A lot to cluck about at Poultry Society’s show

There is a din of squawking and crowing and Lucia Peniston cannot get her boyfriend’s attention.

But it’s not the clucking cacophony that is Leo Simmons. The man is talking about what he loves. He is talking about chickens.

“I have to put on feathers for him to pay attention to me,” she jokingly mutters at one point.

Mr Simmons was among the organizers for the Bermuda Poultry Society’s January show, which is back after a hiatus of more than a decade. The initial thought was to celebrate the centennial, until one of the members found a poultry trophy that preceded 1914, when the society was previously assumed to have began. The society, said Mr Simmons had to raise about $5,000 to put the show on.

All that work was on display at the Jack King Building  on Saturday in the Botanical Gardens was filled with more than a dozen breeds of chickens. Some have feathers on their legs, some do not. Some have golden crowns, others have blue chests.  There are more than 400 specimens all told, including the other species of birds such as pigeons, as well as the rabbits. The show featured more than 35 exhibitors.

Walking around the rows of cages, Mr. Simmons – a society member who drives a taxi for a living and owns more than 40 chickens – points out a Scots Grey hen and says that specific breed could not be found in Bermuda for many years. He assesses a black red Indian Game chicken: “Good feathering, good eye, nice coloring and legs.”

He opines about a black cochin.

“They look like a big football, you know? They’re easy to handle. Not flighty.”

He talks about different combinations of roosters and hens. He talks about breeding, specifically the importance of combining certain roosters with certain hens to accentuate certain traits and downplay others in order to meet the standard  of a certain breed. He says he gives his food and water twice a day.

“Some people look at it as work, but it’s my medicine, it’s my relaxation,” he says.

Simmons is not alone in his passion for poultry.

Mark Wheddon, a society member, says the island’s love for chickens is growing. He notices more people are interested in raising chickens.

“It’s the economy,” he says. “Plus there’s the whole movement of growing your own food. It’s a natural progression of that.”

The society, says Wheddon, is a cross section of Bermudian society. There are pool cleaners and doctors, all connected by their love for chickens, he says.

The vice president of the society, Cesar Botelho, is another man who loves talking about the finer details of chicken breeds. He recalls a time, decades ago, when having well-bred chicken was a status symbol

“It takes a lot to get a nice breed,” he says.

Mr Botelho runs CB Dive Shop and owns about 150 chickens. Like Mr Simmons, he calls the experience of raising and breeding chickens “rewarding and relaxing.”

Walking around the different cages, he speaks about the importance of some of the birds’ traits and attitudes.

“Look at her stance,” he says of  one of the birds. “You have some birds that show off. They strut. Some of them don’t. It does matter. Basically the chicken has to pose

for the judge. See how she’s spreads her tail? That’s what you want. You want a nice compact bird.”

He waxes poetic about the salmon colour in the breast of a silver duckwing.

He explains the ideal blue Old English. “A lot of black on the back and blue on the chest without the black running into the blue.”

“Will you look at that? It’s almost like someone drew it on there with a pencil. It’s amazing, the genetics of these animals.”

He repeats the phrase, as if he’s making this observation for the first time: “It’s amazing.”