Poultry breeders will be early to rise like the roosters this weekend - not to get the worms, but to get to the Taieri Poultry Show in Mosgiel.
More than 600 birds will be on display at the Taieri A&P Society Hall on Friday and Saturday, and Taieri Poultry Pigeon and Cagebird Club secretary/treasurer Sid Bennett is hoping some rare Dorking chickens will be among them this year.
Dorkings are believed to have originated in Italy during the Roman Empire, and were introduced in Britain during the Roman Conquest, making them one of the oldest English breeds.
''There's not many of them about. They're quite rare,'' he said.
''There is probably only two or three people in the South Island breeding them.''
This year's show is the 125th and organisers are marking the milestone by awarding Otago's top specimens with prize cards and special rosettes.
Despite a continuing decline in the popularity of keeping poultry, Mr Bennett was pleased with the number of entries in this year's show.
He said when he first started showing poultry 30 years ago, there were more than 1300 entries in the Taieri event.
''It's definitely a dying thing. Local authorities have come down on people, saying they're [roosters] too noisy to have in built-up areas.
''It's also so easy to go and buy a dozen eggs from the supermarket, so people don't keep them for their egg production.
''And the cost of feeding and housing them - it's not cheap. You're probably looking at $10 a week just to feed them.''
He said there were many roads to cross before the popularity of poultry showing could recover.
