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Poultry exhibition takes centre stage on the opening day of the South Mountain Fair

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The South Mountain Fair has returned for the weekend, for those who are looking to fly the coop, the fair in South Mountain, Ont. includes one exhibition that is literally for the birds.

While it might seem like a quiet Friday morning on the fairgrounds, a rooster crow from the Poultry Barn breaks the silence, where a competition is well underway to determine who has the best bird in the show.

"Last night they started coming in about 3:30," said Danny Johnstone, Chairman of the Poultry Division at the fair. "Usually about half of the birds come in then, the rest have got to be in this morning."

The barn is filled with more than 400 birds including regulars like chickens, ducks and geese, and some breeds you have likely never heard of.

"Road Island Red, Silkies, Silver Sebrights, Golden Sebrights," Johnstone rhymes off. 

Judges meanwhile are hard at work, going over every bird meticulously.

"We've got two judges; one does the pigeons and one does the water fowl and the chickens," notes Johnstone. 

Reg Hughes has been judging poultry across Ontario for decades, getting into the hobby as a boy. 

"I had chickens when I was 10 years old," he said. "They weren't show chickens, but then when I got up into my teens, then I started seeing all the different breeds and I decided I wanted to do it."

A gold laced sebright chicken on display at the South Mountain Fair. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

Hughes says judges have to know about each breed, and the characteristics and faults that come with them. 

"When you take them out (of the cage) you go all over them, wings, beak, everything. You're looking at their head, eyes, every part of them," Hughes said. "Then you judge between the good points and the bad points."

Pigeons are one of the more popular show birds, with dozens on display. 

"I'm not a pigeon guy but there's probably 20, 30, 40 different kinds of pigeons here," quipped Johnstone, noting exhibitors have come from across the region. 

"We've got two or three from Kingston, from Athens, and then the whole surrounding area. Some have shown for years," he said. 

Mountain Township Agriculture President Chloe Preston says this event was actually cancelled a month ago due to avian bird flu concerns.

"We had a phone call the day after we announced that it was not happening, that we were back on and ready to go," she smiled. "So the boys have been working hard to make it happen."

A breed of pigeon ready for judging at the South Mountain Fair in South Mountain, Ont. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

Frank Goodfellow has been judging birds since the mid-1970s, helping to judge the pigeons on Friday. 

"Some of the things we look for are the condition of the bird," he notes, holding a Racing Homer pigeon and spreading its wings. 

"We look for things like broken feathers and condition, this one has almost perfect wings so he's in excellent shape in that regard," Goodfellow said. 

"You can feel the silkiness of the feather and the amount of flesh on the bird, all those things are taken into consideration when you are comparing them to another bird," he added. 

Showing birds, however, is not really a money-making venture according to Johnstone. 

"It's a hobby. You're not going to get rich off of it, let me tell you!" he laughs. "The price of feed and everything like that."

Just after 12 p.m., judges were marking the winners of each class. A silkie chicken, crowned champion of the bantam breed.

"If you haven't seen it, it's just something to come and see," said Johnstone. "People from the town or cities, they can't even dream of what this here looks like. It's just something special."

"A lot of the comments we get are, 'Oh my God, they are beautiful!' Well, they are," he added. 

The fair, like many others across the region, has returned for the first in-person event in two years, celebrating its 130th year in 2022.

"It is wonderful to be back, it's been a long couple of years," Preston noted. "It seems surreal that we are back after this amount of time."

A silkie bantom chicken that won the championship in its class at the South Mountain Fair. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

Events scheduled over the weekend include the Black Creek Rodeo and live entertainment from the Reklaws and Washboard Union. 

The midway is also open all weekend, with tractor pulls wrapping up the weekend on Sunday. 

Tickets are $30 per day, which includes admission to all events and unlimited rides on the midway. 

The full schedule can be found on the South Mountain Fair website.

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