AHC1

Presidents Report

from Phil Dew

Numbers of Helmets have been down at the shows this year but I would expect to see an increase next year. Having sold some 25 Helmets this season, mainly Plainhead, and some of these to new breeders I would say things are looking good for the Helmet fancy. Also contributing to the resurgence is the fact that a couple of our best breeders in NSW i.e. Phil Bachner and Col Campbell should be producing good numbers this year after a few very lean seasons whilst moving house and relocating birds.

We also now have some incentive schemes involving prize money at the Sydney Royal Easter Show and the National show. The Royal has a $100 prize for best Helmet donated by the Helmet Club which I won this year with a Black Plainhead Cock. The competition was not overwhelming but hopefully the cash prize might encourage a few more. It is also a good show for presenting our birds to the public and the birds come out in a very good condition considering the length of time in the show. The National Show next year in Adelaide will have large cash prize of $250 to be divided up among various winners. I believe and this should be a good show for Helmets as they are very popular in S.A.

Our Helmet Show this year, incorporated with the National was a small but successful show with 24 PH and 34 Crested shown. Our judge was Bob Nolan from the USA. He was impressed with our Plainheads, particularly in body size and shape. He felt that their heads were a little too tumbler like, as in Long Face Tumbler, but I think we are closer to the standard than they are and he hasn't seen anything quite as advanced as these and was a bit put off as a result. The winning Plainhead was a blue old hen and best young was an andalusian cock. I own both birds and feel that the andalusian cock has the best head and beak setting I have ever produced but he is a little bit rough in feathering especially in the winds and he is probably a bit big all over. Having said that he was also awarded best PH at the NSW PFS Young Bird Show this year with Phil Bachner judging so I guess he's not that bad, and it's good to see consistency with judging between Australian and overseas judges. Col Campbell won the crested with an old red hen and best young went to Tony Miglori from WA with a well presented red cock with very good colour and a nice big crest. This was a good achievement for Tony as he tells me he only breeds from one pair of crested and he was very pleased with the result, which proves that you don't have to breed Helmets in large numbers to do well with them, especially in crested which breed more consistent markings than PH.

With another breeding season well under way I have had mixed success so far with only a dozen in the young bird cage and another dozen or so in the nest. (as of early November). However, some of these are looking promising and I now have my first andalusian crested helmets, and two in one nest on the first attempt. These are both well marked and have good crests so far. In Plainhead I have a couple of nice young blues and reds and one very nice looking yellow which may be a cock but very early to tell just yet.

I would really like to hear from other members. If we get more material we will have more frequent and more interesting newsletters so lets have it, what's going on in SA, WA, QLD and TAS.

Good luck and you will need it, to everyone for the rest of the breeding season and I hope to make it to Adelaide next year to what could be our biggest Helmet Show ever.