The show, organised by the Northampton and District Poultry Club, took place on a farm close to West Haddon on Saturday and involved hundreds of breeds of chickens competing for the judges' attention.

Club chairman Wilf Simms said: "We had a very good turnout for this show. We hold chicken fancies twice a year, and we are really back up and running after missing a couple of shows because of avian flu.

"The breeders want to show off their chickens and by having these shows we hope to be able to protect some rare breeds which would otherwise be dying out."

Steve Bass, who allowed the use of his farm for the show, added: "Everyone seems to have had a good time and the entries were very strong."

Stewart Owens, who brought eight birds, said: "All the different breeds are judged against different standards, so it's difficult to say what the judges are looking for, but we like to see the quality of the birds everyone else has reared."