Phillip ‘Poena’ Strydom, a Grade 11 learner at Marlow Agricultural School outside Cradock, has been breeding bantam chickens for seven years and excelled with his pekin bantams and australorp bantams at the Bathurst Agricultural show from April 1-3 this year.
Phillip’s late grandfather, Flip Greyvenstein, who was well known for his australorps that he regularly exhibited at local shows, bought him his first pekin bantams when Phillip was only 10-years-old.
The boy attended many shows with his grandfather and learnt the tricks of good breeding and showing at an early age.
He has been showing for seven years now and has partridge-, white-, black-, lavender- and mottled pekins.
He has just started to show the australorp bantams and still has a few of his grandfather’s black australorps, which he will continue taking to shows as long as possible.
Phillip’s aim is to breed and show his poultry, maintaining breed standards.
“There is always more to learn at each show he attends and is now preparing for the East London show to be held of April.
He will also attend Komani’s Tamboekie Festival Show which is held in September,” his mother, Charlaine Strydom, said.
Phillip, who lives with his parents, Henk and Charlaine Strydom on the farm Mimosa, near Komani, has appointed his parents as “chicken sitters” to look after his precious babies while he is at school.
“But,” explained Charlaine, “people do not realise how much goes into all the preparation needed to show chickens.
“About a week before the show the chickens get bathed and blow dried, feet and legs are scrubbed and moisturized and nails and beaks are trimmed. Quite a job.”
