 | Last weekend we attended another show in Stevenson, WA. It was hosted by the Columbia River Poultry Exhibitors club. The American Buttercup Club held a "Special Meet", and lots of Buttercups were entered, both in large fowl and in bantam sizes. The club ordered custom ribbons for the occasion, complete with the club logo. Of course, "lots" of Buttercups is a relative term. Since Buttercups are so rare, you generally won't see any at all at a poultry show, so having two exhibitors bring a total of 15 birds is quite unusual. With more prevalent breeds, you might see dozens of birds entered by many exhibitors. |
Read below to hear about the birds we entered, the large fowl Buttercups exhibited, and our future show schedule. Entering poultry shows is a great way to meet old timers and judges and hear their great advice on breeding programs.
Our birds
We entered all of the bantam Buttercups that were exhibited.
Note the interesting differences between the two females pictured: the second bird has a clear hackle (neck feathering) that is pure gold and free of black spangles, and a more widely spread tail. However, the first bird has a more even ground color - a more consistent gold color over the entire body, which is less distracting to the eye. While the first bird has a great hackle color, the buff color varies elsewhere, and distracts from the black spangling, making it less eye-catching.
As you can see, a breeding program is a long process, where the genetics of an entire flock are fine-tuned, with the hope of eliminating bad traits, while combining the good traits from different birds.
Note the interesting differences between the two females pictured: the second bird has a clear hackle (neck feathering) that is pure gold and free of black spangles, and a more widely spread tail. However, the first bird has a more even ground color - a more consistent gold color over the entire body, which is less distracting to the eye. While the first bird has a great hackle color, the buff color varies elsewhere, and distracts from the black spangling, making it less eye-catching.
As you can see, a breeding program is a long process, where the genetics of an entire flock are fine-tuned, with the hope of eliminating bad traits, while combining the good traits from different birds.
 One of the pullets we entered. Note the nearly uniform gold ground color, which accents the black spangling. Also note the undesirable black flecking in the hackle feathers. |  Another one of our pullets. Note the rich gold hackle, free from black flecking. Also note the varying shades of buff elsewhere that make the ground color here less desirable. |
Below you can see the entire lineup on our bantam Buttercups, as well as some of the turkeys we entered.
 The complete lineup of our bantam Buttercups. |  Our bronze old tom took champion turkey yet again! |  This is a young blue slate tom we entered. |
Large Fowl Entered
Again, Bridget Riddle from California supplied the large fowl Buttercups exhibited at the show. Below are a few photos.
 A large fowl pullet. Note the clear gold hackle, and the cup-shaped comb. |  A large fowl rooster. Note the deep body and well-spread tail. |  This large fowl rooster displays an excellent Buttercup comb. Free from center spikes, and closed in the back. |
Upcoming shows
Fall is the start of the poultry show season. This is for two good reasons:
Firstly, most folks hatch their birds throughout the spring. Breeders are usually too busy during the raising of young birds to go to shows. Besides, summer is a busy time anyway. These young birds will be ready to show when they are 6-8 months old, or in the fall and throughout the winter.
Secondly, and more importantly, most adult birds molt sometime during the summer. Molting is where birds shed their feathers and grow new ones. It makes sense for birds to undergo this transformation during summer, because there is plenty of food to fuel the growth of new feathers, it is generally warm so they won't freeze from a feather shortage, and breeding season is over, so they don't have to impress anyone. During molting, birds look terrible and mangy. After molting, they look brand new and shiny. It makes sense to have poultry shows when birds have recently molted and look their best.
Our next fall show will be November 21st in Chehalis, WA. It will be hosted by the Washington Feather Fanciers club.
Meanwhile we will continue to watch our young birds finish growing, and select our breeding birds for next year.
Firstly, most folks hatch their birds throughout the spring. Breeders are usually too busy during the raising of young birds to go to shows. Besides, summer is a busy time anyway. These young birds will be ready to show when they are 6-8 months old, or in the fall and throughout the winter.
Secondly, and more importantly, most adult birds molt sometime during the summer. Molting is where birds shed their feathers and grow new ones. It makes sense for birds to undergo this transformation during summer, because there is plenty of food to fuel the growth of new feathers, it is generally warm so they won't freeze from a feather shortage, and breeding season is over, so they don't have to impress anyone. During molting, birds look terrible and mangy. After molting, they look brand new and shiny. It makes sense to have poultry shows when birds have recently molted and look their best.
Our next fall show will be November 21st in Chehalis, WA. It will be hosted by the Washington Feather Fanciers club.
Meanwhile we will continue to watch our young birds finish growing, and select our breeding birds for next year.
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