The nation’s finest young poultry judges flocked to the Royal Adelaide Show in September, with Queensland’s Shikira Stehbens emerging as the national champion in the prestigious Poultry Young Judges Competition.
The competition sees participants rank birds from first to fourth place, judged on their visual rankings, handling technique and oral presentation.
Each year, Agricultural Shows Australia brings together the best young judges from across the country to compete in the national finals, which spans nine categories.
This year, the Royal Adelaide Show hosted the National Poultry Young Judges Competition due to the avian influenza outbreak, while the Melbourne Royal Show will host the bulk of the 2024 categories.
Shikira, 22 of The Range in Queensland, expressed her joy and gratitude after the win, saying: “This has been a dream of mine for the past three years – to represent Queensland in the National Poultry Young Judges Competition and honour my judging skills.
“I am over the moon to have accomplished my dream. I would also like to thank the other representatives for their great work and the sponsors.“
Reflecting on her journey Shikira said: “I started showing my chooks when I was 14-years-old. I then found my mentors, Phil Tisdell, Barry Tisdell and the late Rob Barnard.
“In the last year, I lost a very close friend and mentor. I managed to continue showing for both myself and in memory of him.
“I have had multiple champion-winning birds at shows in the last five years at both agricultural and club shows.
“This year, I even had a bird in Champion Row at the Ekka 2024. I am beyond proud of my journey and everyone who has helped along the way.“
The competition was fierce, with second place going to New South Wales’s Kollah Cannon, 16, from Glenorie.
Kollah reflected on her experience: “It was a great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the competitors from around Australia while gathering insightful knowledge.
“I’m proud to have been named runner-up.“
Kollah’s passion for poultry judging began early, as she recalls: “It all started when I said to my mum, ‘Oh, that’s a pretty duck,’ and she replied saying that there were beauty pageants for them.
“So, I entered my blue and white Muscovy duck into the Luddenham Show in 2016 and won Champion Junior Waterfowl.
“Ever since then, I’ve been hooked.
“After that, we bought the Poultry Standard 2nd edition and I picked my beloved Bantam Australian Black Langshans. I’ve been lucky enough to have great mentors throughout the years who have taught me what it means to live and breathe poultry.“
Third place was awarded to Edward Lock, 16 from Naracoorte, SA. Eddie, who is currently a Year 11 student, hopes to study agriculture after finishing school and has a long history of exhibiting poultry and pigeons.
Agricultural Shows Australia executive officer Katie Stanley commended the participants, saying, “These young judges represent the future of agricultural show competitions.
“The national competition is a coveted opportunity for them to grow personally and professionally by practising their skills against the cream of the crop.“
Agricultural Shows Australia Young Poultry Judges placings:
1. Shikira Stehbens, 22, The Range Queensland – National Champion
2. Kollah Cannon, 16, Glenorie NSW – Runner-Up
3. Edward Lock, 16, Naracoorte SA – Third Place
4. Chelsea Hughes, 19, Northam WA
5. Josh Hancock, 19, Merbein South Victoria.
