Contest gives fowl chance to crow

Lots of crowing could be heard from the Shawano County Fair Coliseum on Monday as humans and chickens showcased their best crowing abilities.

The annual fair event gave the opportunity for county residents to show how well their roosters can crow and fly, and once the birds were returned to their cages, the owners showed off their best imitations of their birds’ cry.

Rachel Valeria, a member of the Maple Grove Countryside 4-H Club, took top honors with her Americana blue wheaten, which crowed an impressive 19 times during the contest. Many of the roosters did not crow at all.

Valeria said she is used to her rooster crowing — at all hours of the day.

“Sometimes he’ll even do it in the middle of the night,” she said.

After the chickens did their crowing, the people took their turn. Valeria also won the youth contest, while Angie Schultz, of Gresham, took the honor in the adult category.

Schultz said it was her first time participating in the contest, and she was surprised at how well she did. She hopes to try again next year.

What made her decide to give it a try?

“My kids told me to go, so I did it,” Schultz said. “You got to try new things every year.”

Besides the crowing contest, chicken owners gave their birds a chance to spread their wings and fly. Some flew around the Coliseum, while others just fluttered to the ground after being gently nudged out of a giant imitation mailbox.

Georgia Schultz, Angie’s daughter and a member of the Gresham Town and Country 4-H Club, saw her bantam chicken fly the farthest at 26 feet, 10 inches. For standard chickens, Belle Plaine 4-H Club member Forrest Netzel’s chicken flew 20 feet, 9 inches.

Georgia Schultz said her chicken does not normally fly a lot on the farm. The exception is when someone leaves the cage door open.

“If I forget to close his cage, he’ll fly out,” Schultz said.