POULTRY, RABBITS TURN HEADS AT THE FAIR

John Nothdurft has a pet name for his young white rock rooster "Mr. G".

A lot of poultry people know about "Mr. G" today. The white, almost 1-year-old rooster, which Nothdurft raised from a 2- or 3-day-old chick, captured top honors in the 4-H poultry division at the Southeast Missouri District Fair Tuesday.

Nothdurft, 10, son of Paul and Janie Nothdurft, is a fourth-grader at Jackson West Lane Elementary School. He was not present when the judge pinned the grand-champion ribbon on the cage housing Mr. G. It wasn't until after school Tuesday that the youngster had an opportunity to see how his poultry project had fared at the Fair.

It did well.

In addition to Mr. G's honor, Nothdurft's silver laced Wyandotte hen hauled in reserve champion honors and five of his eight entries in the poultry class received first-place blue ribbons.

"John became interested in poultry after his younger brother expressed an interest," said Janie Nothdurft, who was on hand during the judging Tuesday morning.

John's brother, Jeremie, 8, a second-grader, is working on a 4-H poultry project that he will enter in the 1994 district fair.

The Nothdurfts are familiar figures at the fair.

"We have a swine farm near Jackson," said Mrs. Nothdurft. "We have entered pigs at the fair a number of years.

A daughter, Christin, 11, is entering swine this year. When she first entered pigs in the fair, her entries received a grand champion and reserve champion.

The Nothdurfts are also entering six hogs in this year's fair, "We have some entries in the Yorkshire class, and in the York-Hamp class," said Mrs. Nothdurft.

"John is just getting started with poultry," said Mrs. Nothdurft. "He really didn't know what breeds to raise, so he ordered a variety about 20 different breeds of 1-day-old chicks."

Visitors to the 4-H barn at the fair this week were treated to a variety of poultry ducks, geese, turkeys, pigeons and bantam breeds and rabbits of all sizes and color.

A great number of bantam chickens were on exhibition three of them mottled Japanese chickens.

Not many people take an interest in the mottled Japanese chicken.

"But they are an interesting breed," said Larry Merritt, who was investigating the leg length and the coloring of feathers on a young rooster of the mottled division late Tuesday morning. "This one could be ranked high because of its short legs, but would rank low because of its coloring."

Merritt, a homebuilder from Nixa, and his wife, Carol, were at the fair Tuesday in a judging capacity for the bantam chicken division.

"The coloring of the mottled Japanese chicken is unusual," said Merritt, who is one of about 70 active American Bantam Association judges. "Every third feather is supposed to have a white diamond tip."

More and more people are becoming interested in bantam poultry, said Merritt.

"It doesn't take as much room or feed for the smaller birds," he said. "And it's becoming sort of a hobby; most people grow the bantam breeds as a hobby."

"Onlookers are surprised at how docile the rabbits are during judging," said Robert "Cowboy" Kolweier, who was here to judge the rabbits. "They just sit there while you feel their fur and check their ears."

The Kolweiers are longtime rabbit fans.

"We operate a rabbit ranch near Nashville," said Kolweier. "We have five different breeds and keep about 180 head at any one time. Kolweier's Rabbit Ranch is operated by Kolweier, his wife, Sue, and children, Dusty, Rusty, and Levi.

"Rabbits are judged on a variety of things," said Kolweier. "Some classes are judged individually; others are judged in pairs. We look at weight, uniformity of size of the pair, and body type."

Meanwhile, other varieties of livestock beef and dairy cattle, swine, horses, sheep were arriving at the fair Tuesday.