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How to Enter a Poultry Show

Verified October 2026

The short version

To enter a poultry show, get that show's premium book (premium list) and entry form from the show secretary or the show's listing, then list each bird by breed, variety, size class (large fowl, bantam, waterfowl and so on) and sex/age: cock, hen, cockerel or pullet. A cock or hen is generally a bird a year old or more, and a cockerel or pullet is under a year, but the exact age cut-off is set by the show's rules. Send the form and fees before the entry deadline (fees, deadlines and entry limits are set by each show), confirm the health and testing paperwork the show and your state require, and keep a copy of what you entered. If you want APA points, enter the open show of a sanctioned meet under the exact name on your APA membership.

Finding a show and its premium book

Every show starts with its premium book, also called the premium list or show catalog. It's the rulebook for that one event. It lists the date and location, coop-in and release times, the judges, which classes and breeds are offered, entry fees, the entry deadline, any limit on how many birds one exhibitor may enter, junior show rules, sales-coop options, health requirements, and the prizes and specials. Some shows add special awards for breed clubs holding a meet there. Two shows a month apart in neighboring counties can run on very different rules, so read the whole thing before you fill anything out.

To find shows, start with the listings at Poultry Show Central and the event pages run by the American Poultry Association and American Bantam Association, then ask your local poultry club. Club members often hear about a show before it appears online. Our 2027 show calendar guide explains how the season runs and where current dates get posted. Once you've picked a show, download its premium book and entry form from the listing, or email the show secretary and ask for them. Some shows take entries through an online entry system, which usually asks for the same details as the paper form.

Read the premium book with a pen in hand. Circle the entry deadline, the coop-in window and the release time, and note the name and contact details of the show secretary. That person is the one to ask whenever the book doesn't answer your question.

Sanctioned meets and why they matter for points

A sanctioned show is one the APA, the ABA, or both have approved to run under their rules. The premium book will say so on the cover or the first page. The APA grants sanctioned meets at several levels: Club, State, District, and the Semi-Annual and Annual meets. The level affects how many points a class win is worth, and the joint APA/ABA show report asks the show to record it.

Sanctioning matters to you for three practical reasons. First, APA exhibitor points come only from APA-sanctioned meets, and the ABA tracks its wins through the same joint sanctioned-show report, so if you're working toward Master Exhibitor, an unsanctioned fair show won't count however well you do. Second, the APA's show rules set licensing requirements for the judging staff at a sanctioned meet (at a Club meet, for example, at least one judge and at least half the staff must be APA-licensed), and they direct judges to place awards by the American Standard of Perfection. Third, the APA's rules say only breeds and varieties admitted to the American Standard of Perfection can compete for APA special prizes and awards. A non-recognized variety can still win Best or Reserve Variety, and a non-recognized breed can still win Best or Reserve Breed, but it can't go further for APA awards.

Points come with conditions of their own. Per the APA's points page, you must be a current APA member, the show's judging slate must meet sanctioned-meet requirements, and you must enter under the exact name that appears on the membership list, or your points may not be credited to you. Winners in a junior show don't earn APA master exhibitor points, but junior members showing in the open show can. Our points explainer covers how the ladder works. The short version for entry day: if points matter, check that the show is sanctioned, enter the open show, and write your name exactly as it appears on your membership card.

Filling out the entry form: breed, variety, class, sex/age

Most entry forms ask for the same things in roughly the same order. Open or junior: some shows use separate junior and open entry forms. The junior age limit is set by the show. Size class or division: large fowl, bantam, waterfowl, turkey, guinea, and sometimes pigeons, rabbits or cavies at mixed shows. Breed: for example, Wyandotte, Cochin, Silkie or Call. Variety: the subdivision within the breed, usually by plumage color, sometimes by comb type or by beard and muffs, for example Silver Laced, Buff, White Bearded or Rose Comb Dark Brown. Sex/age: cock, hen, cockerel or pullet. Then the number of birds in each line and the fee.

Behind the breed sits a class that groups related breeds, such as American, Asiatic, English or Mediterranean for large fowl. Bantams are grouped differently: the joint APA/ABA show report has six APA bantam classes and seven ABA bantam classes (the ABA count includes bantam ducks). You usually don't have to choose the class yourself, because the show places each breed in its class, but some forms ask for it. If yours does and you aren't sure, check the Standard or ask the secretary. A wrong breed or variety on the form is an easy way for a new exhibitor to end up with a bird cooped in the wrong place or marked out.

Enter the variety as the Standard names it, not as a hatchery catalog does. Hatchery color names don't always match a recognized variety, and some hatchery types, such as the Easter Egger, aren't a recognized breed at all. A bird can still be shown in a variety that isn't recognized, but under the APA rules it can only win as high as Best or Reserve Variety (or Best or Reserve Breed for a non-recognized breed). The APA's accepted breeds and varieties list is the quickest check. If the premium book has no line for your bird, ask the secretary where it goes before you send the form.

Some shows also offer trio classes (a group shown together in one coop) and displays. Per the APA, a display is seven or more birds of one breed and variety from a single exhibitor, made up of at least one cock, one hen, one cockerel, one pullet and a trio (at shows without trio classes, any three more birds of that variety). The premium book will say whether trios are offered and how they are made up. Leave them alone for your first show. Single-bird entries are simpler and are what most exhibitors enter.

Fill in the coop extras while you're on the form. A double coop is sometimes offered for very large or long-tailed birds; say which bird it's for. Sales coops let you sell surplus birds at the show if the show allows sales. Many shows also ask whether you want to join or renew with the hosting club.

Cock, hen, cockerel, pullet: what they mean

The sex/age designation trips up a lot of first-time exhibitors. In the usual show sense: a cock is a male a year old or more, a hen is a female a year old or more, a cockerel is a male under a year, and a pullet is a female under a year. Coop cards and show reports shorten them to C, H, K and P. K is used for cockerel because C is already taken. The joint APA/ABA show report applies the same four designations to other species: for example, old and young drakes and ducks, ganders and geese, and toms and hens in turkeys.

"A year old" sounds simple, but each show sets the cut-off, usually by hatch date, and the premium book says how it's measured. A bird hatched in early spring might be a pullet at a fall show and a hen at the next spring show. Check the premium book's definitions, and if your bird's hatch date falls near the line, ask the secretary which designation they want. This is one place where an accurate hatch record pays off: you can look up the date instead of guessing.

Within each variety, each designation is judged separately: cocks against cocks, pullets against pullets, and so on. The winners then compete for Best of Variety, Best of Breed and higher. Placings on the show report are recorded with the C/H/K/P letter, so write the same letter on your own copy of the entry.

Fees, deadlines and entry limits: always per the show

Entry fees are set by each show, usually per bird, sometimes with a separate junior rate. There may be separate charges for trios, double coops, sales coops and club membership. Don't use another show's fees as a guide. Use the numbers in the current premium book, and include payment the way the book asks, or the entry may not be accepted.

Entry deadlines are also set by each show. Most close entries some time before the show so the secretary can assign coops and print the catalog, and many shows don't take late entries or walk-ups. Put the deadline in your calendar the day you download the premium book. Some exhibitors wait until close to the deadline so they can see which birds are in the best feather, but if you do that, don't miss it.

Read the entry limits and substitution rules too. Some shows cap how many birds one exhibitor can enter, in total or per variety. Some let you swap one bird for another of the same breed, variety and sex/age at coop-in, and some don't. If a bird drops a feather or gets hurt the week of the show, the substitution rule decides whether you can bring a different one.

One firm rule applies at any APA-sanctioned show: per the APA show rules, entries must be the bona fide property of the exhibitor. Showing a borrowed bird can get the entry disqualified and the points withheld. Enter birds you own, under your own name.

Health and testing paperwork: check your state's rules

Most shows have some health requirement. It's often proof of pullorum-typhoid status, either a negative test within a set window before the show or birds from a flock in the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) with the right classification. Whether testing is required, how recent it must be, who can do it and what you bring to check-in depend on the show and the state, and on the state the show is in if you're crossing a border. We won't guess at those rules. Check the premium book, then your state's NPIP office or state animal-health agency, and allow time, because arranging a test isn't always quick.

Our NPIP section has a page for each state with the contacts to start from, and the NPIP certification guide explains what enrollment involves. If you already sell hatching eggs or chicks under an NPIP number, your flock paperwork may already cover you. Confirm with the show that it accepts it.

The APA's show rules also say you shouldn't knowingly show a bird that was recently vaccinated or exposed to a contagious disease, and show management can remove any bird that shows signs of disease. Bring only healthy birds, and keep the paperwork with your entry copy so it's in hand at coop-in.

Keep a copy: start your show record

Before you mail the form or click submit, make a copy: a photocopy, a phone photo or a saved PDF of the online entry confirmation. A week later you'll want to know exactly which birds you entered, in which variety and sex/age, so you load the right ones on show morning. If there's a mix-up at check-in, the copy is your proof of what you sent.

That copy is also the first line of your show record. After the show, add what happened: each bird's placing, the number of birds in its class, any Best of Variety or Best of Breed, the judge's name and remarks from the coop card, and whether the meet was APA, ABA or both. The official tallies depend on the show report the secretary files, and the APA says reports not received within six months of the show won't be processed. Your own record is how you notice when a win is missing and have the details to ask about it.

A notebook or spreadsheet works fine for this. If you'd rather keep it with the rest of your flock records, Coop Companion's show log (on the Show plan) stores each show with its sanction and each entry's class, variety and placing against the bird. It adds up the points you enter for each bird. It doesn't calculate APA or ABA points for you; you enter them from the official rules. Whatever you use, start the record with this entry, not after your first big win.

Frequently asked questions

What is a poultry show premium book?
The premium book (also called the premium list or show catalog) is the rulebook for one specific show. It lists the date, judges, classes offered, entry fees, the entry deadline, entry limits, coop-in and release times, health requirements, and the prizes. Every show writes its own, so read the current one for the show you're entering.
What is the difference between a cockerel and a pullet?
Both are birds under a year old: a cockerel is a young male and a pullet is a young female. Their adult equivalents are the cock (male, a year or older) and the hen (female, a year or older). The show's own rules set the exact age cut-off, usually by hatch date.
Why is a cockerel marked 'K' on show paperwork?
Because 'C' already stands for cock. Coop cards and the joint APA/ABA show report use C, H, K and P for cock, hen, cockerel and pullet.
What is a sanctioned poultry show?
A show the American Poultry Association and/or American Bantam Association has approved to run under its rules, at a level such as Club, State, District or Annual meet. APA exhibitor points come only from sanctioned meets, and per the APA you must be a current member entered under the exact name on the membership list.
Do I need to be an APA or ABA member to enter a show?
Usually not. Most open shows accept entries from anyone who sends the form and fees. Membership matters for points: per the APA, only current members earn exhibitor points, and you must enter under the name on the membership list.
How much does it cost to enter a poultry show, and when is the deadline?
Both are set by each show and printed in its premium book. Fees are usually charged per bird, sometimes with a separate junior rate, with extra charges for things like double or sales coops. Many shows close entries some time before the show and don't accept walk-ups, so check the current premium book rather than going by another show's numbers.
Can I enter a bird that isn't a recognized breed or variety?
Often yes, if the show offers a place for it, but under the APA show rules a non-recognized variety can win only up to Best or Reserve Variety, and a non-recognized breed only up to Best or Reserve Breed, for APA awards. Ask the show secretary where to enter it.
What health paperwork do I need to show chickens?
It depends on the show and the state. Many shows require pullorum-typhoid test results or NPIP flock status. Check the premium book, then your state's NPIP office or animal-health agency for the specific requirement, and arrange it well before the show.

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