Hollister
– There’s something fowl out at Bolado Park this weekend.
Hollister – There’s something fowl out at Bolado Park this weekend.
In fact, there are more than 1,000 fowls, shown by 110 exhibitors at the 20th annual California Classic Poultry Show today and Sunday. The Gold Coast Poultry Fanciers organize the event, awarding for three general categories, including bantam fowl, which includes chickens, large fowl and waterfowl. There are separate awards for junior exhibitors younger than 18.
Montana Tarkington, a Tulare, Calif., resident, hopes the 14 chickens she brought to the fairgrounds Friday afternoon are good enough to capture a few of the junior awards. Although the 11-year-old has only been showing birds for two years, she has grown up around chickens.
“I’ve been in the chicken business ever since I was 5 years old,” she said.
Tarkington showed the Free Lance several of her chickens, including Roy Rogers, a Sicilian buttercup, named for its double comb, and Sparky, a light brown leghorn, one of the most popular birds in the world and the breed of the famous cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn. She also had Rhode Island reds, the Chinese-bred Brahma, and the Spanish- and English-bred Andalusian.
A 4-H member, Tarkington lives with her grandparents, Rachel and Cleave Tarkington, and keeps the chicken pens right outside her bedroom window. In the summer, she also shows pigs, heifers and sheep.
But Tarkington has noticed something special with her fowl.
“I’ve noticed my chickens have different kinds of personalities,” she said.
Those personalities range from bratty to the timid Chicken Little type, Tarkington said.
Although young, Tarkington said she hopes to either be a feed store owner or a chicken judge.
Some exhibitors had a shorter drive to the show.
Parker Padilla, an 18-year-old Gilroy resident, made the trip down Highway 25 to show a single black-tailed white Japanese bantam chicken. Padilla, whom some area residents have come to know as the “chicken whisperer,” makes the trip every year. Padilla has the ability to pick up the feral chickens wandering San Juan and tame them, thus the name “chicken whisperer.”
Padilla has been studying chickens and their habits since he was a little boy. He explained the challenges of keeping his black-tailed white Japanese’s coat pristine through a diet restricted from corn and an existence free of harsh sunlight. If not, its coat could become colored, Padilla said.
Kathy Wilkes, a Sacramento resident who has been showing chickens for eight years, explained the challenges of competition. It takes Wilkes an hour and a half to ready the 27 birds she brought to the show. She carefully oils their coats, beaks, legs and feet to create a sheen. Wilkes shows at three events a year and was the grand national champion for her modern game brown red pullet.
John Monaco, organizer of the California Classic Poultry Show, said the event draws participants from throughout California and even Oregon and Washington. He said all the fowl shown are special.
“There are all show birds,” Monaco said. “They’re not your normal barnyard chickens.”
Monaco said the people who show have a passion that’s hard to explain. He said its a social event, with some people who have been showing for more than 30 years.
“Unless you’ve done it, it’s hard to believe,” Monaco said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or
mv*********@fr***********.com
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