A poultry show is a specific subset of a

livestock show A livestock show is an event where livestock are exhibited and judged on certain phenotypical breed traits as specified by their respective breed standard. Species of livestock that may be shown include pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, horses, llamas ...

that involves the exhibition and competition of exhibition poultry, which may include chickens,

domestic duck The domestic duck or domestic mallard (''Anas platyrhynchos domesticus'') is a subspecies of mallard that has been domesticated by humans and raised for meat, eggs, and down feathers. A few are also kept for show, as pets, or for their ornament ...

domestic geese A domestic goose is a goose that humans have domesticated and kept for their meat, eggs, or down feathers. Domestic geese have been derived through selective breeding from the wild greylag goose (''Anser anser domesticus'') and swan goose (' ...

, domestic guineafowl and

domestic turkey The domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo domesticus) is a large fowl, one of the two species in the genus '' Meleagris'' and the same species as the wild turkey. Although turkey domestication was thought to have occurred in central Mesoamerica ...

Domestic pigeon The domestic pigeon (''Columba livia domestica'' or ''Columba livia'' ''forma'' ''domestica'') is a pigeon subspecies that was derived from the rock dove (also called the rock pigeon). The rock pigeon is the world's oldest domesticated bird. Me ...

are also exhibited but not universally considered poultry. As well as being independent events, they are also sometimes held in conjunction with agricultural shows.

Preparation

Significant effort is put into exhibiting poultry. Birds are trained for the cages used at shows, and washed and manicured in preparation for an event.

History

The first poultry show in the United Kingdom was in 1845 in London. The exhibition of poultry was promoted as an alternative to

cock fighting A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...

in the United Kingdom following the banning of such activities in 1849. The first poultry standard in the world was produced in 1865, the

British Poultry Standard The front cover of the 6th Edition of the British Poultry Standards. The ''British Poultry Standard'' is the oldest poultry fancy breed standard in the world. It is published by the Poultry Club of Great Britain and is the official reference s ...

. The height of the poultry showing in the United Kingdom was during the late 19th and early 20th century, when

The Crystal Palace Poultry Show The Crystal Palace Poultry Show (variously also the International Poultry Show and Great Poultry Show) was a poultry show held at The Crystal Palace in London in the United Kingdom. They ran from 1857–1936, with interruption by World War I. It wa ...

were held at

The Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...

, the largest attracting 10,533 filled cages, the actual number of birds unknown as many were pairs.

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

regularly attended and showed pigeons at these from 1857, and

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

exhibited her Cochins in 1846 at the Royal Dublin Show. The Crystal Palace Great Poultry Shows continued to run with great success until the Crystal Palace burnt down. The first poultry show in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

was held on 15-16 November, 1849, in

Quincy Market Quincy Market is a historic building near Faneuil Hall in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It was constructed between 1824 and 1826 and named in honor of mayor Josiah Quincy, who organized its construction without any tax or debt. The market is ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, surpassing expectations to receive over 1400 entries however it proved a debacle as no poultry standard existed and judging was cancelled as there was no way to decide what was a

purebred Purebreds are " cultivated varieties" of an animal species achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be "pedigreed". Purebreds breed true-to-type which means the ...

. A poultry association was organised afterwards and another show attempted the next year, which attracted 12,000 birds. Overcrowding led to judging being cancelled again. In 1854

P. T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...

staged a ''National Poultry Show'' at his

Barnum's American Museum Barnum's American Museum was located at the corner of Broadway, Park Row, and Ann Street in what is now the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City, from 1841 to 1865. The museum was owned by famous showman P. T. Barnum, who purc ...

, which the guidelines of are unknown. It wasn't until 1874 that the

American Standard of Perfection The ''American Standard of Perfection'' is the official breed standard for the poultry fancy in North America. First published in 1874 by the American Poultry Association, the ''Standard of Perfection'' (commonly referred to as "the ''Standard''" ...

were adopted by the recently formed

American Poultry Association The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in the North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932. The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in respo ...

, creating the first poultry standard in North America.

Governance

Poultry shows are generally organised by a poultry club. Many of these are accredited by a national body, such as th
American Poultry Association
or the

Poultry Club of Great Britain The Poultry Club of Great Britain is a registered charity founded in 1877. Its stated purpose is to "safeguard the interests of all pure and traditional breeds of poultry including chickens, bantams, ducks, geese and turkeys". The club mai ...

while others, such as Australian poultry clubs are only managed on a state level. Birds exhibited at poultry shows are judged to the local standard, a compiled manual that describe the ideal form of a poultry breed.

References

{{reflist Animal breeding Poultry shows