The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Bramham Wiltshire Horns on December 02, 2015, 03:51:34 pm
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anyone have any pictueres of training cages you use for showing poultry that you can post
looking at training a couple of my bantams for a local show
thanks
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We showed poultry for the first time at the Royal Three Counties this year, mainly to get a judge's view on our selection of birds for breeding. We pick ours up fairly regularly to check for lice so they were quite used to being handled, and used to visitors from our holiday cottage looking at them. We didn't train them and the only preparation was to wash their legs and feet before putting them in bedded cardboard boxes for transportation. No problems and we checked them a couple of times each day and they looked fine, although the stewards took care of feed and water.
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Same for me - I've never actually "trained" birds for showing, just make sure they're well handled and prepared beforehand so they don't get stressed when judged.
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I've done a bit of poultry showing and cage training is a must in my book. It ok handling them and getting them used to that but if they are not used to a show cage they might not show themself in the best light. Show training is not about just getting the bird used to being in a cage it's about training you bird to show themself to the judge. He will use a judging stick to move the bird in the cage and if your bird is not used to this they may not show. It's all about your bird showing its self and you will not be doing justice to you birds by not doing your very best. These are my opinions and no critisisum of the way other people train there birds.
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It's just the same as dog showing - which I've done for 35 years - my dogs are trained to stand properly and show themselves to the best advantage - an expert judge will see good points if they are there but a dog that is 'showy' will stand out amongst the best.
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if they are not used to a show cage they might not show themself in the best light.
We had to deliver our birds on the Thursday afternoon - it's a three-day show - so they were used to their surroundings by the time the public were admitted after judging the following day. We have large, soft-feathered fowl but lighter, flightier breeds might find it all a bit much.
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thanks for the advice
i handle my birds often and will also have chicks that will be reared by hand so its just about getting them right for been used to the cages