After several months of winter and spring shows around the South Island with a lot of ribbons and accolades it is back to the real work of breeding hens and ducks for next year.
“You need to have a reason to get up in the morning. It’s a hobby for me,” the 82-year-old says.
He doesn’t keep count of the birds he breeds and has no preferences.
“I like them all.”
And as much as he is fond of them there are no pet names.
“That’s getting too personal.”
Bain had a big 2018 New Zealand Agricultural Show (formerly the Canterbury A & P Show) in mid-November, winning five ribbons for best or reserve best in his poultry section category.
They included the Supreme Poultry Exhibit, with his spectacular white silkie hen.
Then to top everything off he was named Show Legend for his voluntary work over many years. He retired this year as convener of the poultry section.
He’s chuffed with all of that.
The poultry convener is responsible for the upkeep and care of the birds during the show.
“If anything goes wrong, your head is on the block.”
On some days more than 30,000 people go through the show gates and he says at least a third of them go to see the poultry, most arriving through the adjacent farmyard.
“We get a bit of strife at times but I’m not saying any more than that.”
Bain has been showing birds at shows for 55 years.
He won at his first attempt, with a cockerel chicken at Milton in south Otago in 1963.
“That was good luck more than anything.”
In his early days he bred mainly Buff Orpington ducks and gold colour hens. The white silkie, a Chinese breed, came much later.
Bain worked as a shepherd and moved to Canterbury in 1973 as head shepherd at Mount Hutt Station. That was well away from major show venues but he became busier after 1985 when he moved to Dunsandel as a freezing works shepherd.
He’s shown all around the South Island and won a lot of awards but says none really stands out over others.
“I’m interested in all of them. There’s been a few supreme awards and there’s a box full of ribbons under the bed.”
He does have a soft spot for the Ellesmere Show at Leeston, near where he lives now at Killinchy, having spent years as poultry convener there as well.
He’s known as a character and for his tongue-in-cheek sense of humour.
“You can call it what you like,” he says.
“I just take each day as it comes. I do what I can and I enjoy what I do.”
Both he and the poultry sector achieved some fame and notoriety as a result of the Pecking Order documentary film highlighting Christchurch Poultry Club infighting in 2014 and 2015 when Bain was chairman. He was deposed soon afterwards.
“Strife happens in big clubs and I haven’t lost any friendships over it,” he says.
“If someone thinks they can do it better then that’s all right.”
The film raised the poultry sector profile but he’s not sure it has helped get more people involved in showing.
“Quite a few people come up to me at the shows wanting to take a selfie with me.”
One of his concerns is that not enough young people are interested in showing hens and ducks and other birds so he spends quite a bit of time trying to encourage them.
“We get a few in at an early age, up till about 17, but then they start doing other things and drift away.
“It’s hard work for us older blokes to hold the fort but you just do what you can and if they don’t want to carry on, it’s up to them.”
One youngster he gave some birds to won two awards at the Leeston show but only time will tell if he carries on.
Bain might have stepped back from his official roles but his show days aren’t at all finished.
“I’m 83 next birthday but I’ll keep showing. You need to show an interest. I’m not slowing down though I probably should be.”
