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Originally Posted by Tree City
Jennifer, the kids have said they're interested in showing them at the fair, so you bring up a good point: do we focus on layers or on physical traits?
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They don't have to necessarily choose between layers OR show chickens. The poultry club leader should be able to give you some insight into the classes or you might be able to find a copy of last year's fair book on your county fair's website. You also should be able to find the poultry superintendent's info on the fair website now that I think about it, and they should be able to help answer questions, too.
At our fair, you can bring any kind 'fowl' - meat birds, laying hens, show birds, turkeys, quail, ducks, etc. Each bird is judged against it's breed standard so if you bring a Rhode Island Red laying hen, she'll be judged against the Rhode Island Red breed standard. If you have a bantam white Cochin, it's judged against that breed's standard. You could certainly have a mix of chickens in your coop, and that makes it even more fun (in my opinion). So your layers don't have to be 'fancy' but they could be. The only other requirement our fair has that may vary from some is that each child that brings a chicken or chickens (or any other animal) to the fair must sign up for showmanship. If you google poultry showmanship there are quite a few links and videos. It's basically doing a quick examination of your bird while explaining to the judge what you're doing/looking for and then posing your bird on the table at the end. This is where you want to have a few birds that are your friends and are used to be handled.