The weird and wonderful world of poultry pageants
When you just want to show off your beautiful birds ...

Prize poultry, 1868.
(19th era 2 / Alamy Stock Photo)By some accounts, the first American poultry exhibit was held in 1826 at the Rhode Island State Fair. It was a decidedly small affair — just one exhibitor and

A Black Castellanas chicken is groomed before the Poultry Show at Crystal Palace, London.
November 1934

A champion Wyandotte cock gets its nails trimmed before presentation in England.
September 1936

A White Crested Polish chicken, which won first prize, at the International Poultry Show in London.
December 1963

A Phoenix cock at the National Poultry Show in Frankfurt, Germany.
December 1965

A goose is inspected at the United Kingdom's National Poultry Show.
December 1948

A rooster is cleaned with a cotton ball before a poultry exhibition at a state fair in Alaska.
August 2014

A young competitor holds his Gold Partridge Dutch cockerel at the Scottish National Poultry Show in Lanark, Scotland.
January 2011

A Japanese Bantam at the National Poultry Show in Telford, England.
November 2016

Junior fanciers compete in the Poultry Showmanship event at the Tanana Valley State Fair in Fairbanks, Alaska.
August 2013

A competitor holds her entry to the Old English game section of the Scottish National Poultry Show.
January 2011

A Silkie chicken at the National Poultry Show in Telford, England.
November 2016

Judges inspect a rooster at the International Agricultural Fair in Paris.
February 2010

A Belgian Bantam at the National Poultry Show in Telford, England.
November 2016

The National Poultry Show in Telford, England.
November 2016

A Call duck at the National Poultry Show in Telford, England.
November 2016

Poultry fanciers with their entries at the National Poultry Show in Telford, England.
November 2014