LOOKING BACK AT THE OPTIMUM AVIUM INTERNATIONAL 2015

A SHOW OF GAMEFOWL, LONG-TAIL FOWL AND LONGCROWERS

By Adri Brouwers – Photos: Dirk de Jong On the 17th of January, 2015, a group of enthusiastic breeders organized a show according a new concept. Inspired by and based on the gamefowl show ‘German Open’ in Germany and the show of ’Game Fowl Club Belgium’, the new committee of ‘Optimum Avium International’ was prepared to organize a show. Represented in this Committee are Robert Gatti and De Dooij (judges), Wanda Zwart (specialized in long-tail fowl and long-crowers), Roel Van Ekelen (gamefowl breeder) and Willem van Ballekom (also a gamefowl breeder and secretary of the specialty club for Asiatic Gamefowl breeds). We decided to make it an international show because we noticed a strong need for such a show in neighbouring countries. This means a lot of additional work. The show schedule, posters etc. had to be in French, English and German. With little knowledge a scenario was made. We advertised a lot in the Netherlands and abroad. The number of entered birds turned out to be excellent! In my opinion it helped that the entry fee was low and the prizes to be won excellent.

However, we think it was mainly the concept of the show that was attractive enough for the visitors to come to Roosendaal (a city in the south of the Netherlands). The show was a one-day exhibition, with solely gamefowl, long-tail fowl and long-crowers, standardized or not. Birds that are hardly seen at common shows. Also there was a long-crower match, an auction sale, painters and paintings of above mentioned breeds and an exhibition of all kind of things related to the past of gamefowl. Left: Artist Trevor Cropper drawing a Longtail rooster. Photo: Optimum Avium.

BUILDING THE SHOW Building the show was done one day in advance. About 430 pens in a big sports hall of a school in Roosendaal. The 430 pens were provided by four (local) clubs. The hall and cages were decorated the same as a 4 or 5 days show. The pens were covered underneath, shavings in the pens and a string above for the judging cards. Special pens had been made for the long-tail fowl. In the middle of the hall a special pen of bamboo on pales was placed for an Ayam Ketawa rooster.

Right: Bamboo cage on pales with an Ayam Ketawa rooster in it.

In the adjoining auditorium painters showed their art. Naomi Wendrich and the well-known British artist Trevor Cropper made paintings during the whole show. Also, in special made showcases Indonesian wood engravings of gamefowl were exhibited. In the canteen of the school, the (by many) known Belgian gamefowl-breeder Ringo Paulus showed a part of his collection of old gamefowl artefacts from all over the world. He was kind and patient enough to offer in-depth explanations to all the people showing an interest. Throughout the whole day videos and photos of birds were shown on a large screen. Of course people who got hungry were not forgotten; a buffet was set up.

Below: Carved wooden Gamefowl, and artefacts from the collection of Ringo Paulus.

SHOW DAY We had expected many visitors. Therefore everybody was guided to the parking places and from there to the exhibition hall. At 8 o‘clock the first breeders arrived at the hall and were guided to their designated pens. All this went on without any problems, truly something to be proud of.

Above: Fanciers and visitors were present all day in large numbers.

The seven judges - Wilfried Lombary, Ferdinand van de Wal, Martin van Pijkeren, Eddy van Hoof, Jan Steenbakkers, Elzen Zwama and Karel van Loy - were given instructions and started their work at 10 o‘clock. It proved to be a fierce but nice job. Even more so, since the game breeds had their interest and because the public (and breeders) were present during the judging.

Judging was done enthusiastically and in a positive manner, also when the breed or colour was not recognized in the Netherlands. Visiting judges, from the Netherlands and abroad, followed the judging with great interest. The German judge and chairman of the German ‘Club Deutscher Ur- und Kampfhuhnverein’ Josef Hartsberger, had come from South Germany for this special show. He also showed an excellent trio of Minohiki long-tail bantams. In total the participants had entered 40 different breeds, I will mention most of them later on. Among those 40 breeds there were 27 gamefowl breeds, 8 long-tail breeds and 5 long-crower breeds. Left: Judges at work. Photo: Optimum Avium.

LARGE GAMEFOWL Some 150 large gamefowl were exhibited, among them several very beautiful Malays. An outstanding hen from Harald Asbreuk won Best Large Gamefowl in Show. Also present were 43 Shamos, in standardized and non- standardized colours. This also applied for the beautiful Satsumadori; most of these were the black breasted red birds, the Best was a beautiful hen exhibited by Tom Akkermans. The Belgian Game birds were present in all colours, a total of 45 in the show pens. We never see such a large number of Belgian gamefowl in the Netherlands. The winner of the Large Gamefowl class was Benno Crezee with an Old English Game hen. An excellent bird from this breeder, who is also a poultry judge. Furthermore there were birds belonging to rare breeds like Madagasker, Cubalaya and Yakido. Also present were rare breeds like Sundanese Game, Yamato, Tuzo and Modern English Game. It was unique that Eddy van Hoof’s two Yamatos were awarded 96 points. All in all it was an impressive number of large Gamefowl of different breeds and in various varieties. Top to bottom: Shamo male, Team Van Oeveren; Liege Game male, S. Henot; Bruges Game male, T. Akkermans. Below, right: Madagascar female, W. van Ballekom. Left: Satsumadori male, J & B v.d. Meer.

Clockwise, starting above, left: Yamato male, E. van Hoof; Old English Game male and female (97 p.), B. Crezee; Asil male, P. v.d. Broek; Asil Madras male, G. Hendricks.

BANTAM GAMEFOWL Eight breeds of bantam gamefowl were present with 162 birds in the show pens. The most numerous ones were the Ko Shamos with 52 birds. Surprisingly nearly all Ko Shamo were present in recognized colours and remarkable was also that almost all birds had split wings. Many breeders took the opportunity of Optimum Avium to show their Ko Shamo with the (usually) undesired split wing. By the way, the rules for split wings have recently been adjusted in the Netherlands. The Tosa Chibi breed (not recognized in the Netherlands) was present in several varieties. Many discussions took place on the differences between this breed and the Ko Shamo.

Right: Indian Game bantam female, jubilee, S. Lust.

Left and below: Old English Game bantam male and female, both 97 points, Ferdinand van der Wal.

The undisputed winner of the Asian bantam gamefowl class was a Ko Shamo pullet of Eddy van Hoof. (photo to the right) The European bantam gamefowl class (in total 23 entries of this breed) was won by an Old English Game bantam pullet of Ferdinand van de Wal. Modern English Game were shown in particular in birchen varieties. Also the Asil bantams were present and some Indian Game hens in Jubilee and Double Laced colours. The Lieges Game, also hardly seen in the Netherlands, proved to be a delightful presence in the pens.

LONG-TAILLED POULTRY Unique in the Netherlands. Therefore extra attention for the long-tailed birds. Mostly the recognized breeds (in the Netherlands) were present at the show, like the Yokohama, the Phoenix (in large and bantam), and even the Dutch breed the Schijndelaar with their small crest. Excellent birds, which need a lot of attention of the owners. The breeder needs a lot of time for show preparation. Left: Onagadori pair, W. Zwart. Below: Skokuku trio, J. & B. v.d. Meer.

A black Phoenix cock from Petra Wilhelmus was the best, the best Yokohama bantam pullet was from Berta Van Der Meer. A special attraction at the show were the Minohiki, Onagidori and Shokuko.

The latter showed their tails with pride and had special pens. These impressive birds certainly will have inspired breeders to go and keep long-tailed chickens! Left: Shokuku male, J. & B. v.d. Meer. Below: Totenko longcrower/longtail.

LONG CROWERS A really unique event was the long-crower match with mainly non-recognized breeds, such as the Japanese Totenko and Tomaru, the Drenica from Kosovo and the Turkisch Denizli Horozu.

The pens for this match were put outside in the patio garden. The pens were put up on a bench in order to let the roosters crow freely. By means of microphones the crowing could be recorded indoors. The roosters got 15 minutes to show the length of their crowing, four birds at a time, and the judges wrote down the crowing time based on their timer.

Above: The pens outside in the patio garden. Photo: Optimum Avium. Left: Kosovo longcrower, C. Jochems. The absolute winner, with 43 seconds, was the Drenica cock. The proud owner, Cornelie Jochems, was very pleased with this result. The crowing of the Ayam Ketawa was not judged according to length, but the originality of the ‘laughter’. This crowing is also called ‘laughing crow’. That is why the Ayam Ketawa is commonly called ‘laughing rooster’ in Indonesia, because the crowing sounds like a laughing human being. In total it was a tremendous event, worth repeating.

AWARDING OF THE PRIZES A magnificent show with hundreds of visitors and breeders, domestically and from abroad. Experiences and views were shared. It was a real networking day and people enjoyed a cosy and instructive day. The awarding of the prizes was done in the auditorium. The winners got their prizes and were amply congratulated by the committee of the show. Also, they were photographed. Josef Hartsberger presented a plaque of his club for the best gamefowl; won by Harald Asbreuk with a Malay hen. Michel Stempa, Zuchtwart of the German Shamo Club, offered a beautiful painting for the best European Gamefowl (large). All winners got a cash prize and a trophy, specially made for this show.

AUCTION The awarding ceremony was followed by a poultry auction. This was also new for many breeders. An interesting way to sell your birds. In this way a bird could be bought without the risk that an early visitor would have been first, as it happens at other shows. A SUCCESSFUL SHOW When the auction was over the breeders could take their birds home. The show was a tremendous success, so the show committee decided to have such a show

again. The next Optimum Avium International Show will be held on January 16, 2016. We hope this show will even be bigger and more spectacular than in 2015. So please note down this date in your agenda. Most breeders of gamefowl, long-tail fowl and long-crowers will receive an invitation to show their birds. Also, the website will be ready in September 2015. We hope to see you all in January 2016 at the next Optimum Avium International Show in Roosendaal, Netherlands! On the website www.optimumavium.com a catalogue, photos and a small movie, giving an impression of the show in 2015, can be downloaded. Note: In response to the successful international exhibition a Specialty club, named OASLL (OPTIMUM AVIUM Specialty club for longtail fowl and long-crowers) has been founded. See for more information the club’s website www.optimumavium.com and the earlier published article in Aviculture Europe http://www.aviculture-europe.nl/nummers/15E03A03.pdf

Copyright ©2015 All rights reserved by the

Aviculture-Europe Foundation.

This is a publication by the online magazine www.aviculture-europe.nl

English edition ISSN: 2352-2445 You are not allowed to copy, distribute, send or publish these texts or photos

without our prior permission in writing.