The Naked Truth of the Poultry Show World :: Personal Narrative

The Naked Truth of the Poultry Show World Professor’s comment: This student’s wonderfully vivid, often funny, first-person report brings readers into a little-known world of poultry exhibitors. Who could have imagined what it’s like to bathe fifteen chickens and groom them for judging? From this essay I learned a great deal about chickens, and the student’s talents as a writer made the experience thoroughly engrossing. Most people seem to think it’s pretty weird that I show chickens. They’re right, I suppose. It’s an odd hobby. I started showing when I was eight years old, and thirteen years later I’m still at it. I went to a county fair way back then, and decided that one day I would own some of those cute little bantam chickens. On July 29, 1987, that dream came true, and from then on I’ve been a dedicated member of the poultry show world. Why do I show chickens? Well, you could say I’m just weird. But I love everything about it: my birds, my poultry friends, the competition, and the camaraderie. The number of chickens that I have varies from season to season. The breeding season usually starts out with about seventy-five birds, and I hatch anywhere from 200 to 400 chicks between March and July. Throughout the summer and fall, I gradually sell almost all of those chicks until I am down to just the cream of the crop again. I raise Rosecomb Bantams, one of many breeds of miniature chickens. The adults are only a little over twenty ounces. I work with color genetics to develop new and improved color patterns on these birds (that’s what happens when you’re an art major who raises chickens), and to bring back old colors that have long since disappeared in the Rosecomb breed. I used to name every one of my chickens, back in the old days when I only had a few. But as the population grew, I started running out of names, and out of time to spoil each chicken enough so that it was worthy of a name. Now I only name my favorites — those that win a show or those that simply win my heart. Poultry shows are a huge part of my life. My show season runs from September through February. I go to about six shows a year, and show about fifteen birds each time.