Show sparks interest in chickens as pets
Amid the thousands of chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and other birds at the Ohio National Poultry Show in Columbus over the weekend were visitors strolling through rows of cages asking bird owners whether raising the animals as pets in their backyards would be right for them.
Interest in backyard chickens especially and in other birds has grown, sparked by a pandemic that has people spending more time at home, organizers of what is billed as the biggest poultry show in the U.S. say.
Besides the 6,000 birds that were entered in the show, the event also drew an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people from around the country to the Ohio Expo Center.
It also marked the return of the show after last year’s event was canceled because of COVID-19, said Tim Johnson, president of the Ohio Poultry Breeders Association, the group behind the show.
Johnson believes attendance was higher at this year’s show than the last one two years ago before the pandemic.
“People just want to get out and enjoy themselves and enjoy their hobbies,” he said. “They were penned in for a year and they want to get out.”
Johnson said the notion of raising chickens in backyards first became popular 10 to 12 years ago.
“It kind of died out, but we’re back at it again,” Johnson said.
It makes sense as to why people would be interested in having birds as pets, he said.
“It’s relaxing. They are like walking flowers. You take care of them. They are pretty and you like them,” Johnson said.
Kip Wilcox, of Lakeview, Ohio, said he saw more interest in the Serama chickens that he was selling at the show Saturday morning than he has in recent months. Last Christmas Day, he received an unusually large six orders for eggs that customers wanted to hatch and raise the chicks, he said.
The colorful birds are small, docile, don’t need much space and don’t require a lot of work to care for them, he said. Pens can be as small at 4 feet by 4 feet.
Some have been used as a therapy animals, and children often buy them for 4-H projects.
“They’ll fall asleep in your lap,” Wilcox said at a noisy Expo Center O’Neill Building, filled with the sounds of turkeys, geese and chickens. Exhibitors also had birds on display at the neighboring Voinovich Building.
Wilcox was selling chickens for up to $125 for two on Saturday.
Beyond pets, Johnson said people like to raise chickens for eggs or meat.
“They want to know where their food is coming from,” he said.
The eggs from chickens raised in this fashion taste better than those that come from chickens at regular commercial operations, he said.
“They’ll never be the cheapest eggs you eat, but you know exactly where they came from,” he said.
Melissa Basnett, 39, of Lithopolis in Fairfield County, was at the event with her three sons.
Two of them bought Domenique chickens that they will use for their latest 4-H projects, and show at the Ohio state and Fairfield County fairs.
“I love it. I think they’re adorable. They’re fun to listen to,” she said of the chickens the family has raised in the past. “The kids love it.”
She also likes that 4-H has helped teach the boys responsibility because they are in charge of caring for the birds.
Ross Harrington, of Little Rock, Arkansas, bought a black call duck to take home to breed.
“I’ve never had one,” he said.