Skip to main content

Chicken People


  • Nicole Lucas Haimes, Director/Producer

About the Project

Each November, exotic poultry breeders across America come to Columbus intending to win the Ohio National Poultry Show, considered the Westminster of Chickens. There, exhibitors compete their show birds against 10,000 others, on traits like plumage, color, comb, body shape - even personality. It's a high stakes world where a single broken feather can mean a broken dream, for only one bird, one winner is declared best in show.

This is CHICKEN PEOPLE. A character-driven documentary centered around the passionate pursuit of excellence on the terrain of fancy fowl. At times poignant, other times hilarious, occasionally tipping into a portrait of obsession, CHICKEN PEOPLE is always an engaging and entertaining foray into the hearts and minds of poultry breeders.

We'll see the competitor who blow-dries her chickens before a show in a hotel bathroom. An exhibitor who raises 1500 birds annually and keeps detailed genetic records for each and every one. Another invites her favorite chicken into her home where they cuddle together on the couch. What CHICKEN PEOPLE might not recognize is that the way they raise and relate to their chickens often reflects what's going on in their own lives. And therein lies the humor and the heart.