Beth Moore
Contributor
Thirty-one 4-H members and 40 laying hens from four counties converged on the Madison County Ag Center on Tuesday, Sept. 10, for the Sixth Annual Quad-County Chick Chain Show. 4-H’ers ages five -18 from Lafayette, Madison, Suwannee and Taylor Counties began the Chick Chain project back in April.
Beginning with at least six-day old chicks, each child raised the chicks to full grown laying hens and brought their best bird (or two birds) to the Chick Chain Show for the judge to determine the best laying hen in the show.
How does a person know if the bird will be a good layer? The judge explained that he was looking for the bird with the greatest abdominal capacity and in good overall health. 4-H’ers also competed in a showmanship competition. They were judged on how they handled their bird and their knowledge of raising their birds. A skill-a-thon was also held for the youth to test identification of breeds, parts of chicken, comb types, parts of an egg and reading a feed tag.
This year’s big winners were:
Cloverbuds (5-7 year-olds)
First place: Berkleigh Greiner- Madison County
Second place: Kyrin Muldoon- Suwannee County
Third place: Mahoney Greeley- Suwannee County
Juniors (8-10 year-olds)
First place: Kylie Cacchiotti- Suwannee County
Second place: Rileigh Pickles- Madison County
Third place: Karoline Beach- Lafayette County
Showmanship: Andimae Collins- Suwannee County
Intermediate/Senior (11-18 year-olds)
First place: Jada Hendricks- Lafayette County
Second place: Will Melvin- Madison County
Third place: Stella Dickey- Madison County
Showmanship: Tenley Fillyaw- Lafayette County
Skill-a-thon Champion
Andimae Collins:
Suwannee County
Grand Champion Laying Hen
Kylie Cacchiotti:
Suwannee County
Overall Showmanship
Tenley Fillyaw:
Lafayette County
