Our last show of the year was also the closest to home; the Billington Poultry Club Autumn Show was quite literally only 5 minutes drive away.
It followed hot on the heels of the High Wycombe Show which was held only 7 days previously. Being another relatively local show a lot of the same people were present, along with a few new faces. Once again it was great to chat to so many likeminded people, and it was a strange sensation for so many people to be quite so interested in my comprehensive egg statistics – I am usually greeted by blank stares and raised eyebrows when I start to show charts of egg-laying histories and explain the significance of a low standard deviation when choosing eggs for shows. But at poultry shows, the response is entirely different – people have a shared love of all things poultry and eggs.
We had another very successful day, once again exceeding any expectations we had before the show. Henerys II again won Best in Show with a plate of 6 of her eggs. I think she really has stolen the crown of Best Layer within our flock from Princess Layer. Poor Princess Layer didn’t even place in the single light brown egg category. She’ll continue to enter shows but I think she’s entered early retirement following her successes in the last couple of years.
Obviously, Henerys II’s Best in Show was our proudest moment of the day, but it’s also worth noting this was the first time we won the Contents category. This is something we’ve been eager to do well in ever since we started showing eggs because when we give our eggs to friends and family, they are not too concerned about the shape, condition and similarity of the eggs, it’s always about what’s inside the shell!
| Class | Name | Placing | Chicken |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | 1 large light brown | Did not place | Princess Layer |
| C | 1 large white | 2nd | Henerys II |
| E | 1 large blue | 1st | Miss Moneyhenny |
| P | 3 any colour large | 1st | Henerys II |
| S | 3 distinct colours | 1st | Princess Layer, Henerys II & Miss Moneyhenny |
| T | 6 any colour large | 1st | Henerys II |
| V | Large contents | 1st | Henerys II |
The show saw a decent turnout in the egg categories; there were 65 entries made up of 54 egg plates, 10 contents plates and a single, very topical, decorated egg displaying a beautiful poppy.
Stunned! pic.twitter.com/2Ua5M6gOOe
— Leighton B Chickens (@LBchickens) November 12, 2017
The Best in Show bird was a beautiful Sebright pullet, entered by Robin Creighton.
All the girls of Leighton Buzzard Chickens can take a well-deserved rest now over the winter. We’ve had a year of successes which we could never have imagined, and we don’t have any expectations that we will reach these heady heights again next year, but we eagerly await the 2018 shows.
