This past month each of 19 of our very own Union County 4-H members became the owners of 20 newly-hatched chicks.
These 4-H members are participating in Union County’s longest-running project group, Chick Chain, which dates back to the days of former agents Bill Morgan and Harold Julian.
This year, 4-H members had a choice of Black Sex Linked or Golden Comet chicks, which they will raise over the next few months into egg-laying hens. While these chicks sure are cute when they hatch, our 4-H kids will soon find out that this project is about much more than that.
Over the course of the project these participants will learn valuable skills such as responsibility from caring for 20 little chicks, recordkeeping from tracking their flock in project books to entrepreneurship should they choose to sell their eggs.
When September rolls around we hope each 4-H member will bring back six of their best hens to the Union County Poultry Show and Auction where they are judged on their ability to lay eggs.
The judge looks for characteristics of adequate growth, which is largely influenced by high quality feed and clean water.
Other characteristics include color around the eyes, beak, legs and vent. After the judge awards the birds, the kids will be presented with prizes for their chickens.
Then the birds are auctioned off to the highest bidder. Through the auction 4-H members have the chance to earn back what they paid for the chicks while hopefully earning a little extra for all their hard work as well.
This is a great community event we look forward to hosting in the fall, so keep an eye out for announcements which can be found here in the paper or at facebook.com/UTExtensionUnionCounty.