The 13th of May 2017 saw us visit Crick for our third egg show hosted by the Northampton and District Poultry Club. Last year we were stunned to walk away with the coveted Best in Show award (thanks to Princess Layer’s entry in the 3 large light brown eggs category). Both Princess Layer and Ella are another year older; their eggs are coming slightly less frequently and the quality was seemingly lower. Accordingly, we went to the show with low expectations, we agreed we’d be quite content with a top 3 placing in any category we entered. Then a couple of weeks before the egg show, Ella went on an uncharacteristic run of laying for 6 consecutive days and the eggs were some of the best she has laid. We were then quietly confident of a first or second in the “single large egg – any other colour” category.
Saturday morning came and we sat around the dining table grouping eggs into their categories, a much trickier and more time-consuming task than you might imagine! With eggs from both girls, we were able to get together entries for 6 categories. Off we headed to Crick.
We arrived at the village hall, registered our entries and handed back the Best in Show trophy. As usual, we had some lovely nibbles and tea, we enjoyed some chats with other attendees both old and new while the judge, Toddy Hamilton-Gould, deliberated over the 142 entries across all categories.
As the categories were assessed, the certificates started appearing beside the plates and to our surprise, we were placing well. Alongside our plates of 3 eggs, we saw a first and a third, and the certificates kept on coming.
| Class | Name | Placing | Chicken |
|---|---|---|---|
| 211 | 3 large light brown | 1st | Princess Layer |
| 212 | 3 large any other colour | 3rd | Ella |
| 216 | 1 large light brown | 1st | Princess Layer |
| 217 | 1 large any other colour | 1st | Ella |
| 219 | 6 large any colour | 1st | Princess Layer |
| 224 | Large contents | - | Princess Layer |
| 230 | A5 photo (poultry subject) | 1st | N/A |
Needless to say, we were delighted with these results however the biggest shock was yet to come. We noticed our 6 large eggs had been taken away to be photographed with the trophy we had returned only an hour or so previously. We (well I suppose Princess Layer) had won Best in Show for the second year running. We headed to the event with genuinely low expectations so this was a complete shock to us.
This year the Egg Show was affiliated with the National Federation of Poultry Clubs, meaning as well as the Best in Show trophy and rosette from the N&D club, we also received a medal and rosette from The Federation along with a card we can take to their Annual Championship Show in December to collect a tankard. We’re certainly looking forward to that.
Thank you to all those at the Northampton and District Poultry Club for hosting such a great event and welcoming us each year.
Neville and Jane
