Rings and shows
Official ringing, diameter, age at fitting, judging: Elsanor's answers on hen leg rings and poultry shows.
12 perguntas
The leg ring identifies the bird uniquely and certifies its year of hatch. It is required in order to enter a bird at a show. Fitted young, it can no longer be removed once the bird is adult — which is precisely what makes it proof rather than a simple marker. Without an official ring a bird may be exhibited but not judged.
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It is probably the most variable figure in the whole of poultry keeping: according to the standard the ring runs from 9 mm on a Dutch Bantam to 24 mm on a Brahma, with two or three millimetres more for the cockerel of the same breed. Too large and the ring slips off and proves nothing; too small and it injures. The diameter shown on each breed page is the official standard one, not a measurement of ours — and it is a guide rather than an absolute rule: what really counts is that it does not hamper the bird and cannot be removed. Rings are obtained from a poultry club, whichever one it may be.
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From any poultry club: it is the clubs that issue official rings, in France as abroad, and you do not have to go through the club for that particular breed — any poultry club can supply them. Each ring carries a unique number, its diameter, the country and the year of hatch; the colour changes on a ten-year cycle, so the year can be read at a glance. Be wary, on the other hand, of rings sold outside clubs: they look much the same but are not approved, and they get the bird disqualified at a show. Each breed page gives the diameter to order for the cockerel and for the hen.
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Just before the leg is too developed to let the ring pass — and a few days either way is enough to miss the moment. The age given on each breed page is indicative: it varies with rearing conditions, and two chicks from the same hatch do not grow at the same rate. It is better to watch each bird than to follow a calendar.
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So that the year of hatch can be read without handling the bird or deciphering a number. The cycle runs to ten colours, so ten years before a colour comes round again. Both at shows and in breeding, knowing at a glance whether a bird is one year old or four changes a great deal: you do not judge in the same way, and you do not breed in the same way.
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A difference of degree, not of kind. All birds in a serious line are selected against the standard; only the best are shown. A so-called breeding hen is therefore conforming and fit to reproduce, without reaching the finish of a show bird. It is not a lesser category: many excellent breeding birds are never exhibited.
Birds are entered in individual pens, rung, and judged breed by breed and then variety by variety. The judge examines each bird against the standard, awards a score and comments, and picks out the best birds in each class. It is a demanding exercise for the breeder: the bird must be prepared, accustomed to the pen and shown at the right point in its development.
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Judges accredited by the federations, trained and licensed by breed or by breed group. They judge against the standard, using a scale that weights the various traits and penalises disqualifying faults. The judgement bears on the bird as it presents itself on the day: the same bird may score better or worse from one show to the next depending on its condition.
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It is the award given to the best bird in a class at an official show, at national or European level. It is not a decorative reward: it is the only outside and impartial judgement that exists on a breeding programme, delivered by a judge who knows neither the breeder nor the line. Our results are published on the site, year by year.
Either one, it makes no difference at all: contrary to what is sometimes read, there is no prescribed leg and no reading direction for the ring. What counts lies elsewhere — the diameter must match the breed and the sex of the bird. And even that rule is not absolute: a ring will do provided it does not hamper the bird and cannot be removed once the leg is fully grown. It is that impossibility of removal that gives the ring all its value.
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Yes, and the two cases do not carry the same consequence. A cut ring means disqualification: once opened it proves nothing, since any ring could then be fitted to any bird. A merely dirty ring does not disqualify but costs points — just as the rest of the bird's preparation does. Careful cleaning before the show is part of the presentation work.
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No, and it is a classic trap. Only rings issued by a poultry club are approved; yet rings identical in appearance are on sale that are not. A bird wearing an unapproved ring is disqualified at a show whatever its quality — a season's work can be lost on that single point. Before ordering, then, check that the supplier really is a poultry club: it does not matter which, but it must be one.
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