Showing
Canary in training cage
The most important thing about showing is training your birds. You need to let them get used to being in cages, being handled while in the cage and used to people. Start by hanging a training cage on the front of their stock cage to let them hop in and out of it. Put in condition seed, red rape and plain canary to encourage them to go in and out of the cage. Once they are used to that put them in a show cage for about 2 hours a day to help them get accustomed to being in a show cage. If you take the time and work with the team of birds you have picked to show they shouldn't get stressed. You need them to be able to stand properly and show good posture.
Don't be tempted to handle the bird yourself before showing, as the bird will then want to preen in order to clean its feathers and won't stand properly.
Give them a plastic container with fresh water to bath in every day. This gets them to preen so their feathers are in good condition. Or you can spray them with water but they enjoy having a bath. Healthy birds will want to bath every day. A good idea is to add glycerine to the water, a few drops to 1 litre. This helps to tone up their feathers.
Cullen Bird Show
When preparing for the show make sure your cages are scrubbed and painted with high gloss black paint. Check the perches are clean and you have all your drinkers. Put oat husks in the bottom of the cage and put mixed canary seed in the seed box. I like to take a small bag of condition seed with me and give them a small pinch in the corner of their seed box after the judging has finished as a tibit. You need to join the border specialist clubs, for example BFCC and BBFCC, in order to win their rosettes and trophies. You will find these mentioned in the show schedule.
You start showing as a Novice then move on to Champion. Birds that you've bred that year are classed as unflighted.
When showing even if you don't do very well at one show its still worth entering other shows, as there will be different competition. It's also a good opportunity to meet other bird breeders, talk about birds and maybe learn some new tips. There's always the chance you might be picked as a steward and you can learn a lot from the person who is judging.
Sadly the hobby of being a bird fancier has changed a lot. Some people will spend a lot of money on birds just in order to win and don't try to breed them themselves. This is a real shame because it's not what the fancy is all about. The hobby is not as popular as it used to be with a lot of clubs having to fold through lack of interest and therefore a lot less shows. However, I still get excited when I get a show schedule and enjoy picking my team of birds.