4-H Chick Chain 2019 is in The Books!
Since May, youth from across the area have been working daily to take care of their chicks for the Escambia County 4-H Chick Chain Program. All of their work culminated at the Chick Chain Show & Sale this past Saturday, November 2 during the morning of the LaRae Harvest Festival.
Youth checked in before 9am and judging began with showmanship, where they presented one of the two chickens they brought to the judge and answer questions about the work they did, about the health of their chickens, as well as other questions about chicken anatomy and their knowledge about their chicken breed.
Part of the showmanship score was also how well they did at tracking expenses and recording their progress in their Chick Chain record book.
For showmanship, youth were divided up into three age groups based on the number of participants that would be in each group, then taking their record books scores and adding it to their showmanship at the show, the youth finished as follows:
Showmanship Results
9-year-olds class
1. Ava Smoker
2. Rein Stuckey
3. Conner Lambeth
4. Kasey Jo Tessier
10-11-year-olds class
1. Brian Yoder
2. Logan Mitchell
3. Colby Lisenby
4. Benjamin Landis
5. Audrey Hall
12-17-year-olds class
1. Baldwin Carden
2. Maevree McElhaney
3. Judson Lee
4. Michael Morgan
5. William Morgan
After showmanship, youth were free to enjoy the sights and sounds of the LaRae Harvest Festival while the judge then evaluated the health and characteristics of their birds, which were divided up by breed classes.
At the start of Chick Chain, youth could choose two sets of 5 chicks of either Buff Orpington, Barred Plymouth Rock, or Rhode Island Red.
For the show, youth brought two of the same breed of their choice from amongst the birds they raised.
For evaluation at the show, birds were divided by their breeds and each bird was scored, with youth having the opportunity to win awards for best bird and for best pen (best combined score for your two birds). The best birds and best pen awards and breed class awards are as follows:
Buff Orpington
1. Baldwin Carden
Rhode Island Red
1. William Morgan
2. Ava Smoker
3. Rein Stuckey
Barred Plymouth Rock
1. Maevree McElhaney
2. Audrey Hall
3. Michael Morgan
Grand Champion Pen & Grand Champion Bird
Baldwin Carden’s Buff Orpington
Reserve Champion Pen & Reserve Champion Bird
Maevree McElhaney’s Barred Plymouth Rock
We are so thankful for all of the hard work of our youth that started and completed the Chick Chain Program!
There were 42 youth that started the program, and while only 14 were able to participate, all of the youth poured their heart into their project to take care of their chicks.
Some were unable to complete the project because of loss of chicks and some did not participate because they didn’t want to sell their chicks at the end of the show, but either way, we are thankful for their involvement in our 4-H program.
Lastly, “THANK YOU!” to all of our parents and family members that helped their youth through this project and our other supporters and sponsors:
Gold Sponsors: Poarch Band of Creek Indians & Popeye’s Louisiana Chicken
Silver Sponsors: Atmore Truckers, Central Farm Supply, Escambia County Bank, J. Godwin’s Florist, Joshua McElhaney Farms, Gayle Murphy, & United Bank of Atmore
Friends of CC: Bondurant Lumber and Hardware, Hall Family (Kirsten), Heritage Village Rental, James Brothers Furniture, State Farm Insurance- Wendy Folmar, United Bank of Frisco City, & Southern Pine Electric Cooperative
