WINDSOR — Pearl, a 2-year-old Blue English Orpington Hen, is not like other hens.

A Buff Cochin Bantam rooster keeps an eye on visitors Saturday in the Austin Brann Poultry Building at the Windsor Fairgrounds in Windsor. The 10-day fair opened Saturday with poultry judging. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

She’s gray, around double the size of a farm hen, and to prepare for her show farm debut, she was pampered with a bath.

In the Windsor Farm’s annual poultry show, Pearl was judged Saturday morning on her feathers, coloring, feet, posture, body type and even her waddle.

She made sure to stand with confidence as her owner, Heidi Dunlap of Canaan, spoke of her with pride.

“We give her a bath. She’s fluffy anyway, but we blow dry her fluff underneath,” said Dunlap of the process of preparing Pearl to be shown.

The 10-day long Windsor Fair is the second largest agricultural fair in the state and typically draws around 100,000 attendees. Instead of its typical Sunday start, this year’s fair opened Saturday in an effort to maximize the number of weekend guests.

Heidi Dunlap talks about her Blue Orpington hen Saturday in the Austin Brann Poultry Building the Windsor Fairgrounds in Windsor. The 10-day fair opened Saturday with poultry judging. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

The poultry show was one of the fair’s first events on Saturday morning and Pearl was one of many hens ready for their close-ups. Judges methodically visited the hen, rooster and pigeon cages, one by one, to pick up and fully inspect each bird.

Brian Read, one of the pigeon judges, explained that there is a standard point system the birds are judged on, up to a perfect score of 100.

Read has kept pigeons since he was 8 years old and at one time several years ago, had around 500 birds.

“I caught a couple and got started with street pigeons,” he said. “People would pass away and I would take in their birds and at a time, I had around 500. They can live up to 25 years in coops.”

Unlike Read’s birds, Pearl did not come from the streets, or the  retail Tractor Supply Co.

Dunlap purchased her, along with a few siblings, from a breeder in California for $25 each — brown chickens at Tractor Supply retail around $34 for 10. Dunlap’s other hens are 4 months old, just shy from the six-month age they need to be to compete in the show competition.

She got into the hobby because of her daughter-in-law and says she continues doing it because she loves seeing people’s reactions when they see, or pet, her unique birds. She, along with her other family members, participate in the Windsor Fair and the Central Maine Bird Fanciers Show, a New England competition at the Windsor Fair on the first Saturday in October.

“We do it for our grandkids, it’s fun for them and it’s fun for kids from Portland, or southern Mane, to see chickens like that. A lot of the kids have never seen one up close,” said Dunlap.

Heidi’s daughter-in-law, Anitta Dunlap, 28, along with her son, Declan, 8, Heidi’s grandson, also showed hens at the fair. Anitta Dunlap got involved because of her cousin and used one of her cousin’s hens to participate in the Windsor Fair 20 years ago. Now, she has passed on the tradition to her son.

Trophies with golden birds are seen Saturday in the Austin Brann Poultry Building at the Windsor Fairgrounds in Windsor. The 10-day fair opened Saturday with poultry judging. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

“I want my kids to know and grow up like I have,” Anitta Dunlap said. “It’s also a good sense of community. We are like a family through (the group) Central Maine (Bird Fanciers). If we have questions, there is usually someone who can answer.”

New this year are events such as manure and fry pan-throwing contests, farmers’ Olympics and a cornhole tournament, as well as Wi-Fi throughout the park to allow vendors to take credit cards and provide internet for fairgoers. Entertainment will feature popular local bands such as 12/OC, Chase Jobe Band & The Runnin’ Kind and Hurricane Mountain Band, among others.

Tom Foster, president of the Windsor Fair, said there is something for everyone at the fair.

“We have a variety of events, things to see, displays, the historical society has a village to show the way things used to be. Agricultural events with animals, cattle racing — there’s something for everyone,” he said.

The Windsor Fair is located at 82 Ridge Road and will continue daily until Labor Day, Sept. 2. A full list of the fair’s schedule can be found at windsorfair.com.