The Ohio National

The Ohio National 2023 was quite an adventure for our farm. Traveling arrangements are composed of myself and the birds, so help was limited to my own two hands. Given the historic nature of this 150th anniversary event for the American Poultry Association, the notion of not attending was a mute point.

I prepared for this show like many others. I conditioned my birds from the moment they hatched. If people don’t prepare this way, I reckon they don’t find much success. Lucky for me, my nutrition wizard, Jeff Mattocks from Fertrell, was in attendance and had the opportunity to see in person the beautiful birds his nutrition plan helped grow. Beyond the obvious conditioning, I decided to take my birds to 2 shows leading up to the National. They were too young to really do anything, but I wanted them in cages before I was 8 hours from home with birds that had never been confined for multiple days with spectators constantly walking by.

*Photo taken by UK judge and Fancy Fowl Magazine editor Jed Dwight*

It turned out my choice to exhibit young birds ahead of the show paid off not only in a Res. Ch. AOSB placing, but also because my birds truly were seasoned and there was no drama for coop in, coop out, travel time, or anything in between. I put a lot of careful consideration into the welfare of my birds and try and make choices that set them up for success while keeping my life low stress.

My impression of the Ohio National, as an exhibitor who had never attended before, was that it was a very well oiled machine. Check in was smooth, everything was organized, and that in turn made exhibitors much more relaxed and able to enjoy the whole experience. Top notch organization for an event that was expecting 10,600 birds was essential. The APA table was very busy every single day. People were lining up to buy the newest Standard of Perfection, sweatshirts, raffle tickets, and even a free signed copy of the History of the APA. There were many breed clubs with tables, a few great vendors, and a large sale barn, all of these kept me on the move every day.

*Special awards for members of the Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities*

The highlight of my show, without a doubt, was the dozens of people I had the chance to talk to who were passing by my cage. I had one of two cages, out of 10,600, that had to be lifted with 4” boards in order for my cockerel to stand properly upright. I bring these along myself and highly recommend it for anyone showing an XL breed. Lucky for me Jim Zook gave me this tip well ahead of time or else I probably would have not known it was even allowable to do so.

*Blocks under the coop allow breeds like Shamo and Malay to stand naturally.*

The Oriental Games were not a big presence unfortunately. There was a handful of LF Sumatra, 2 LF Malay, 3 LF Cubalaya, 1 Asil, and 4 Shamo. This is not a lot. I really hope to see this number increase over the course of my showing years. It was truly a pleasure answering questions about the Shamo and I think the gears were turning for several people how they could manage to keep some in the future.

The APA banquet and the Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities awards were the last two big events of the show for me. Saturday night the banquet was flush with good company. Who can beat sitting around a table with a bunch of chicken people talking history, genetics, and the future of the hobby? First thing the next morning was the SPPA awards which I somehow got the wrong time for in my head and I’ll probably never make peace with that. I made it just in time for it to be over and was presented with the Champion Old Breed award. Literally could not have imagined a better ending to the show. I didn’t come for any award, but it was like the cherry on top to my amazing adventure at The Ohio National Poultry Show.

Gamefowl Nutrition with Jeff Mattocks

History of the Shamo