![Don Barclay, of Lower Hutt, judges a Jacobin pigeon at the Oamaru Poultry, Pigeon and Canary...](https://www.odt.co.nz/sites/default/files/styles/odt_landscape_extra_large_4_3/public/story/2024/07/om26poultryshow2.jpg?itok=KLZm3F4Q)
They had 801 entries this year, making it one of, if not the biggest show in the South Island, secretary Trevor Hill said.
He was pleased to see the hall packed with visitors.
"Whatever time of day you looked [there] seemed to be good crowds in the hall."
There has been a active push to raise the profile of the show, particularly within the younger demographic, over the last two years.
Mr Hill said chairwoman Wendy Crawford and committee member Chloe Sheehan led the charge in this area.
"They’d taken a different approach to what we’d previously done.
"That has really turned into [getting] people through the door. It hasn’t happened by chance."
Utilising social media and marketing the show through school newsletters as well as holding competitions specifically for children had a big impact on this year’s show.
"It’s very easy just to stay in the old world, whereas these women have stood out and said ‘hey this is the way we need to go’ and they’re dead right.
"Those two have just livened up the club and pointed it in a different direction."
Another new feature this year was the renaming of the fancy pigeon competition to honour Barrie Rae, a life member, show manager and renowned pigeon exhibitor, who died last year.
The winner of the inaugural Barrie Rae Memorial Fancy Pigeon Classic was Aian Cairns, of Invercargill.
"[Barrie] would’ve just been so thrilled to have seen the display of fancy pigeons we had", Mr Hill said.
Overall, it was a fantastic event and Mr Hill was already looking forward to next year’s show.