 On Sunday 2nd November the British Waterfowl Association held its 21st National Waterfowl Exhibition near Solihull in Warwickshire. Having never been to a waterfowl show, I decided to go and have a look to see what showing waterfowl was all about! The first thing I noticed was how friendly everybody was. A name badge was made up for me on my arrival and there was no shortage of people willing to offer help and advice around the exhibits. The organisers had done a good job at displaying over 700 entries in a single tier of cages which ensures the stress to the birds is kept to a minimum since you do not need to stand too close to their cages to view upper rows. Some exhibitors had birds for sale, these were displayed in a different area and there was always somebody on hand to give specific breed advice or put you in touch with the owner of the birds. I must say all of the birds for sale were well presented and of excellent quality. The temptation was just too much for me so I bought a beautiful pair of Abacot Ranger ducks to add to my collection!
There were a number of birds I took a fancy to. A Fawn and White Indian Runner Duck belonging to Team Wakeham caught my eye and these lovely Saxony Ducks belonging to Miss C Downing (138 - left) and Paul Hayes (137 - right).
All of the birds on display were really fine examples, the result of a lot of hard work by their owners. Many of the exhibitors and Judges had travelled a long way for this event from as far as Cornwall, West Wales, the North of England and even from the Isle of Wight in the south and the Isle of Islay off the west coast of Scotland. Exhibitors had started early as the doors opened at 7am and by 9.30, the judges were hard at work.
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- Nearly half of the 700 or so entries were call ducks, showing the popularity of this breed.
- Indian Runner Ducks were also popular with nearly 100 on display of varying colours. There was no shortage of white Indian Runners although some of the other colours had only a small number of entries in their class.
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| Judge Jenny Downing and steward Jeff Harris inspect a call duck. |
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There was a large number of rosettes, and 70 perpetual trophies and cups up for grabs. From "Best Egg" to the "Supreme Champion Trophy" there was a category for just about everyone. It was particularly nice to see some Trophies for Juniors to win with there being categories for under 11 year olds and 11 to 16 year olds. As it was the 21st anniversary year, there was also a special anniversary mug for every exhibitor at the show as well as some commemoration ‘Best of Breed' plates.
There was some guidance and tuition in a judges master class for those aspiring to become judges or learn about what to look for. Both the Call Duck and Indian Runner Duck Association were present and had put together a stand with breed information on display.
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| Judges Masterclass. |
Tom Bartlett, was the Championship Judge. He thought the quality of birds had improved so much over the years that he said he could "go home with a sense of satisfaction and pride knowing what had been achieved".
Each section had its specialist judges, but without a doubt, all of them put in a lot of hard work at the show reaching their decisions.
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| Some the Judges |
Championship Judge Tom Bartlett. |
Tom chose a Pekin owned by Julie Christopher as the Best in Show that had a good upright carriage, a rich creamy colour (rather than white) as well as superb condition.
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| Julie Christopher's Best in Show Pekin. |
Best Light Duck went to F & C Jones with this Crested Duck. |
The Reserve Champion went to Sandra & Graham Barnard with their Apricot Mallard Call and Best Light Duck went to a lovely Crested Duck owned by F & C Jones.
The Overall Champion Young Exhibitor went to Jason Millward with his pretty white Call Duck. There were many other awards, so many to mention, I feel it is so hard to single out a few as every award was so well deserved by the exhibitors. I have put the raw results onto a separate page if you are interested in seeing them, they can be found here.
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| Jason Millward's Pretty White Call Duck. |
John Hall receives a Trophy for Best Chinese Goose. |
This show is definitely worth a visit if you are a smallholder looking for a specific breed or just an enthusiast like me, interested in keeping a few ducks, or geese. You can see the breed of bird that you interested in on display and also more importantly talk to their owners to see if they would fit in with your requirements.
The British Waterfowl Association is an association of enthusiasts interested in keeping, breeding and conserving all kinds of waterfowl including wildfowl, domestic ducks and geese. It is a registered charity dedicated to education about waterfowl and the need for their conservation. Membership is open to anyone, you do not have to be an expert to join.
The Indian Runner Duck Association and The Call Duck Association have separate websites offering expert advice that are also worth a visit if you are interested in either of these breeds.
Thanks.
I would like to thank everybody for making me feel so welcome but in particular, I would like to thank Chris Ashton for making time to introduce me to so many people, despite having a heavy schedule of her own. Rupert Stephenson, photographer for Fancy Fowl magazine for taking me ‘under his wing' to guide me around the show to get some of the best photos and finally Sue Chase, the show secretary who has checked this article for accuracy and provided me with the results list.
We did a quick musical video tour of the birds on show that you can watch - Poultrykeeper's Quick Musical Tour
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Keeping Waterfowl 
