The Daily Citizen, Dalton, GA

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  • Dakota Owens, 11, of Cisco, holds one of his patridge wyndottes at a bantam poultry show in Dalton on Saturday. (Rachel Brown/The Daily Citizen)

    Bantam chickens 2.jpg

  • Junior Jenkins of Ellijay holds one of his Old English chickens at an American Bantam Association show in Dalton on Saturday. (Rachel Brown/The Daily Citizen)

    Bantam chickens 1.jpg

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March 13, 2011

Small stock

Thousands of birds flock to bantam chicken show

Rachel Brown rachelbrown@daltoncitizen.com

DALTON — 1,104.

That’s how many bird brains were showing off at the North Georgia Fairgrounds Saturday.

Oh yeah, there were people there, too.

If you believe that birds of feather do flock together, you didn’t have to go any further than Dalton to find bantam chickens of all shapes, sizes and colors gathered under one roof for two youth and adult shows hosted by the Carpet City Bantam Club and put on through the American Bantam Association and American Poultry Association.

Inside one of the metal-sided buildings at the fairgrounds, people milled about through rows of cages, strolling past the aisles that were roped off while judges took the birds one at a time out of their cages to examine them. Each breed has different color, feather, comb and leg characteristics judges look for in a contest.

With more than 1,000 birds and 142 exhibitors in one building, the noise level was high. Yet the birds, for the most part, were calm and used to human interaction. The animals are divided into several classes, based mostly on physical characteristics found among certain breeds.

“Every bird is judged on their standards that the ABA sets,” said Chris Owens, whose 11-year-old son, Dakota, is in his second year showing the birds.

Exhibitors are allowed to show more than one bird per show. Dakota showed nine birds, including five golden-red New Hampshires, which he said are among his favorites.

Each bird must be cleaned and prepped before a show, and they must be handled every day.

“It gets them used to (being touched) so if you put your hand in there, they don’t go flying around,” Dakota explained.

Dakota, who lives in Cisco in Murray County, said it takes about 15 minutes per bird to get ready for a show. Their beaks and toenails must be clipped, and the bird must be cleaned. Dakota said he washes his birds using two buckets.

One bucket contains malathion to kill mites while the other contains soap, water and vinegar. Dakota said he washes the chickens in the two buckets then dries them with a blow dryer and a towel. They usually go to sleep during the process, he said.

Junior Jenkins of Ellijay said he normally competes in 15 to 20 shows per year and has been entering shows for 10 years.

So what’s something most people probably don’t know about chickens?

“They make good pets,” he said.

Saturday’s shows drew people from Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee among other areas, said show secretary Jeff Wilson.

For Dalton area restaurants and other retail businesses that was an opportunity for a lot of chicken scratch.

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