing the best
specimens. The judge will look at all of the
pullets in a variety and rank them from first
through fifth place.