Marion, Volusia and Broward 4-H Members Compete in National 4-H Poultry and Egg Contests

On November 16, the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference​ was held during the North American International Livestock Exposition​ as the national event for poultry contests. Florida 4-H​ was represented in three of the contests by state winners from the poultry judging and tailgating contests.

In the poultry judging contest, Florida was represented by your state champion team from Marion County 4-H​, made up of Josiah Caswell, Harrison Sharp, Patrick Sharp and Grace Lynch. Together, as a team, they placed first in the market egg division, seventh in production hens, eighth in market poultry and fourth overall. Individually, Caswell was the high individual overall in the market egg division, Patrick Sharp was eighth individually in market poultry and fourth overall, and Harrison Sharp was eighth individually in market eggs and tenth overall, with 20 teams and 85 individuals competing. Ainsley Peterson of Suwannee County 4-H qualified to compete as well after being named the highest placing individual in the state contest not on the winning team but did not attend.

Within the avian bowl contest, Florida was represented by your third place in the state team from Volusia County 4-H​, made up of Bailey Sloan, Edward Maddox and Gina Dobkowski. They competed in the preliminary rounds, with 13 teams and 41 individuals competing. Jackson County 4-H​ qualified to compete as well after being named your reserve state champions in poultry judging, but did not attend as they competed in 2016.

Finally, in the chicken barbecue contest, Hayden Hawes of Broward County 4-H competed after being named as your state champion in the poultry division of the state tailgating contest earlier this fall, representing Florida on the national level with 12 contestants competing.

Congratulations to each of these youth on their accomplishments on the state level and for representing Florida in national contests. Poultry events stretch beyond teaching if the chicken or the egg came first, teaching youth skills in consumer selection, food safety, public speaking, decision making, study skills and more. For more information, visit www.ca.uky.edu/national4hpoultry.

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