Time is running out for poultrymen and women to submit their entries for the online Scottish Agricultural Show which takes place next month.
The virtual show, held in partnership with the Royal Highland Show, is being hosted by The Press and Journal and The Courier.
The show is sponsored by EQ Accountants, with the poultry section sponsored by Ledingham Chalmers.
Strong competition is expected for this section, which also has sub-categories for bantams, water fowl, rare breeds and eggs.
The judge is Robert Chapman who has been in the industry all of his working life.
Mr Chapman is a huge presence in the poultry industry and owns Farmlay Eggs near Strichen.
The firm has 350,000 chickens on the 2,500-acre farm.
In addition, the farm has 220 suckler cows and rears 700,000 pullets each year.
Farmlay Eggs also works with 25 contract producers.
Mr Chapman says that although he is new to judging, he has been a poultry farmer since he left school.
He said: “I will be looking for a bird that’s bright-eyed, looking alert and standing well.
“I’ll also be looking at the quality and coverage of the plumage – wing feathers need to be well spaced and straight, the neck feathers need to have a nice shine, while the tail feathers need to be well placed.
“The comb needs to be nice and bright and a straight beak with no discharge from the nostrils is also important.
“The bird’s feet should also be clean with no abrasions.”
Mr Chapman has previously won the Poultry Farmer of the Year Award and in 2017 and the Royal Northern Agricultural Society’s good farming practice award.
Entries, which can be made by visiting the show’s website, are open until midnight on June 19. Each entry requires a £5 donation in support of rural education charity, the Royal Highland Education Trust.