Maman Poule

The last Saturday of November this year I took some time out to visit a local poultry show in Niort, Western France.  (This particular show is normally held in January, but for organisational reasons it has been brought forward this season.)

This year there are in excess of 3000 cages, over half of which are occupied by various breeds of rabbit.  A large portion of the remaining cages is dedicated to the National Competition for the Orpington, not often hosted by Niort’s poultry club, the « Société Avicole des Deux Sèvres » or SADS.

Its 9.30am and the queue for the Sales Office is already working overtime, with at least 40 people waiting to purchase their chosen subject…desperately hoping that it is not sold by the time its their turn.  I know this feeling well, as I am sure many of you do – turning up at opening time for a show is vital for this reason.  However all is not lost if you are unlucky enough to miss out – the breeder’s details are in the booklet available for purchase and online too, so you can contact them directly so check availability.

Walking past the rabbits, the first poultry we come across is my favourite breed, the Brahma, with a beautiful boy on display and the hen next to him of the same colour.  These birds always seem so much bigger in show for some reason!  I apologise if I spent too much time on him in the attached video, but I couldn’t help myself!

There are also a few Wyandottes, Rumpless Araucanas, Sablepoots and Sebrights on display.  A comparatively limited variety of breeds surely due to the sheer number of Orpingtons on display, both in large fowl and bantam form. 

About two thirds of the Orpingtons here are large fowl, with a fantastic opportunity to compare the two different sizes for future reference (henhouse size, etc).

I am lucky enough to have a good chat with the president of the French national Orpington club, Stéphane, who gives a great overview of the breed.  He takes particular pride in showing me the trophy winner for this year – a large fowl black cockerel, with a beautiful green sheen to his tail feathers.  This big boy is young, if his spurs are anything to go by. 

The leg ring is an indication of the year he was hatched, although not always 100% accurate as it is possible to put on previous year’s leg rings if stock is left over.  This chap wears dark blue, which indicates 2024.

Other colours on display are Buff, Buff Laced, Red, Brown (a beautiful chocolate colour) and Silver Laced. I invite you to take a few minutes to enjoy the video I have prepared for you, which gives a good representation of a poultry show.  Remember too that each and every subject in this show has had at least 30 minutes of pampering prior to the show: from having a bubble bath, a hair drying session and lots of fresh bedding indoors out of the bad weather and more grain than they can imagine!  That’s over 350 hours of pampering in this one show alone!!

3 top reasons why you should join a poultry club

I believe I touched on this subject before, but I do feel its important to understand why joining a club is advantageous.

• National clubs are ideal for specific breeds that you wish to specialise in.  In this instance the national Orpington club should be mentioned.  Many advantages come to mind, including valuable information on the breed standard and breed-specific support where needed.

There are numerous clubs throughout France, so choosing a local club that you can easily travel to for local meetings and help at the annual show is good for practicality’s sake.  For example, joining the SADS is a great idea if you are within reasonable distance (I was a member for many years, living 30kms away).

• Joining is a relatively inexpensive overhead and in exchange, gives access to organisation for shows that further away than reasonable driving distances allow, in a neighbouring country for example.  Stéphane points out that car sharing or even renting a large gite near a distant show is a great way to economise.

• A huge advantage of joining any club is being able to purchase the famous official leg rings, as they are otherwise unavailable!

Tip: The leg ring is put on when the bird is old enough for it not to fall off.  For a cockerel, it must remain above the spur to avoid elimination in a poultry show and great pain later on when the spur widens and the gap below the spur and above the toe shrinks.

It seems to be a nation-wide problem for poultry clubs, where a lack of young or new breeders is a problem.  Numbers of members are diminishing across France so its vital to support your local club, even if its for social reasons.

To recap, here are the contact details of two poultry clubs mentioned in this article if you wish to join up or request further information :