Pigeons, ducks, poultry, bantams and cage birds of all shapes and sizes will be on display at the annual event at the Oamaru Drill Hall, on today and tomorrow.
The society’s secretary, Trevor Hill, said the show had grown, with 801 entries this year, up 286 entries from last year, making for one of their biggest shows "for a number of years".
Mr Hill said the fancy pigeon competition had been named the Barrie Rae Memorial Fancy Pigeon Classic to honour Barrie Rae, a life member, show manager and renowned pigeon exhibitor, who died the day after the show last year.
"To honour him we’ve made a special section at the show this year and we’ve put up extra money. The United Pigeon Fanciers Association that Barrie was patron of, they’ve come to the party as well with considerable funds and cash prizes.
"So, we’ve got, without a doubt, the best fancy pigeons around the South Island coming to the show," he said.
The Rae family have donated a trophy for the winner of best fancy pigeon.
Society committee member Chloe Sheehan praised Mr Rae’s previous involvement in the show.
She said it would be a good family show and great to see a broader range of pigeons.
"It’s going to be fantastic. We’ve got so many pigeons coming this year, because Barrie was so passionate about his pigeons.
"Lately the pigeon numbers have been down, but this is really kind of spurred people to really come out and show the birds, because they’ve all got them at home, but they don’t always make the effort to enter them.
"This year we have a huge number of pigeons ... When you see show pigeons, they’re stunning. They’re so many different colours and they’ve got amazing tails and heads — they’re just gorgeous. Some of them are curly like teddy bears.
"There’s going to be so many pigeons, which will be lovely to see.
"The kids really like the pigeons, too. They always get excited about the pigeons," Ms Sheehan said.
