Chicken People Page #7

'cause you got to do

all the blacks, whites,

the buffs, the splash,

and then they'll pick.

- 14 cockerels, that's a lot.

- I could see this one here,

but I couldn't walk down

to see who did what here.

- He's looking at my male

against the pullet.

- What'd you win?

- Best of breed wyandotte.

Holy.

That's awesome.

That's the son of 5494,

the male that won

in Ohio last year.

So that's pretty huge.

The next step is champion

rose comb clean leg,

so I think I have

a really good chance.

- I'm picking champion

rose comb clean leg.

I got it narrowed down

to three birds

out of almost 400.

It's a black rose comb pullet,

silver-laced wyandotte cockerel,

and a silver sebright hen.

The silver-laced wyandotte.

This is what we call smuttiness.

Right here on the saddle,

the black should be

more distinct.

I do raise these in large fowl,

so I know how hard it is.

- Yeah.

- And I also raise

black rose comb,

so I know how hard it is

to get that.

The rose comb,

she's pretty much perfect.

- Yeah, he could be better.

Just gonna keep working at it,

and hopefully we can get one

that's perfect someday.

So that's the plan.

I showed ten males

all out of that male

that won in Ohio.

- Oh, really?

- Yeah, he's kind of

reproducing himself.

- Wow, he looks awesome.

Beautiful, all of them,

nice coloring.

- That girl is the meanest

girl chicken I ever had.

- I miss her.

We didn't work personally,

but I do miss her

as a friend being around.

We have a common interest,

so we have a blast

when we're together.

That's a male.

- Really?

- It's a baby male.

See his saddle color?

- Yep, yep.

- It's a weird bird.

- That's pretty awesome.

Actually, that's right.

I can't wait to see.

- I don't like doing anything

that you can't do perfect.

So I've kind of given up

some things.

I tried once,

it didn't work out, so...

I can't be perfect at it,

so I don't want to--you know,

I don't want to do it.

- Attention, there is a chicken

on the loose outside.

If anyone sees that chicken,

please capture it

and bring it to the office.

- The first male right there,

that's mine.

And he's the best one

in there, but we'll see.

- He's looking

at those cards.

- Those are the ones he likes,

which I don't see

any of mine turned up.

- He's got three of them

turned up.

Your cockerels

are turned up down there.

That's a 45-degree angle,

or better.

- Or better, yeah.

- More than 45, yeah.

Keeps going back to her,

but I don't know

if he's ever gonna do

anything with her or not.

He give her first?

The highest tail

in the...

Doesn't even know

what he's looking at.

- Well, out of the four males,

he had the best type.

I just don't like this comb.

It's too perfect.

- I don't show chickens

to be on champion row.

I love my birds the same now

that I did when I came here.

So, you know...

- Behind you, the drawing.

- Mm-hmm, yeah.

- "Faveolle."

- They did pretty good, though.

Just recently,

I received a phone call

asking me to return

to the '60s show.

I'm going back in 2016.

So I'm really excited about it.

- Brian was hurt.

But he overcame his feelings

to do the show.

- Life's not perfect.

Situations aren't perfect.

And you have to do

what you got to do.

- This is something

like I would draw, here.

- Oh, yeah, right.

- I am not a drawer.

- I get to do something

that I really enjoy,

with a good raise.

Basically, in the

not-so-distant future,

I'll be able to find

a "home" for myself

in Branson

that's not an apartment,

where I can actually

have my chickens with me.

And look how they did the beard,

how it's kind of elongated,

like a real bird would be,

like a real faverolle would be.

- To see him be independent is--

it's up here.

He's definitely

a young man now.

- Okay, we're looking for

the best brahma at the show.

It's gonna be pretty difficult

to get past this chicken

in my hand right now,

light brahma female.

She gets best of breed.

- So that's pretty awesome.

I thought my males were better,

but the males are harder.

Sometimes when you get a bird

that's harder to get,

you forget how good

the pullets are.

So still have a shot

at champion of the show.

- We're doing

best of breed silkie.

Silkies are done.

- Oh, my god.

- You won.

- Well, here we go;

Now it's on.

- Yeah, now we go

against each other.

- All right,

that's awesome.

Oh, my gosh.

Anytime you're up

against Brian Knox,

you just know

that you're in for a fight.

I'm ready.

Ready for the fight.

- They all look good.

- Really anybody's game.

- You have

a damn good chance.

- Silkie is a pretty girl.

She's exceptional,

and she's standing

like she's supposed to.

- God, I'm so nervous

right now, I could fall over.

- When I won that union show

in Georgia, over 1,800 birds,

I thought I was actually

gonna piss in my pants.

- There he goes,

back to Brian's again.

- Light brahma,

outstanding specimen.

Well, the brahma's

a great bird.

I'd like her a little sharper

in coloration right there.

So we're down to two birds,

light brahma and a silkie.

So our champion feather-legged,

for those listening

in the next row,

is the white silkie,

brahma reserve.

- You won.

- I did?

- Yeah, you did.

- Oh, my god.

- I got reserve.

They did good.

- No way.

- I told you.

- That's wonderful.

- What'd I tell you?

- I can't believe it.

Oh, my gosh.

I just feel like

I'm gonna pass out.

- So now she's up

for champion of the show.

- That was a hell of a silkie.

I have no problem

getting beat by that bird.

So that's--when you get beat

by a good chicken,

you don't mind.

I want the best one to win.

If I don't have the best one,

I need to go home

and make a better one.

That's the challenge of it.

Dick.

- Hey.

- How you doing, buddy?

- Good, and you?

- Dick Stevens, that was

the game changer for me.

That was what got me

into the world

of real show chickens.

- All gone on the red tails.

God, I'm really proud

that, after all these years,

Brian is still doing the same.

I got something

i want to give you.

- Oh, wow.

- I didn't know

who I'd pass it on to.

You're the candidate.

- Wow.

It's been 40 years

since we started doing this.

I'm 51, and I was 11

when you took me

to my first show.

That's a waterer?

- Yeah.

- Unbelievable, I've never

seen nothing like that.

- I have no idea, Brian,

how old it is.

- "I would like it

to pass on to you

"with the hope that you

will hold on to this fountain

"and someday pass it on

to a person

"that has interest

in poultry.

"They will continue

to do the same in future years.

Dick Stevens."

Thanks, buddy.

- Thousands of people

in this country

know more about poultry

than I,

but there's millions

that know less.

- Yeah, yeah, that's true.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- We always have one or two

chickens living in the house.

- We have diapers we put on them

if they're gonna stay

in the house long enough.

- It's made out of--

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