Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Poultry show was a hit at county fair

Duane Barbati News-Bulletin Staff Writer; dbarbati@news-bulletin.com

Belen Except for a few sprinkles of rain, it was beautiful weather for the Valencia County Fair on Saturday.

The fair, celebrating its 75 anniversary, had a record number of entries in the poultry shows. Children entered 60 different types of breeds of poultry, from turkeys, pigeons, chickens, and ducks to a couple of roosters.

"Last year, we had half the pens and only half of them were filled," poultry supervisor Jeanne Kimball said. "We really grew in numbers quite a bit. We had roughly 15 to 20 entries last year."

Kimball said she was told fair goers were very impressed with the poultry display and showings.

"We had people come through the poultry barn and liked what they saw," she said. "They said they would show even more birds next year. We're going to have to look at expanding and getting more pens for next year."

Kimball said she was amazed at the interest in raising and showing poultry at the fair.

"I think the interest comes from the fact that it's getting too expensive to raise larger animals," she said. "Chickens are so easy to raise. They don't cost as much as the larger animals, so the kids are gravitating towards the smaller livestock."

Kimball said chickens and other types of poultry can be raised with less expensive equipment and in a smaller area.

"With the bigger livestock, you have clippers and racks to shear sheep," she said. "Milking goats need a stand to milk them. You've got grooming gear brushes, picks and combs and a lead to lead them around. With poultry, you need something for their feed, water and a place to house them."

Two Valencia County brothers won top ribbon in two separate poultry shows at the fair.

Austin Powell won the Grand Champion and Best of Show ribbon with his pheasant, while his brother Trenton won in Duck Best of Show and Reserve Grand.

Austin Powell said he is honored to have won both ribbons with his pheasant, who he named Joseph.

"I like the different colors in the feathers of pheasants," the 12-year-old said. "They're cool birds because of the different breeds of the birds and colors. Joseph is a Lady Amherst breed of pheasant."

Austin said he had to get up every morning to get Joseph calm enough for handling by people.

"I had to get him calm enough to bring him to the fair by holding him," Austin said. "I had to make sure his feathers didn't get damaged too. Joseph is about 4 years old. I've had him since he was a baby. I would clean his cage, feed him and give him fresh water everyday."

He said pheasants are a low-maintenance animal, but he had to get up around 7 a.m. every day to care for his bird.

"Pheasants aren't easy to make as pets because they're always going to be wild," Austin said. "You have to make sure the roof of the cage is really strong, so they won't fly away."

Trenton Powell said he was excited about winning his ribbons.

"I have four ducks," the 10-year-old said. "I have two here and two at my house. The ones here are Donald and Daisy."

Trenton said he likes raising ducks because they're cool.

"The way they look and colors of their feathers," Trenton said. "They have their own personalities. Donald has a green head, and Daisy has a brown head."

He said he hatched the birds from eggs four years ago.

"It takes a lot of work to raise them," Trenton said. "I had to mess with them by playing with them. I had to teach them to swim and fly. I had to also clean their cage about 7 a.m. every morning before school."

He said his ducks learned to bathe themselves in the pond by his house.

"They're neat to have as a pet," Trenton said. "If you take Daisy away from Donald, he gets mad. You have to set her down again. They're a lot of fun to raise."

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