The Chicken Show

In the fall of my sophomore year at college, after I had been working with the chickens at the bio station for a year, Prof gave my friend Frank and me $100 and sent us off to buy some chickens at the Ohio National poultry show. I was without a car in college, so even the prospect of a road-trip was exciting. We drove the two hours down to Columbus listening to the “Flashdance” soundtrack.

In my year with the chickens I had learned a lot about their care and I had gotten to know about the various breeds that we kept. We had a good variety, from the common egg-laying Leghorns to the unusual, naked-necked Turkens and the top-knotted Polish. There were game breeds too--Aseels and bantam Old English games, so I had worked with a lot of different breeds (but curiously none of the ones I keep now).

Silkie

The poultry show opened my eyes. In the huge, chilly hall were hundreds of caged chickens, the roosters creating a din that had to be shouted over, the dusty air smelling of chickens. I was instantly smitten with the fluffy poodle-like Silkies (in those days coming only in black or white) and also the rainbow of modern games, their long skinny legs lending them a stilt-like quality; they looked more like shorebirds than chickens. There were broad, double-breasted bantam Cornish and well, giant Jersey Giants.

Bantam modern game

Our $100 went pretty far that day. We came home with Silkies, a trio of bantam blue rocks, birchen modern games, and white-crested Polish bantams. We rounded up boxes at the show for transport, but I remember that some of our new chickens had to ride the two hours home in paper bags!

Polish

Over the years I returned from time to time; I ended up living in central Ohio after I was done with school, so it was never much of a drive. Every time I went, especially after I had my house in the country, I’d spend the next few weeks dreaming and planning for chickens until the business of the holiday season distracted me. But always, in late fall, my thoughts turned to chickens.

Last year I went to the show for the first time in many years when my new chicks were only 2 weeks old. As I walked from the parking lot, the noise and smell hitting me, exhibitors unloading chickens in wooden cages from the backs of pickups, the decades fell away and it was like I was in college again. Only this time I had chickens of my own.

Shamo

Yesterday I went again, determined not to buy any since my flock is finally down to a comfortable size. I didn’t get any, but this time I was stopped in my tracks by the Shamos. You can’t doubt the T. rex-chicken connection after you’ve been stared down by one of these! I was also drawn to the Sicilian buttercups with their antler-combs. Neither of these breeds would thrive in my unheated coop, but they are striking birds.

Buttercup