• By April W Bowman
• Posted Thursday, December 1, 2022

Youth Egg-Laying Chicken Project

Interested in raising and showing egg-laying chickens? Youth will pick up 4 laying Buff Orpington or Barred Rocks hen chicks in mid-January from the Extension Center. These will be the only chicks accepted into the show. We will have a series of virtual workshops on Chick Brooding, Poultry Housing, and Poultry Health in order to educate participating families ahead of receiving and caring for their chicks. If families cannot attend the virtual meeting, they will be recorded and we ask families to watch them prior to receiving their chicks.

We will also be hosting some in-person showmanship workshops across the district. Locations and dates are TBD.

The show date is Saturday, May 6th at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Cattle Barn (421 N. 27th St., Winston-Salem NC 27105). The time of the show will depend on how many youth register but a likely start time will be 9 AM Birds will be shown TWICE, once to see how well the exhibitor shows their bird, the condition, and handling of the bird AND a second time for the judge to evaluate your bird.

The cost is $20 (cash, check, or 4-H Scholarship Dollars) per participant and includes registration and purchase of the four laying chicks. Registration can be found here and will run from now through Friday, December 16th. This show is open to all 4-H Youth 5-18 years old as of January 1, 2023. Payment should be submitted to Forsyth County, 1450 Fairchild Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27105 either via mail or in person from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday.

It is expected that all youth 8-18 years old must complete a Project Record Book and submit the record book to their County Extension Office by April 20th at 5 PM.

We have created an informational website that will be updated as time progresses. For more information, email, April Bowman, Extension Agent, Livestock, Forages, and 4-H Youth Development at awbowman@ncsu.edu or call 336-703-2855.

Originally published 10/19/2022 and edited 11/30/2022.