The Nankin Chicken Breed

Reader Contribution by Alexander Goldberg
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In my last post Sumatra Chickens at the Poultry Show, I talked about taking my chickens poultry shows. A few weeks ago, I went to the Northeastern Poultry Congress show. I was really interested because it would be our local regional meet of the Nankin Club of America (NCA), and there would be different activities than I usually see, such as egg judging. I was also very excited because there would be pigeons there!

When I got to the show, I was asked if I wanted to clerk for one of the judges. The clerk follows the judge, recording his/her decisions. I agreed and I am glad that I decided to do so. I was assigned to clerk for Mr. Patrick Sheehy, and he judged waterfowl. Waterfowl is one of my weak areas in showmanship.  I learned a lot walking around with him while he shared his opinions of how the birds should be ranked.

The different activities that they had were very fun. On one table there were a row of cages containing about ten different breeds for us to identify. On another table there were competitions for egg judging, layer judging (for White Leghorns) and breed judging (for East Indies Ducks).

Just before going to the show, I had joined the aforementioned NCA, and I was very excited about getting to see Nankins at the show. Two of the first chickens that I ever got were Nankins and I still have them both. (Their names are Zeus and Hera and they are pictured below.) The Nankin is a rare breed and I don’t usually see them at the shows. I was slightly disappointed because there were very few there, even though it was a meet, but that disappointment was instantly dismissed when I met Mr. Howard Kogan, the Vice President of the NCA. He is a really interesting person and he told me a lot about Nankins. On the last day of the show, he surprised me with a pair of pullets to take home and add to my flock!

Mr. Kogan also introduced me to Mr. Bob Hawes, the only other person showing Nankins at the show. It was really fascinating talking to Mr Hawes. He has been breeding Nankins for a many years and has loaned his birds to institutions for display.

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