The far-flung South’s finest feathered friends flounced their features at the Invercargill Poultry and Pigeon Club’s 111th show at the weekend.
The two-day event took place at Kennington Kennel Club Hall, where around 60 exhibitors had over 600 birds on display, many vying for the top prize with judges considering body, colour, and feathering.
Pigeon rearer David Service said it was his 56th time at the show, having started rearing pigeons when he was just 13 years old.
"Once it gets in the blood you can’t get rid of it," he said.
The number of birds at this year’s event had jumped by about 145 over the previous year, which was an unusual spike for the club.
While the club was going strong, they could always do with younger members, he said.
"As we know, everybody’s wanting to buy chickens to have their own eggs ... A lot of people just come in straight away to buy sale birds, and then they’ll look through the rest of the show."
Some of the rarer breeds on display were fetching prices exceeding $100 per bird.
"A lot of people are realising that these birds are heritage breeds. If they die out, we can’t get them because we cannot import poultry or eggs into the country. So they are quite rare, some of the breeds.
"It’s a great hobby to have ... We have fun and we love it. And it’s great for kids, because they’re an easy animal to look after."
