History of the American Poultry Association

The APA began as an association for those breeders. Showing their birds and winning competitions helped the breeders because they could tell their customers “This bird is directly descended from the bird that won the XYZ prize at the 19XX American Poultry Association Show.” The shows and competitions were so popular that, in the beginning, more birds than could be judged were brought in. The first couple of competitions didn’t work out because there were too many birds, not enough judges, and no standard by which the birds could be judged.