Chicken bald back

[Stella14]

The concept seems slightly sureal to me, but I'm planning to go to the Northumberland County Show in May and I thought entering a clutch of eggs would add extra interest to the day! We have a Barnavelder that produces gorgeous deep brown, speckled eggs. I know that they should be as consistent in size and shape as possible, but I know nothing more about the experienve.

 

Does anyone have any experience of showing eggs? Would we be the only adult exhibiters?! Any Bits of information gratefully received!

[Egluntyne]

See the Get Togethers section. Mostin won prizes for her eggs at the High Peak Show yesterday.

[Stella14]

Thanks

[mostin]

OK, here you all go. You can all now benefit from the notes I took from the egg showing evening at my Craven Poultry Keepers Club.

 

All credit must go to the lovely and ever so friendly Mr Clive Wilson .

 

I'm afraid I will be a bit "hen-ist" here as I have not shown duck eggs yet, so I tend to just gloss over the waterfowl bit of the egg programs.

 

WEIGHT

 

Hens eggs on the programs are divided in to 2 sizes Large and Bantam This is nothing to do with the size of the bird who has laid them .

 

Eggs are classed completely on their own weight;

Bantam eggs are anything up to 1 1/2 oz or 42.5 grams

 

This is very strict and the judges will weigh eggs and not judge any that are too heavy for a bantam class!!! Be sure you have a good set of scales and that you have entered the correct egg class .

 

COLOUR

 

This can be very confusing as these classes CAN often be separated by breed. For example, classes just for Blue Araucana eggs, or chocolate brown Marans or Welsummers.

 

Tinted means pale brown

Brown means very dark brown, not as we would normally think of it.

 

For example the Barnevelder eggs you want to enter would be in

3 brown hens eggs class ..........many shows would show it as this

 

3 Large brown eggs (ex marans/wels) ........meaning that the marans and welsummers have classes of their own.

 

3 any other colour can mean green, khaki or anything that isn't stated as standard in the list.

 

3 different colours need to be as different as can be, often people choose white, blue and dark brown.

 

I'll post this and then carry on with how to choose the eggs, and how they get scored.

[mostin]

The classes of 6's 3's and 1 large supreme are all being judged on looks, your eggs should never be broken, unless they suspect they are stale.

 

Contents classes are judged only on the inside of the eggs and will always be broken open.

 

Sometimes their are classes called ext/contents. With these they judge the external of the eggs and then break the eggs open and judge the contents.

 

JUDGING EXTERNAL

 

Eggs are scored out of 100

 

Shape 25 proper egg shape? too pointed? too blunt? ridges?

Size 15 I don't agree but bigger always seems to do better in egg shows , even in the banty classes they are always right up at the top end of the weight range

Shell Texture 20 No calcium deposits or rough patches

Colour 20 Even colour, No scratches. If speckled, speckled evenly, or matching speckles on all eggs.

Bloom 20 The bloom is that glow the eggs have when they are really fresh, BUT NO POLISHING!!

 

 

I wash my girls eggs in egg wash and drain dry. Some girls eggs stain and if they get poo on them, the stain just never comes off. Clive also told us that keeping them boxed in the dark until show day helps to keep the bloom on the eggs for longer.

 

Never try to polish eggs or show old eggs. One of the most used judges, Mrs Helen Sill, floats each egg in a bowl of water to check for freshness, and then wipes it on a cloth to check for polish!!

 

JUDGING CONTENTS

 

I think these classes are great fun and completely democratic. It doesn't matter if you are an ex-batt or a supreme show champion, it's how well you are being looked after and how healthy you are that shows up in the contents classes. You don't even need to wash your eggs for this class .

 

It's very simple, the fresher the better, and then cross your fingers.

 

The judges tend to break open all the eggs, go and judge the ones by looks, and then come back and look at the contents to see which eggs are still sitting proudly on the plates and which have collapsed.

 

Scored out of 100 again.

 

Yolk 30 colour and proudness, not too false and dark orange, but not pale and anaemic.

Albumin 30 2 distinct rings, able to support to yolk proudly

Chalazae 10 These 2 strings should be directly opposite each other and attaching the yolk to the albumin

Air sac 10 In the remains of the shell, the judge can see the strength of the membrane and freshness

Freshness 20 How viscous the albumin is and if there are any blood spots anywhere.

 

 

I hope this information helps. Any more questions please ask. If I don't know, I have another club night on Tues and I can ask there .

[Stella14]

Thanks so much. That is all really helpful. I wouldn't have imagined there would be so much to consider

[Lewis]

Thanks Elaine

 

I tend to do as Elaine has said, choose the best shaped, uniform eggs. Similar colour and cleanest.

Have to say I did wash mine to get rid of some dirt, which know some people say not to do 'cos of the bloom, but have done fine so far

 

Its good 'cos as theres little prep (compared to prepping a chicken) and as Elaine said, you can enter eggs from any breed, like hybrids etc. Lets everyone get involved

Entered a few lots of eggs into Reading, just hope the banties are laying by then!!

[Daphne]

That's a very good list of things to do from Mostin, with some top tips

 

You could also try looking at the Poultry Club guidelines: http://www.poultryclub.org/eggs/showing-eggs

 

Good Luck

[mostin]

Thanks for posting that link Daphne, loads of info there