Barastoc Poultry NSW Junior Scholarship Profile

Nathan Quayle

Nathan Quayle is 15 years old and is in Year 9. He moved from Canberra to Tamworth 2.5 years ago.

Tell us a bit about yourself and what got you started in poultry?

I first became interested in chickens when my Nan bought some wyandottes and sussex. I would spend a lot of time helping her in the pens and that’s when she let me have a pen of my own so I chose to have pekin bantams.

I have been breeding and showing now for four years and the support from my parents is amazing. During show season my mum and I spend many weekends away travelling to shows. We have travelled to places including Canberra, Mudgee, Maitland, Armidale, Gunnedah, Walcha and of course our local club show here in Tamworth.

Nathan’s show success (L-R): Nathan and his Mum at the presentation dinner at the Pekin Nationals 2018; A collection of his winnings for the 2018 show season; Nathan winning the Richard Bowden memorial trophy at Tamworth.

How many birds, and what breeds, do you have in your flock?

Currently on our 3.5 acre property, I have around 45 birds. This consists of pekins, Old English Game bantams and speckled sussex but does not include the chicks that are in brooders in the garage. I specialise in the pekins, with blue, black, splash and mottled being the colours that I breed and show. I am just starting out with the Old English Game.

Tell us a bit about your backyard coop?

This is quite a journey actually. I used to have around eight different pens all around the property and they were all short, except for the grower pens that my dad built for me. I am 6ft 3in so cleaning them out was quite a challenge. When I turned 14, I started working at McDonalds and I began saving all my money so that I could have some decent pens built. I found some greyhound dog runs for sale so Mum and Dad helped me out and we transported them to Tamworth and my uncle came and helped us build them. I can now enter my pens without having to get on my knees or duck right down to get into them. The other bonus is that they are also super easy to clean as we have the pekins on sand. Now I am just saving to replace the roof as it does leak when it rains.

Nathan’s sheds (L-R): The outside of the pens for which Nathan saved (that are home to his breeders); and his grower pens.

What are your poultry plans for the future?

This year I was accepted for the Richard Porter Youth Program where I was flown to Brisbane to attend the EKKA. During this time I was able to see behind the scenes and I was taught a lot about judging different types of poultry. This is certainly something that I would like to pursue in the future.

Something else that I have planned for the future is to hopefully win a best colour and champion pekin of show at the Australian National Pekin club show. This year was my third year entering the show. This year I won Best Blue, Best Black, Best White, Best Mottled and Best AOC, which led to me winning Champion and Reserve Champion in the novice class, all with birds that I had bred myself.  I now have to enter ‘Opens’ and I am really excited about the future and seeing where I go with my pekins.

The five young people who won a spot in the Richard Porter Youth Program, with Nathan at the front.