Alf Woods, 98 years in chickens

Alf Woods is a singular figure within the Australian poultry community and someone who, in show circles, truly needs no introduction. He went to his first show at the age of 7 and, now 98, he’s been a fixture at the Melbourne Royal ever since. Having spent 9 decades in poultry, participating at just about every level of the fancy, it was a priceless opportunity to sit down with Alf and pick his brain. This conversation is jam packed with not only instruction in how to breed but anecdotes from a lifetime spent around chooks and chicken people. Alf discusses: — His method of single mating all his birds — The importance of ruthless culling to eliminate faults — His poultry "bible" aka stud book — How he feeds his birds — Some of the best reads from his enviable library of chicken books — The unique Japanese fowl known as the Onagadori — How he's never wormed a bird — His daily routine with his birds, at 98 — His advice to new breeders starting out — The perils of buying birds online — Eating chicken soup every night — Brother-sister matings — The longest he's kept a line pure without outside blood — Why you should not have a feed hopper in your chook pen — Whether you should outcross to a male or female bird — Beetle green sheen versus purple — The fine line between show preparation and faking — Whether he's ever bred himself into a corner and had to abandon a line — How he trims rooster spurs — Memorable adventures from a lifetime in chickens