Raising animals and auctioning them at the Fair is a common activity for most traditional 4-H clubs. Our club has never been very traditional, but when we can, we like to honor the roots of 4-H. Learning about where your food comes from and practicing the humane treatment of animals are core values of 4-H.
While we can’t raise large livestock for auction, we will have a small group of members raise some chickens to be sold at the County Fair in July. We will get chicks in mid-May, and they take about 6-8 weeks to mature to selling weight. This is a collaborative project — we will all need to contribute to take care of the chickens. This will include getting supplies, cleaning the pen and chickens, weighing them, ensuring they have fresh water and food, handling them, preparing them for Fair, caring for them at the Fair and showing them at the auction.
Go Team Chicken!