Birds to be present at this year’s Butler Farm Show
Avian influenza, which has hindered the Butler Farm Show in the past due to bird and public safety concerns, will not keep children from showing their birds at the Connoquenesing Township venue this August.
Live birds will be present on the farm show grounds as part of the planned activities at the farm show, which is now entering its 77th year.
“We believe we are past where we have to be concerned,” Jordan Kennedy, member of the farm show board of directors, said. “It’s opened up to where the kids can fully participate to what they originally signed up for.”
Kennedy said avian influenza outbreak been a matter of concern for many years. The particular HPAI strain of avian influenza is not only highly pathogenic, but can cross over species.
In the past, the farm show has been forced to not show live birds at all, instead using posters and pictures as a substitute.
“The kids took pictures of their birds at home and submitted those and we judged them as if they were live and on-site,” Kennedy said.
In 2024, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture allowed the farm show to have meat birds for terminal shows — birds went for processing after the show.
This year, all live birds are slated to be on-site, Kennedy said. Precautionary steps have been taken to protect everyone and everything, and state Department of Agriculture will be watching out for outbreaks closely.
There will be no public access to the live bird tent, but the front will be open with a buffer, so that the public can look and listen to the birds, Kennedy said.
“Some of these kids are still learning what chickens are. They hear a rooster crow, and the eyes on these kids light up,” Kennedy said. “We’re trying to make sure that we can still give that experience to the public as much as possible.”
In fact, this year’s farm show will introduce a brand new rooster crowing contest at the tent, where a rooster’s crows will be counted within a specific time period. The rooster that crow most amount of times wins. This way, Kennedy said, children can interact with birds, like squawking or jumping at them to make them crow, without touching them.
“It’s going to be something fun for the kids that are exhibiting, and we’re hoping that the families that are there will get a laugh,” Kennedy said. “We’re constantly trying to move forward and try to give everyone a good show”
All the poultry on the grounds will be tested influenza free as per state requirements, Kennedy said.
