GUNNEDAH Poultry Club recently held its 69th annual show at the Gunnedah Showgrounds.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Club secretary Janice Mammen said there were 565 entries this year, with a great range of fowls exhibited of a “very high standard”.
Club president Chris Mammen said numbers were down because many had attended the National Poultry Show in Sydney the previous weekend.
“The quality of fowls at our show is generally good or better than what you’d see at nationals and Sydney Royal [Easter] Show,” he said.
“We have people come from Western NSW, so Coonable and Gilgandra, Hermidale, and then we get a lot from Tamworth, New England, Narrabri up towards Gravesend, Inverell way, and we normally get a lot from the upper Hunter, and Quirindi. And we generally get a bit of a following from that Dubbo/Dunedoo area as well.
“We try to draw judges from outside the area to draw more people to the show.”
Some of the classes were quite full, which kept judges Geoff Rogers and Brian Weis quite busy.
“The juniors was quite competitive this year. I think we had over 50 junior entries, and the majority of those are local,” Mr Mammen said.
“The quality of the chooks in the junior section was as good as the open section and I guess that’s reflective of the culture of the club.
Mr Mammen said the atmosphere show was warm and friendly, and allowed exhibitors to mingle.
“As an exhibitor it’s a chance to show off what you’ve got and get other opinions… [I]t’s a bit of an opportunity for learning and that. There’s always something that you can learn when you’re talking to other people from away,” he said.
The Ossie Douglas Memorial Bird in Show was won by Hudson & Brown, and Reserve Bird in Show went to T Johnson of Tamworth.
Local junior Chas Jaeger won champion and reserve Old English Game bantam in the open section then cleaned up in the Junior sections, winning overall champion and reserve junior, and champion large fowl junior. Junior Harvey Jaeger took out reserve champion for Hard Feather Bantam. The Osland kids won reserve champion for large fowl in the junior section.
Peter Smallpiece won champion Heavy Soft Feather Bantam and Nicole Smith won champion and reserve Old English Game, and champion for any variety hard feather in the ladies section. Bert Hewitt of Gunnedah claimed reserve light soft feather and Peter Smith of Tamworth won champion and reserve champion Sussex.
“Our club members put in a huge effort, with preparation and providing a great day for all,” Mrs Mammen said.