With hundreds of bird entries, the poultry barn at the Newton County Fair will be one hopping place this week.
Variety is what will draw people in, said Erin Garren, poultry superintendent.
“We’re going to have a lot of different kinds of birds so it will be a good time for people to see the difference, that a chicken is not a “chicken.”
Most people, she said, think of chickens as either a white bird or the black and white barred Plymouth rocks often seen in folk art.
“Most people either think of them as our white leghorns or barred rocks – which is black and white, or a buff Orpington which is a golden color,” she said, “but there are so many more.”
Folks should come by and see the birds, she said.
“This year is probably one of our best years for variety, instead of just having a large number of the same birds we have a lot of different birds,” Garren said. “Some of these don’t even actually look like a chicken.”
She estimates there will be more than 40 breeds of birds.
“We’re going to have silkies, which they don’t really have a real feather – it’s almost like a fluffy hair-looking thing.”
A variety of colors from black to buff, silver-spangled to the multi-colored mille fleurs will fill the pens.
The main categories are the “fancy feathers” typically used to breed; crosses and production reds typically used for laying; market pens, or birds used for meat; and waterfowl – ducks and geese.
There are more than 400 birds in this year’s fair with 123 bantams, 119 large fowl pens, 43 market pens, 56 waterfowl and 30 dozen eggs. Some categories – like market pens and production – require three birds per entry.
The eggs sit in the barn on a table. Competitors have to show a full dozen.
The little birds are fun to watch.
“Most breeds have a standard and a bantam,” Garren said, “so they have a big one and then they have a miniature, which is literally an exact replica of the bigger version, but it’s much smaller.
“Everything about them is identical – other than the size.”
The category has grown in recent years.
“It is very large,” Garren said “It has grown in the last few years. It’s probably one of the bigger exhibits of all the species of animals.”
Chickens are easy to keep and a growing number of kids who live in town are raising them for their exhibits.
“These are great projects for people who don’t necessarily have a lot of room or space, but want their kids to have that experience with animals,” Garren said. “They’re also great projects for little kids, especially the bantams because they are smaller and little kids can handle them.”
The broiler pen show is at 4 p.m. Wednesday and the poultry show at 10 a.m. Thursday, but the barn is open all four days.
