Just when I thought I knew what I was doing……

This was the year Matthew , my son, and I thought  we were ready to show chickens at the county fair. I’ll admit this has turned from a hobby with his best interest in the beginning to my total obsession. I can now  understand the mommy pageant insanity or sport driven parent . For me it’s animals  and now I’ve decided to enter the competitive world and drag him along for the ride . The county fair was something I had experience as a 4-H er showing rabbits and my sister  pigs. So I had our Hulse Hill Farm Banner ready, chicken supplies in tubs and labeled, and had read up on chicken shows a bit. I even read and reviewed the American Standard of Perfection , the DSM-5 of the chicken world.  I enter the show barn and was like a kid in a candy store. Chickens and chicken people , it doesn’t get any better. My birds settled in  very nicely. The day before the show we cleaned and prepped the birds,  Little Debbie (Black orph), Bob (roo black orph), Daisy (white orph) , and  two lavender pullets  ,Lulu and Lilly. The day of the show it  poured. The judge looked  like a chicken expert with his white coat on and colorful bird  patches. Turned out Bob was disqualified for a  funky comb, which should of been straighter and  not split at the end. Another girl had the same problem with her  silky and was upset so we took solace together  knowing their show days were over, but we loved them anyway.  Daisy and Little Debbie  both got blue ribbons.  Possibly because there were no other orphingtons their color in the show?  Turns out one of the lavender pullets is a rooster. Many  people commented to me ,”ya know that is a rooster right?”. Well of course I did! NOT. But I eventually admitted  I did  not know and was confused since they were pullets and didn’t really  see the tail  go  down until this week.  Overall , it was a fantastic experience . I was surrounded by folks who know a ton more  then me about chickens . The energy created  when you are  learning about  something you love is  a great feeling. I am a runner and the endorphin high  is well worth  the painful runs. I think I now have a  back up plan for getting a similar feeling and  not experiencing the pain!