Winter Fair Poultry Show has international flavour (From Smallholder)

Winter Fair Poultry Show has international flavour

5:20pm Friday 20th November 2009

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Two hundred and fifty six classes and special awards are scheduled for this year’s Royal Welsh Winter Fair Poultry Show, one of the most popular attractions at the two-day Fair which takes place at Llanelwedd, Builth Wells, on November 30 – December 1. The Poultry Show is held on the second day of the event.

The Poultry Show, held under the rules of the Poultry Club of Great Britain, has championship status which means that the leading prize winners qualify to compete at the National Championship Show, the UK’s premier exhibition of poultry which was inaugurated by the Poultry Club in 1972.

The Poultry Club itself was founded 132 years ago to safeguard the interests of all pure and traditional breeds of poultry in this country and throughout the world, and the Winter Fair Poultry Show, like others with championship status, is playing a crucial role in protecting irreplaceable stock bloodlines which have been maintained by generations.

A visit to the show at the Winter Fair is a fascinating experience and one not to be missed because the colourful display of up to 1000 birds is an education itself. Many of the breeds represent a genetic bank preserved for future generations of poultry keepers mainly by the smaller breeders and poultry ‘fanciers’ whose enthusiasm and interest have enabled dozens of old breeds to survive and thrive.

Nearly every one of the breeds on view has a long history behind it for domestic poultry were commonly kept throughout the ancient world and evidence suggests that the fowl was fully domesticated in India by around 2000 BC. Some of the breeds exhibited at Llanelwedd actually originated in India. The Brahma, for example, is said to derive its name from India’s Brahmaputra river, one of the world’s longest, and a trawl through the poultry show programme reveals the names of breeds which give the event a truly international flavour. To name just a few and their countries of origin there is the Cochin from China, the first specimens of which were sent to Britain in 1843 as present for Queen Victoria; the Barnvelder from Holland introduced here in the 1920s; the Ancona (Italy), and the Maran (France), Australorp (Australia), and the Araucana (Chile), and there are others too with their exotic names and backgrounds which visitors to the show can see and identify. The Poultry Show includes a waterfowl section which is organised in conjunction with the British Waterfowl Association. Here, again, many varieties of waterfowl provide an opportunity to see interesting breeds such as the Welsh Harlequin, developed as recently as 1949 from the familiar Khaki-Campbell, and the local Brecon Buff, a breed based on the traditional buff-coloured geese of Mid Wales. With Christmas just around the corner, there are even a few classes for turkeys which, incidentally, were first imported into Britain in the 16th century from Mexico.

The Poultry Show has classes for eggs, including one for the best decorated egg, and there are also competitions for junior poultry keepers in which they can demonstrate their skills at the preparation of poultry for showing, their handling techniques and knowledge of the breed they exhibit.

Stephen Kinsey Pugh, the RWAS Assistant Honorary Director Poultry, said: “This will be a spectacular show full of interest for visitors especially those who are thinking of taking up poultry keeping as a hobby or of buying a few hens to provide a regular supply of fresh eggs. They will find numerous exhibitors at the show who will be pleased to answer questions about the various breeds and pass on useful information and helpful hints.”

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