State Master Showmanship - Poultry

What are the eight turkey varieties?

Standard Bronze

White Holland

Bourbon Red

Beltsville Small White

Narrangansett

Slate

Black

Royal Palm

Most popular Chicken breed by numbers in the US

Rhode Island Red

Barred Rock

White Leghorn

Buff Orpington

How many breeds of chicken are recognized by APA?

As of 2025, there are 53 large foul breds and 57 Bantam breeds

What breed is known as the King of chickens

Brahma due to their large size

What is the record for number of eggs laid in one year? What breed?

364 eggs per year for the Australorp

What is the Age of: Cock, Cockerell, Hen, Pullet

Cock: male fowl one year old/older

Cockerel: male fowl less than one year

Pullet: Female Fowl less than one year

Hen: Female Fowl one year old/older

What are common dieases for backyard poultry?

Marek’s Disease, fowl Pox, Bird Flu (H5N1)

What is a frizzle?

A frizzle is not a breed but a fether characteristic where the feather curve and curl backward and upward at the ends, most noticeable in the saddle and hackle feathers. Frizzles may be shown in any breed or vairety.

Name the 10 different chicken comb types

Single comb

Chrysanthemum comb

Rose comb

Pea comb

V-shaped comb

Cushion comb

Butercup comb

strawberry comb

Walnut comb

Silkie comb

name a breed with five toes

Dorking, Faverolle, Houdan, Silkie, Sultan

What does the pubic measurement determine

Also called the pin bone spacing, indicates a hen is eady to start laying eggs or hen in production(3/4 finger width is god laying width). A narrow pin bone width (less then 2 fingers wide) suggests hen is not currently laying eggs.

What does dual purpose mean

egg production and meat

Name some dual purpose breeds

Leghorns, plymouth rock, rhode island red

What is the lower portion of the comb below the spikes called

the base of the comb

What are the APA recognized leg colors for chickens

Yellow

White

Black

Blue

Willow Green

Name a breed with yellow legs

White Leghorns

Name a breed with White legs

White Plymouth Rock

Name a breed with Black legs

Australorp

Name a breed with blue legs

Red Caps

Name a breed with Willow Green legs

Blue matra

Name a breed with pinkish white legs

Buff/White Orpingtons

What is the protien percent in poultry feed?

Grower is 14-5%

Layer is 16-17%

Chick is 18-19%

What is the incubation period for an egg

21 days

Why should you not feed your bird before showmanship

so crop doesn’t empty when you turn the bird upside down

how often do hens lay eggs

Max once per day, or up to 365 eggs per year possible (unlikely as they do take one or more days off per week, especially as hens age)

What is the maximum age of egg laying productivity per year?

Peak is at 30 weeks old, up to two years. After two years theproductivity begins to decline

What is a castrated rooster called

capon

How many capons are hatched each year

NONE capons are castrated roosters

Name the groups in the APA

Large (6 classes: American, Asiatic, English, Continental, Mediterranean, All other standard breeds

Bantam (5 classes): Game Bantam, Single Comb Clean Legged, Rose Comb Clean legged

Goose: Heavy, Medium, Light

Duck: Heavy, Medium, Light, Bantam

Turkey: Guinea Fowl Class

What are true bantam breeds?

Belgian D. Uccles, Belgian D’Anver, Seabright, Japanese, Rosecomb

Name two poultry diseases?

Avian influenza

Coccidiosis

Name a few duck breeds?

…

What is VND and how can it be prevented

Virulent Newcastle Disease. I

-ts a fatal viral disease in poultry that is spread by poultry droppings or secretions and inhaled by other birds. It can be transmitted through contaminated clothing, shoes, or equipment.

-Symptoms: wheezing, coughing, nasal discharge, swollen eye/hear/comb, tremors, dropping wings, twisting head/neck, or sudden death.

-Treatment: it can be vaccinated against with LAsota or B1 available at most feed stores. only works in healthy birds.

How is the VND vaccine administered?

Using an eye dropper the vaccine is placed into each eye of the bird.

What are some biosercurity steps

-footbath with 10% bleach solution before entering poultry areas

-house poultry indoors or with a fully screened run

-avoid direct contact with wild birds

-avoid visiting other flocks in reported areas of outbreak

-isolate any symptomatic birds

-familiarize yourself with symptoms of disease for quick identification

-keep tools clean and water/feed areas disinfected

-health checks on flock

-quarantine new birds before introducing them to the flock

Name some smart practices when buying birds from someone else

Buy from reputable breeders. Request certificatio from suppliers that birds were legally imported. Maintain records, quaratine new birds for 30 dats, keep young.old birds and different species separate.

How many chromosomes do chickens have

78 chromosomes (39 pairs)

Where are axial feathers located and how many do chickens have

Between primary and secondary with 2 in total

Avg temp. for chicken egg incubation

100 F

What is the incubation period for ducks

28 days

What is another name for the breast bone in chickens

keel or sternum

how many secondary feathers do chickens have

14-18

What part of the hen is the egg shel produced

Shell Gland or uterus

Aside from featherning what are other characteristics common to roosters>

Larger comb, wattles, spurs, brighter colors, crowing

What breed of chicken can have more than one spur, and spurs are desired.

Sumatra

What is the crop and what is its function

The crop is a pre-stomach: an enlargement of the esophagus located on the neck above the junction of the body cavity. it holds food the chicken eats to help break down the food and release it into digestive tract

What is the gizzard and function

part of the digestive system where food is groun before entering the true stomach. The gizzard along with grit and small pebbles break down food.

What is bumble foot

infection of the foot pad in pultry usually bacterial from staph

What is squirrel tail

when the tail loops back at a 90 degree angle almost touching the back, its a DQ in allbreed beside japanese bantams

what are characteristics of male and female plumage

Male: long pointed hackles, saddle feathers, sickles, usually brighter, and vibrant colored feathering

Female: No saddle feathers, or sickles, generally shorter blunt hackles, not as brightly colored feathering

What are sacley mites, symptoms and treatments

crusty, bumpy, swollen, scales.

treated by rubbbing legs in petroleum jelly and can be soften with soapy water soak then by applying leg treatment ot ivermectin

What does station mean

a term applied to describe the ideal pose and symmetry of modern games

name some DQS from combs

lopped comb, spilt comb, side sprigs

what is spilt wing

distinct gap between primary and secondary feather (missing feather)

what is wry tail

a tail permanetly camped to one side of vertical. A DQ

What is the body size of an Australorp

medium weight

how many varieties do australorps have

one- standard black

how many varieties of orpingtons are there

four: buff, black, white, blue

which breed of chicken is considered the ultimate emat breed?

cornish

how many breeds are in the mediterrranean class?

seven: Leghorn, Minorca, Spanish, Andalusians, Ancoas, Sicilian Buttercups, Catalanas

How does a capon differ in appearance from a rooster

capon are castrated rooster and do not develop characteristics of full comb and wattles or the long hackles/saddle feathers or tail