Florida 4-H Chick Chain “Egg-celence”

On Saturday, October 29^th, 4-H’ers from across the panhandle suited up in their 4-H Show gear, loaded up their chickens and ventured off to the inaugural Florida 4-H Chick Chain hosted at the Walton County Fairgrounds. This project was piloted last year with Alabama 4-H and is now an annual small animal science project offered here in the panhandle.

The objectives of the project are to help youth learn poultry nutrition and care, to develop communication skills, to develop basic record keeping skills, and to develop responsibility.  Over 80 youth participated and have been raising their pullets since May.  Over the summer, they participated in webinars and workshops to help prepare them for the show and complete their record books.  Some youth participated individually, some youth shared pullets with their siblings (making it a family project).  Youth not able to have chickens at their home were able to participate through a Cooperative Coop.  Cooperative coops are housed at the Extension Office and youth have the opportunity to sign up for shifts to help “rule the roost” by feeding and watering the chicks, monitoring their health, changing bedding, and cleaning the coop.

On Show and Auction day, youth experienced many opportunities to showcase their “egg-celent” skills they learned through the Florida 4-H Chick Chain project. First, youth were required to check-in their birds at registration with the Agriculture Inspector. This was the final step in determining if the youth had followed all the proper bio-security measures to keep their chickens happy, healthy and disease free. Next, youth participated in a skill-a-thon to demonstrate what they have learned about breed identification, poultry anatomy, and how to set up a brooder properly. During the show, youth demonstrated their knowledge and communication skills with confidence.  Youth were judged on how prepared they were to answer questions about their project and how well they handled their birds.

Do you have a passion for poultry?  If so, consider sharing it with 4-H as a volunteer.  4-H needs volunteers to help teach life skills through projects like this by sparking a lifelong interest in learning,  Contact your local UF IFAS County Extension Office or visit http://florida4h.org.

Helpful Resources:

• Florida 4-H Chick Chain
• Florida 4-H Poultry Project
• 4-H Poultry Judging
• Florida 4-H Embryology
• Five Steps to Poultry Showmanship
• All Aboard the Chick Chain
  

  These youth made top scores on the poultry skill-a-thon!

Junior Showmanship	1st	Jena Putnam
	2nd	Sheldon Sparks
	3rd	Jake Rinehart
	4th	Cass Dillard
	5th	Ashlynn Peebles
Intermediate Showmanship	1st	Katie Ballard
	2nd	Adrienne Murray
	3rd	Lily Smith
	4th	Isaac Hosford
	5th	Kailey Pettis
Senior Showmanship	1st	Mary Ballard
	2nd	Klarissa Williamson
	3rd	Ashlynn McDevitt
	4th	Myra Miles
	5th	Jayla Kindlespire
County Best of Show Grand & Reserve	HOLMES	G – Joshua Ernst R – Emily Ernst
	JACKSON	G – Nathan Ziglar R – Beau Miles
	JEFFERSON	G – Jake Rinehart R – Ashlynn Peebles
	LIBERTY	G – Isaac Hosford R – Millie Revell
	OKALOOSA	G – Lily Smith R – Kaelen Chenard
	SANTA ROSA	G – Cayden Smith R – Cat Proud
	WAKULLA	G – Adrienne Murray
	WALTON	G – Krista Laviolette R – Leannah McDevitt
	WASHINGTON	G – Cole & Cass Dillard R – Lillian, Sheldon Sparks & Natalie Taylor
Breed Best of Show Grand & Reserve	BRAHMA	G – Lily Smith R – Cole & Cass Dillard
	DOMINIQUE	G – Jake Rinehart R – Krista & Julie Laviolette
	LEGHORN	G – Beau Miles R – Mary Ballard
	POLISH	G – Lillian & Sheldon Sparks, Natalie Taylor R – Nathan Ziglar
	RHODE ISLAND RED	G – Emily Ernst R – Jenna Putnam
	WYANDOTTE	G – Jayla Kindlespire R – Kaelen Chenard
Overall Grand & Reserve (New)		G – Lily Smith R – Beau Miles
Overall Grand & Reserve (Returning)		G – Emily Ernst R – Myra Miles