Friday, July 25, 2008

By Jennifer Faber, County Editor

So you want to learn more about poultry. Or perhaps you want a new 4-H project. Maybe you just want a challenge.

The market broiler project at the Kossuth County Fair is a unique project as everyone starts with the same chickens.

"It's an even playing field," stated Lowell Eichenberger, superintendent of the program. "They're hatched the same day they're picked up. Same flock, same bird, same hatch, same day."

All the chickens come from Welp Inc. of Bancroft.

"Welp sells them at a discount," Eichenberger said.

Then the 4-H'ers raise the birds until the fair, where they can enter a pen of three males and a pen of three females. There is also a rate of gain champion.

"There can be quite a difference (in size) between the birds," Eichenberger said.

To become involved in the project, 4-H'ers must sign up at the Kossuth County Extension Office by May 15 (today). The birds are picked up in the middle of June.

"The Extension Office and Welp has information about starting the birds," Eichenberger said.

The state level of the program uses different chickens and is a separate program, but kids from Kossuth can participate in that show as well.

In the past, the chickens were weighed a day or so after they are at the fairgrounds, but this year, the plan is to try to weigh them as they arrive.

"Everyone gets busy, so it gets hard to do," Eichenberger explained.

He asked that the participants don't wash their birds before they're weighed, because they don't want wet birds as the water will make them heavier.

"It's a big show, but there's always room for more," he added.