Saturday (12/9/23) was a beautiful day for a poultry show. The sun was shining and temperature made it to the mid 70s. The birds and I were a bit tired from doing three shows in four weeks, but the Cape Fear Show is always a good show and close to home, so I decided what the heck lets go. Since it was not an Alliance meet, I took my best three Ameraucanas (Black K, Brown Red C, and Self Blue H) and a few of another LF breed I raise and set off down to NC. This show boasted over a 1000 entries. The LF Ameraucana were represented in 6 varieties - Black, Brown Red, Wheaton, White, Silver, and Self Blue. 16 LF in total were exhibited in each of the White Card and the Blue Card shows. The Wheaton birds were very nice and gave me a run for my money but my Brown Red cock bird recieved Best of Breed in the White Card show and the Blue Card show.
The AOSB class boasted about 40 birds with Malays, Modern Game, Naked Neck, Phoenix and Yokohama to name a few. My Brown Red cock bird was on his game and recieved Best (Champion) AOSB in the White Card Show and the Blue Card Show.
Once that Brown Red cock bird got on Champion Row, he was posing for the judges and looking gorgeous! While all the birds on champion row were nice, he was up against some pretty stiff competition from the birds in Asiatic class, English class and the Continental class. Birds from top breeders I had just seen do well at the Ohio National and the Dixie Classic in Knoxville. I was very happy to have my Brown Red boy as the Champion AOSB in both shows so was totally surprised when they called us up for Reserve Champion Large Fowl on the Blue Card Show. I must say I did a little jig right there on the spot!
For those of you who are raising, breeding and/or showing a hard color pattern take heart. Stay the course. Set your breeding goals and don't give up. This win is for those of us who have worked our tail feathers off, put in the long hours, and dedicated years to getting our birds set up for success. Special thanks to all who have given me great feedback and helped me work on this difficult color. It is you, my wonderful breeder friends, who make all the difference.
Mike Gilbert, I hope you are smiling big. This was one of Harleys sons. He is just a little over a year old and I can't wait to see him truly fill out as he matures in 2024. I think he will finish out better than his Dad. Pictures of the Brown Red cock bird.
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