Standard Bred Exhibition Poultry
By Richard Peters - APA Judge # 1009
Shawnee Expo Center
Shawnee, OK 12-14-13
by Richard Peters - APA Judge
96th Annual Oklahoma State Poultry Federation Show
Shawnee Expo Center
Shawnee, OK 12--12
by Richard Peters - APA Judge #1009
(Coming Soon)
95th Annual Oklahoma State Poultry Federation Show
Shawnee Expo Center
Shawnee, OK 12-9&10-11
by Richard Peters - APA Judge #1009
Let me introduce myself first-
After over 25 years away from the fancy I had the opportunity to rejoin members of the fancy in 2011. It is great to be back.
My first Oklahoma State Poultry Federation event was in 1966 in Oklahoma City. The event was held in the old Zebra Room of the Oklahoma City Civic Center. The Civic Center was the great grand daddy of the modern day Cox and Ford Centers. The event in those days was attended by many a legend of the Fancy. Leo Bowers with his classic Buff Orpingtons, AJ Lance and his legendary SC White Leghorns, Ken Poynor of Norman strutting his prize Cornish and the list goes own. When I was attending in my early days in the mid 60's Mr. Elvin Schultz was the APA Secretary and he was followed by Mr. Allen Fitchett of Cushing, OK. The show director for the 4-H and FFA was my mentor Dr. George Newell of the OSU Poultry Science Department.
I was fortunate in those early days to have old time breeders who would take young kids under their wing and teach them about the different breeds and about the fancy in general. They stressed the importance of keeping the standard breed characteristic's first and foremost when breeding the different breeds and varieties. I learned a great deal from these gentlemen and my mind was like a sponge, soaking up everything they taught me. It wasn't long before I soon decided to take the APA Judges exam and became the second youngest APA Judge in history at the time. I literally took an entire year to prepare for my tests at the Annual APA Show in Hutchinson, KS. My test was administer to me by the legend himself, Hi Patton of KS. I became Judge number 1009 and I was nosed out of the title of youngest Judge by only a couple of weeks age by Charles Mahoney who received Judge number 1008. I believe we were both 19 years of age.
I showed showed several years and conducted several of our own shows under banner of the "Canadian Valley Poultry Association" with legends like Eugene Murnan, Corky Higbee and Ken Poynor. I won several National Championships with my outstanding Beltsville Small White, Large Whites and Bronze Turkeys. I also, along with Gene Murnan showed several big show Champions with SC Rhode Island Reds, White Rocks and Barred Rocks. We won many honors including the Houston Livestock Show, Oklahoma State Fair, OK State Poultry Federation Show, Colorado State Fair. I selected and raised all of these large birds from breeders from all over the country such as Joseph Rotella of VA (Barred Rocks), the Red's came from Scranton, PA and the Turkeys became my own bloodlines.
I judged several shows with the likes of Dave Sherrill of TX and Old English fame and several of the other old timers. I loved judging birds. I also coached our local HS FFA Poultry Judging team in the meantime to several State Championships and a 2nd place National Team title.
Soon I decided to attend college and majored in Law Enforcement Administration at the University of Oklahoma and had to leave the fancy to attend college. Life continued but I never forgot about the wonderful experiences I lived while involved with my birds.
Through all of the years though I never quit studying the Standard, I kept my subscription to the Poultry Press as well through the years. I was thoughtful enough as well in those early days to take APA Secretary Allen Fitchett's advice and purchase a lifetime membership in the APA.
Fast forward to 2011 and the State Poultry Show. WOW. What can I say. I was impressed with the quality of birds and the friendliness and fellowship of the people in charge of the event. I volunteered to clerk for Mr. Jim Sallee of CA and we had an excellent time visiting and talking the birds. I think he was surprised to find that I was actually a licensed APA Judge. I know I was impressed with his knowledge and skill in judging. My youngest son attended the event with me as well and he fell in love with the birds, especially the Geese. Needless to say, I am back and I want to help in any way to preserve the Fancy, the Standard and the Oklahoma State Poultry Federation and it's illustrious show.
Now about the show from my perspective.
What struck me first when I walked in the door of the Shawnee Expo Center was the number of people who were working and going about the business of putting together a poultry show with over 2,000 birds in the coops. Many people do not realize how valuable these people who give of their time and money to assist in the production of a show such as this one. I was impressed to see so many people working in so many different areas of the building while exhibitors were bringing in their birds. I also noticed that although things were busy and everyone seemed to have their own job to do, everyone was very polite and helpful.
As I toured the building on Friday night I was impressed with the number of Water Fowl in the show. This is something we never used to see much in the '60's and '70's. Not only were the numbers there the quality seemed to be in the show as well.
I would have liked to have seen a few more Turkeys in the building but the Bronze Tom which won the show was a very impressive bird indeed.
I was impressed with the number of Marans that were shown. I was lucky enough to get to clerk for Judge Jim Sallee of CA during this class and I learned a great deal about these birds. This was a great collection of many different varieties.
Other outstanding sets of Large Birds included the Rocks, Cochins, Brahmas, Orpingtons and Leghorns.
I didn't get to stay around for the crowning of the Over-All Champions for the show but I did get to visit Champion Row before departing for the day. I was very impressed by the Old English Male, the White Cochin Female Bantam, White Rock Large Fowl. I was also very impressed with the Wyandotte, Brahma, Rosecomb, RI Red, Old English, Modern Game and Cochin Bantams. Excellent collection of birds which were in outstanding show condition.
Over all I had an outstanding time at the show and really enjoyed seeing some very high quality birds. I must say that Oklahoma is very fortunate to have the leadership and the outstanding breeders to make a show like the Oklahoma State Poultry Federation a huge success. I plan to volunteer to help as much as I possibly can to ensure the fancy, the Standard and this show survives for the next generations to come. To the people who worked unselfishly to make this show what it was I say THANK YOU!
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