That is reflected in the society's 127th show in Oamaru, with entries growing in the poultry heavy breed section on display in the Oamaru Drill Hall yesterday and today.
This year the show has 965 entries from north Canterbury to Southland - more than society president Clinton O'Brien expected following the national show in Invercargill two weekends ago.
Entries are about the same as previous years, Mr O'Brien expecting they may have been down with a lot of New Zealand breeders attending the national show.
"It's the last show for the season, so for a lot of breeders it's their last outing."
One of the reasons for the healthy number of entries, Mr O'Brien believes, is an upsurge of interest in poultry, particularly from people with lifestyle blocks, who are buying birds.
"People are more aware about what they are eating with all the publicity about what is going into food, so they are getting a poultry flock for meat and eggs," he said.
Buying through the internet had also made it easier, but Mr O'Brien said care needed to be taken to ensure they knew what they were getting.
Buying poultry has led people to seek advice from club members, which has resulted in an increase in membership for the club and entries in its shows.
The club has more than 200 entries this year in its heavy breed poultry sections.
"A few years ago, we were only getting 20 or 30.
"Some of them get as keen as mustard, coming along regularly to meetings," he said.
Yesterday morning, judges cast their eyes over the entries, selecting the best, then the show opened to the public until 6pm.
Today it is open until 4pm.
