The Platte County Fair is approaching and local families are preparing their livestock for showing. The Lejuene family raise and show poultry. Their backyard is home to cochins, call ducks, silkies, and game hens; however, only the cochins and call ducks are consistently shown at fairs and American Poultry Association Meets. The family has also shown silkies and geese on occasion.
Jake, age 11, and Ryan, age 10, have received more than 40 medals, ribbons and cash prizes, one of the good things they point to in raising poultry and competing. They also note that traveling is a plus and they’ve traveled to Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and Missouri.
Having backyard chickens and other birds can offer positive aspects such as fresh eggs and they can be peaceful to watch. They can also provide entertainment and companionship. Jake enjoys holding his duck, and Ryan is particularly fond of his chicken, Lola, and silkie, named Bebop, because she bobs her head when moving around the yard; however, poultry is not handled as readily as other livestock. The feathers can be damaged “the more you touch them and the more you hold and cuddle them,” explains Ashley, and it takes time to repair. If a feather is broken or pulled out, “you have to wait until they molt which is about six months. We try to keep them in good condition.”
Compared to other livestock present at the fair, raising and showing poultry is somewhat low-key. The main responsibility Jake and Ryan are tasked with is changing out the water for the animals and feeding them on a daily basis. In the evening, the domestic animals are locked up securely in a shed to keep them safe from outdoor predators like owls, snakes, moles, bobcats and foxes.
It is important to dump the animals’ water out daily and provide fresh, clean water, especially for the ducks since they frequently defecate in it, and this could cause feathers to tear and change colors. If the water freezes in the winter, the ice has to be broken and hot water added throughout the day.
Feeding the livestock the right way is essential so they do not get stressed, which would cause illness or their feathers to pouf out. To get the birds ready for the show and at peak health, they are given a mix of sunflower seeds, kitten food for protein and corn oil. In addition, game hens will eat any leftover scraps decreasing food waste. The ducks are more discerning and given waterfowl feed also known as floating pellets.
Preparations for the fair also include cleaning and grooming feathers. Cochins get soap and hot water. “You have to rub the soap into their feathers,” then “you have to let them dry on the porch and blow dry” them, “or you can dry with a towel, but I wouldn’t recommend it, warns Ryan. “It [drying] was pretty hard with the geese because they were ginormous” chimes in Jake. “The Toulouse goose can have a wingspan of up to eight feet.”
In addition to baths, with the exception of the ducks since they clean themselves, nails are trimmed and Vaseline, shine spray and/or Aquaphor is applied to the beaks. Each bird taken to the fair is caged separately to prevent interaction and possible fighting with other animals, which could mar feathers. This is also so that the judges can easily differentiate between each entry when judging the animals and ultimately making award determinations.
One of the very prominent lessons the kids have learned from raising livestock is that you “don’t anger a game hen” and “for breeding and hatching with birds, when they’re broody, they can get very protective over the eggs,” says Ryan.
Jake follows up by saying “Do not mess with the broody duck.”