1 Rare Feathers September 2016
2 PATRON Chris Wisbey PRESIDENT Ellis Dick VICE PRESIDENT Dave Brown SECRETARY Jill Weaver TREASURER Dave Brown PROMOTIONS OFFICER Deanne Ledger WEBSITE ADMIN Isaac Walker
3 Next Meeting We were going to have a meeting on show day but it proved to be just too hard. Everyone was busy and it was never going to happen, so we decided to call that one off and re-schedule for a later date. We will now hold a meeting at Oatlands on September 23rd at 7 pm. Location, the meeting will be held at the school, access off Church street which runs up the side of the school off the main street. Tea and coffee will be available. The sub-committee will be putting forward their findings and suggestions to be discussed ready for the AGM in November. All members and guests are encouraged to attend. Every member is welcome to contribute to our club with not just their help but also their ideas, so please come along if you can. A reminder to all members that have not paid there membership, membership is now overdue. Membership falls due on June 30th with a two month leeway to allow for payment with show entries. If you wish to support your club please arrange to pay over-due membership, thank you You can contact the secretary jill.weaver@bigpond.com or our treasurer, Dave Brown welsummers@bigpond.com A turkey admirer just the right height to size up the bird. I am quite sure only the turkey s owner and another turkey would say he was handsome!
4 2016 Anniversary show results Champion rare breed of show Sonya Ford with a blue Orpington large Reserve Champion rare breed of show Deb Sigmund with a silver Sebright Champion rare breed soft feather large Sonya Ford with a blue Orpington hen Reserve champion, Sonya Ford with a gold Campine KL Champion rare breed soft feather bantam Deb Sigmund with a silver Sebright hen Reserve champion, James Barker with a light barred Plymouth Rock KL Champion rare breed hard feather large Don Rucker with an Aus. Pit Game pullet Reserve champion, E & L Dick with a black-red Modern Game cock Champion rare breed hard feather bantam Don Rucker with an Aus. Pit Game cock Reserve champion, Don Rucker with an Aus. Pit Game KL Champion Duck Shirley Mountney with an apricot Aus. Call duckling Reserve champion, D. Whiteley with a normal Mallard drakeling Champion Goose Jill Weaver with a brown Chinese goose Champion Turkey Mountain View Poultry with a slate gobbler Most Promising new breed or variety Jill Weaver with a barred New Hampshire cock Champion rare variety of show Tim Polley with an O.E.G. Tassel black-red bantam cock Reserve champion rare variety of show Ainslee Simpson with a blue Pekin pullet Champion rare variety soft feather large Phillip Evans with a coronation Sussex hen Reserve champion, Ross Wilson with a blue Aus. Langshan pullet Champion rare variety soft feather bantam Ainslee Simpson with a blue Pekin pullet Reserve champion, Sonya Ford with a white Aus. Langshan pullet Champion rare variety hard feather large Tim Polley with a mealy dun O.E.G. cock Reserve champion, Tim Polley with a ginger O.E.G. KL Champion rare variety hard feather bantam Tim Polley with a black-red Tassel O.E.G. cock Reserve champion, Logan Mountney with a grey O.E.G. cock Champion rare variety waterfowl D. Whiteley with a trout coloured Indian Runner duckling Reserve champion, Damian Whiteley with a trout coloured Indian Runner duck Champion Junior was Brayden Lynd with a silver spangled large Hamburgh pullet Reserve Champion Junior was Logan Mountney with a grey O.E.G. bantam cock Best Australian Breed was won by Sonya Ford with a white Australian Langshan pullet Best True Bantam was won by Deb Sigmund with a silver Sebright Encouragement Award was won by Matilda Hutt Feature breed was won by Glen Prien with a Phoenix cock
5 The following is a list of all The Best of Breed winners in the larger classes:- RARE BREEDS Best gold Campine Sonya Ford Best silver Campine Peter Batt Best silver pencilled Hamburgh Noel Wilson Best large Hamburgh Brayden Lynd Best New Hampshire Phillip Evans Best black Orpington large Sonya Ford Best large Aus. Pit Game Don Rucker Best Japanese Jill Weaver Best gold Sebright Joshua Batt Best silver Sebright Deb Sigmund Best Aus. Pit Game bantam Don Rucker Best Australian Call overall Shirley Mountney Best Araucana Oatlands School Best Mallard overall Damian Whiteley RARE VARIETIES Best Coronation Sussex large Phillip Evans Best blue Aus. Langshan bantam Maurice Young Best white Aus. Langshan bantam Sonya Ford Best blue Pekin Ainslee Simpson Best buff Pekin Ainslee Simpson Best Pekin overall Ainslee Simpson Best O.E.G. large Tim Polley Best O.E.G. bantam Tim Polley Best Silkie overall Liz Hardy Best silver-penciled Wyandotte bantam Bob Weldon Best large Wyandotte Ross Nester Best Modern Game bantam overall E & L Dick Everyone on this list received a medallion.
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1. Champion Junior Hamburgh large pullet. 2. Champion rare variety hard feather bantam O.E.G. Tassel blackred. 3. Champion rare variety hard feather large O.E.G. 4. Champion rare variety waterfowl trout coloured Indian Runner. 5. Champion rare variety soft feather bantam blue Pekin. 6. Champion rare variety soft feather large coronation Sussex. 7. Champion rare breed hard feather large Australian Pit Game. 8. Champion rare breed hard feather bantam Australian Pit Game. 9. Champion rare breed soft feather large blue Orpington. 10. Champion rare breed soft feather bantam and also best true bantam silver Sebright. 7
8 The 2016 Anniversary Show Our show was a huge success. We were just two birds shy of 600 entries. Entries included geese, turkeys, a few plates of eggs plus all the usual or should I say unusual, chooks and ducks one would expect to see at a rare breeds show. Ellis did a fantastic job opening the show as our patron sent his apologies that he would be unable to open the show due to work commitments. Chris did however organise an excellent interview on the radio that morning. Deanne Ledger and Dave Brown along with a faverolles hen went to the studio on the Monday and did a pre-recorded interview with our patron s boss as Chris was in hospital, I hope you are feeling a lot better now Chris. We had two fantastic judges who both enjoyed their day at the pavilion and were suitably impressed with the quality of our Tassie poultry. Gavin Wood mentioned when giving his speech, that judging our Rare Breeds show was one of the things that had been on his bucket list and he was delighted to have been invited over to do so. Frank Sawyer very generously donated three magnificent trophies for prizes which were given out to the Champion and Reserve Champion Rare Breed and the Champion Rare Variety winners. Frank made these himself especially for our show and brought them over with him. A big thank you Frank! Lorna did an excellent job in the kitchen putting on breakfast both days and cooking with the help of her daughter and a few other dedicated helpers, a very good lunch. Then Lorna and a few more helpers worked in the kitchen again to organise food for our annual dinner. The dinner was held at the Devonport club rooms and was well attended with approximately 30 or more people turning up. The judges stayed to enjoy the meal and talk to everyone. The dinner was very enjoyable with a relaxed atmosphere and everyone moving around socialising. The food was served onto a central table, with everyone helping themselves. A good variety of dishes were brought in from cold chicken and pizzas to hot potato bake and lasagne., salads abounded and there were plenty of dips. Many thanks Lorna and all the kitchen helpers for an excellent job providing food all day Saturday and again Sunday morning. A few other winners that have not been mentioned yet. Kat Watson, (Mountain View Poultry) won the raffle, a whipper-snipper donated by The Stihl Shop, Devonport, thank you Mark Wells for your generous donation. The Mountney s won the second draw which was a large plastic tub full of odds and ends including a door mat with chooks on it. These goodies were donated by Lorna Dick, the club and myself. The third draw was won by Richard Poke, this was a slow cooker donated by Wendy Anderson, thank you Wendy. The membership draw was won by The Biddle Brothers. The sale day went well although there was not a huge amount of money made. There were a few happy vendors though. Most people came in looking for large egg-laying type fowls and there were simply not enough of them at the sale for the number of buyers looking for them. Those vendors that were switched on and brought in large soft feather fowls all left with a grin on their faces! To the people that helped run the show and were there to assist with mix-ups and sorting trophies and lots of other little things on the day including stewarding a big thank you; and a big thank you to everyone else that was there. It takes all of you to make a great show. There were seventy-four junior entries and thirteen junior exhibitors. Australasian Poultry kindly donated a twelve month subscription to the winning junior, Warehouse Traders in Spreyton donated two pet packs, one going to the reserve junior and the other to Deb Sigmund for Best Australian Breed. Lost Pippin donated a case of cider of which two 4-packs were given to the judges and the rest was distributed among the
exhibitors. Thank you Mark Robertson for your support. Seedhouse donated several bags of feed. This was given out to the ten major winners. Many thanks to Seedhouse for helping to make our show a good one. The Burnie Poultry Society donated a ribbon for Best Wyandotte overall which was won by Ross Nester with a large cuckoo Wyandotte. The Silkie Club of Australia donated a ribbon for Best Black Silkie which was won by Oatlands School. Roberts Ltd. Devonport donated a bag of feed which was won by Deb Sigmund for Best True Bantam. There were fifty-nine exhibitors counting juniors. All juniors received a badge on the day. We also had two exhibitors from the mainland, 9 Life Membership During the morning tea break after the opening of the show Ellis Dick presented Jill Weaver with Life Membership. Jill was very emotional at the time as would be expected. Ellis noted Jill's tireless commitment to the club and also her contributions to other poultry clubs in Tasmania. Jill is always willing to lend a hand whether it be stewarding, assisting with enquiries etc Jill has run and continues to run many workshops on behalf of the club with all funds raised going directly to the club. Jill has also put together and published a book on Poultry Husbandry which is of exceptional standard. Merv Hutt donated a shield for life members to be recorded on. The framed picture hanging in the background is one of the beautiful trophies made by Frank Sawyer and donated to the club.
10 The Sydney National I was one of the lucky ones that managed to go to the Sydney National poultry show. I went as a member of the Devonport Poultry Club. Lorna Dick made all the bookings, all I had to do was pack my stuff, including two cameras in case something went wrong with one of them. There was plenty of poultry to see, 6,200 all up. In amongst the line-up were turkeys, geese, guinea fowl, jungle fowl and a huge variation of breeds of chooks including some of the new breeds from Avgen. New breeds included thirty-eight gold partridge and nine yellow partridge Dutch bantams, seven Crevecoeurs, five Derbyshire redcaps and sixteen Scotts Grey. The cage bird societies also had a display area with lots of canaries, parrots and other small cage birds. In their area were lots of things to buy including some excellent mouse catchers. In another huge shed lots of clubs and organisations had display and sales tables. There were many of the on-line businesses there such as Bellsouth, Poultry-R-Us and Omelette. There were other industries such as Australasian Poultry. There was a large area where talks were being given to school children, etc. some of the clubs had sales and information tables. There were many things on display from large aviaries and moveable hen houses to drinkers and books. Lauke Mills were handing out chook stubby holders, feed samples and beanies. The art competition was on display with paintings, needlework and other arty things all set out on bales of straw or hung on a make-shift wall, there were twenty eight different exhibitors. Needless to say everything had a poultry theme to it. There were one hundred and sixty eight plates of eggs exhibited by seven different schools and eighteen different exhibitors. The eggs included pheasant and quail eggs amongst all the other poultry breeds. The auction was something to see and hear. I just love to listen to a good auctioneer and one of them was very good at rolling his words, I could have listened to him for half the day! (some people did!) There were two auctioneers going at once. One at one end of the shed selling all the soft feather birds and one up the other end selling the waterfowl and hard feather. It was possible to hear both lots but it worked ok if one didn t stand in the centre of the two areas. No amount of auctioneers were going to get through all the birds otherwise. A large screen with the bird being auctioned was set up next to the auctioneer. Top price was a pair of Toulouse geese which sold for $3.400-00. A white Silkie sold for $780. Prices in general were certainly higher than we could expect in Tassie, but there were still many birds passed in and many more bringing similar prices to here. The major prizes were called out and presented at the dinner with few people being aware of whom had won what beforehand. There was no champion bird of show, which I suspect, surprised quite a few people. The show was divided into five divisions with a champion being awarded in each division. The divisions were as follows:- 1. Grand Champion Soft Feather, 2. Grand Champion Hard Feather, 3. Grand Champion Waterfowl, 4. Grand Champion Field and Forest Exhibit, and 5. Grand Champion Egg Plate of Show. There were a few Tasmanians going as exhibitors but alas their plans came to no avail. That was the night the boat couldn t sail because of the Tassie floods. It put a dampener on the show for those particular people but hopefully there will be a next time!
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12 Hi all poultry lovers This past few weeks have been difficult at Quamby Chooks I have attached some images taken Tuesday morning, June 07 of the impact of the flood the previous night largest ever recorded in Northern Tasmania! I lost 44 of my 47 oldest pullets and 44 of my 54 cockerels most of the first week was spent digging trenches to bury the bodies. Fortunately I had 17 of the youngest pullets in the orchard pen where the water only rose about 60cm in the shed and the birds were up on the perches just above the water. By contrast, the level rose to within 30cm of the roof in the other pens on my tip toes, the water level was up to my chin! In the second photo above, you can see the high water mark on the windows, just cms from the top; this was where I had the boys. When I came out with the last live cockerel after around 1 hour in the water I was really cold! After a shower, warm clothes and a fire it took another 45 minutes before the shivering stopped severe hypothermia! But : I have sufficient stock to continue the project without too much loss (4 good boys and around 17 girls to choose from) : Hundreds of dairy cows and sheep were drowned in the area, the financial underpinning of the farmers (so our loss has a real perspective) All and all we are fine and Diana has been a tower of strength and immediate help It means that my wish that the project cover its costs (feed especially) will have to wait another year. This time next year I will have my third cross available and they should be close to the final version, breeding true and every bit a Quamby. Warm Regards Gil Stokes This is an edited version of the letter sent to me earlier this year. I have also not included the photos of the deaths caused by the severe flooding. (Thought they may be a bit horrific for some of our readers!)
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14 TASMANIAN RARE BREEDS POULTRY CLUB MEMBERSHIP FORM Thank you for applying to join the TRBPC Inc. Please complete this form and post with your payment, money order or cheque made out to Tasmanian Rare Breeds Poultry Club Inc. to:- Mrs. Jill Weaver, secretary; 10 Fernybridge Rd.; SPRENT, Tas. 7315 Name Address City or town State include post code Phone/s Fax Email Adult (16 years or older) Yes/No please circle Junior under 16 years of age. Junior s date of birth. Do you want your details listed on our Breeders Register/directory? YES NO (circle) This information may be given to people who are looking for the particular breed you keep and will also be put in the breeders directory. (Please circle what information you would like given out) Mobile Home Phone E-mail address Locality Membership rates: Adult $15 Junior $5 Family, non-profit or school $25 Annual membership fees fall due on June 30 th with a two month leeway until the end of August. (This allows for payment to be made at our annual show.) Please find enclosed a cheque/money order for $... Donation $... What breeds do you keep? Please indicate size, LARGE or BANTAM, and colour All members of the TRBPC Inc. are asked to support the club s activities and objectives and follow the club s constitution including our code of conduct. I agree to abide by the club s constitution guidelines: Signed..Date