THE poultry pavilion at Coonamble Showground was close to capacity on the weekend as Coonamble Poultry Club hosted their annual Poultry Show on Saturday 1 July.

More than 400 birds were entered in the hard-fought competition which attracted enthusiasts of all ages and from areas far and wide.

Father and son judging team Luke and Gary Turner from Clandulla (near Mudgee) took responsibility for selecting the winners in the Hard Feather and Soft Feather divisions respectively.

The Champion Bird of Show this year was a male Call Duck belonging to Misty Downs who are based near Gilgandra.

It is no small feat for a waterfowl to take the top prize in a competition where they are outnumbered by an assembly breeds of high quality poultry.

"When you have chooks you don't like to get beaten by a duck," joked local poultry enthusiast Lisa Wheeler. "But we did. He was a very well presented duck." 

Misty Downs also won Champion Waterfowl.

Each year a feature breed is chosen and this year Jess Freeman from Narrabri won Best Feature Breed in Show with her lovely lavender Araucana, which also won Best Mediterranean in Show and Champion Rare Breed.

The Provest Family from Walgett was awarded Reserve champion Rare Breed for their Malay, a game-type bird not often seen in Coonamble.

ABOVE: Josh and Tennyson Allport from Inverell brought 30 birds to the show. Pictured with Modern Game blue tail.

Rachel Condon of Dubbo won Supreme Champion and Champion soft feather bantam with her black Pekin cockerel. 

Local poultry breeder Chris Buckley, who has had substantial competitive success lately, claimed the Champion Soft Feather large with an Australorp pullet and Reserve champion hard feather bantam with a Modern Game partridge coloured pullet.

Gilgandra breeders are always well represented and this year Mary Westwood took home Reserve champion soft feather large with a black Leghorn pullet while Ian Young won Champion hard feather large with a partridge Old English Game (OEG) pullet.

Josh Allport and his son Tennyson travelled from Warialda with no less than thirty birds. They were rewarded with Reserve champion hard feather large for a black Pitt Game pullet, as well as Reserve champion waterfowl and Best hard feather of show other than O.E.G. 

Coonabarabran couple Althea and John Catts competed in different sections. "This is Althea's second year of competing," said John. "I've been at it a while - I first competed here in Coonamble when I was fourteen."

ABOVE: Althea and John Catts from Coonabarabran with John's best hard feather bantam.

John's white Leghorn pullet won Reserve champion soft feather bantam and his black tailed wheaten pullet won champion hard feather bantam, while Althea's white Leghorn pullet won Best Light Breed in show. 

Graham Tandy's Anconas are always hard to beat and this year he continued his good form winning the Barry Jackson Memorial Trophy for Best Ancona in Show. 

In the juniors Belle Leehy (Narrabri) reaped the rewards of her quality entries across multiple categories winning Junior Hard feather large, junior soft feather bantam, junior waterfowl, champion junior exhibitor, reserve champion junior exhibitor. 

Local entrant Hannah Nicol won Junior soft feather large with a lovely Langshan pullet.

Maddie Tanner (Dubbo) won Junior hard feather bantam and Max Bell (Dubbo) took home the Junior encouragement award.

The small Poultry Club committee were very pleased with their 2023 Show and were well-supported by local businesses and families who sponsored prizes and food for the event.