Henley Show

[dinosaw]

I was wondering if anyone had been to previous shows and can say if it is any good?. It is on next week and seems to have a good range of poultry on show but you never can tell.

 

[valeriebutterley]

Did not know there was a show in Henley!
I'm going to the Windlesham and district show on Saturday and will post how it is.

 

[dinosaw]

It's quite big one apparently, only one day but a lot going on, don't think I will go as I can do without coming away having bought some more chickens really and lets face it I would if I went.
Here is there website if you are interested
http://www.thehenleyshow.co.uk

 

[valeriebutterley]

The West End and Windlesham show was good, very local and people very involved.
Nice exhibits, jams, cakes, eggs, crafts, wonderful flowers and vegetables. A lovely brewery Shire horses and cart which granddaughters and myself used for a ride!
A few chickens exhibited, probably only about 15, apparently numbers down this year, so maybe next year I will put in a Croad or Ancona, or maybe one of my yet to be collected Speckled Sussex.
Beautiful showground, plenty of room and fun for little ones.
Amy and Lucy voted it a good local outing, to be repeated next year.

 

[dinosaw]

Sounds like a nice little show, I wasn't that impressed with Henley, at a £12 entry fee I thought there were too many shops and not enough animals, produce, machinery etc. To be fair they are sandwiched right in the middle of the 1 day Bucks county show which was 2 weeks ago and the 2 day Berkshire county show which is next week so I think a lot of the livestock people would have been saving themselves for those 2 shows. They had a show jumping competion, falconry display and the usual livestock/poultry competitions. There was actually a decent amount of poultry probably about 100 plus chickens on show and about another 50-60 chickens for sale ,none of which really took my fancy, seemed to be a lot of Pekin trios/pairs and single Wyandotte hens though they were selling quite well. The only birds which almost tempted me were a pair of little Ko Shamo pullets which were very cute. One thing that made me smile were the prize winning leeks which may pass for good specimens round here but were about a quarter of the size of the ones my dad used to grow and I don't think he ever came higher than 30th in the local WMCs competition.

 

[valeriebutterley]

Interesting commdents about the leeks, the ones at WE would have fed a small army! A and L asked what they were, could not believe they were leeks.
You obviously like birds that are a bit different, I like the look of Ko Shamos, love their heads, primitive like jungle fowl, one of the things I particularly like about Indian (Cornish) game is the female head, stunning.
Having lost my beautiful "Indi" - blue, to the fox, I now have a dark girl, about 14 weeks who is georgeous, "Indi too" .

 

[dinosaw]

I've always really liked the look of game birds but have never actually kept any, I have always figured that they needed space to range but that would then present the problem of containing them as they are good flyers, of course I'm talking about the smaller breeds here rather than Indian which are also lovely looking birds but a bit too heavy to get too far off the ground. Interestingly the Ko Shamo could fit the bill in that respect as they were bred by the Japanese to do well in small pens, my only worry would be the lack of plumage as it can apparently get bitterly cold here due to the wind whipping across the hill. Good to hear someone is flying the flag for Southern leeks , it was a huge tradition in the North East, even when I was growing up every pub and club had a leek show and virtually every world record leek came out of the region, I think the latest record holder from Sunderland grew a 21lb leek!!!, it's dying off up there now though which I suppose was inevitable but a shame nonetheless.

 

[valeriebutterley]

My blue Indian game was mentor and companion to two passed on and sickly, undersized, Pekin Partridge girls who were loved and cherished by me for all their short lives, about a year and a half. I read recently that Indian game are characterised as "agressive" by nature, which is not my view of them.
Indi could get off the ground if she had to, and defended the little Pekins if any other bird came too close when everyone else was out freeranging in the garden. Sinny, one of the Partridges, was a really bad tempered Pekin, and didn't actually need a minder! Indi in full head down charge mode was a sight to behold, enormous across the chest and legs like tree trunks, she looked not to be argued with. This belied her lovely nature, she was a real mummies girl.
A lovely bird, slouch at producing eggs, but wonderful to have in a mixed flock.