Rowan says this bantam would have caught the judge’s eye
BY DI SNEDDON
AT 23 years of age, showing poultry at agricultural shows around the country is something Rowan Vallance has been doing since he was 11.
He is one of many who miss the camaraderie that Singleton Show delivers and admits he is disappointed not to be entering his Peking Bantams and Orpingtons in the poultry section this year.
Traditionally, this time of year would have absorbed every waking moment for Rowan. This year he would have assisted Richard Marshall with the beef cattle section, served in the bar on the Friday and Saturday night and entered as many as 20 or 30 birds in the show.
Each bird requires a wash and a blow dry before a show, a job that takes about 30 minutes for each bird, so needless to say had the show gone ahead, our Rowan would not have had any time for an interview with The Hunter River Times.
Despite the work involved, Rowan admits he is quite sad that the show could not go ahead but says it is as much the camaraderie with other people as the competition itself that he misses most.
He breeds Peking Bantams and Orpingtons and has as many as 70 adults and 90 chickens on his family’s Lower Belford property.
He always has his eye out for a potential best of breed and says he can usually tell a ribbon winner fairly early on.
After winning Bird of Show at Maitland in July, he was reasonably confident he’d find success at Singleton Show this year and the Pekin Bantam in his hands in the photo may have been just the bird to take out first prize.