Anyone ever been a 4H poultry Judge?

[Black Feather]

I was asked the other day for the first time to judge the 4H poultry project birds at the local fair later in August. I've never done this before and was just wondering if anyone here has had any experience doing this?

Cheers,
Urban Coyote

 

[NYREDS]

I judge several of the 4H shows @ County Fairs in the region each summer. How can I help you?

 

[Black Feather]

I guess one of the things I was thinking about is what level of knowledge to expect out of the kids? I'm sometimes surprised by how little some of them actually know about their breeds of chicken....is that normal? Their knowledge seems to gravitate toward production characteristics instead of breed specific.

UC

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Are you judging showmanship or exhibition? Or both?

The showmanship judging I've seen is usually something of a teaching moment, expecially with the youngest kids--they are asked leading questions, starting from very simple ones and more and more depth depending on the answers displayed. For the older kids they are usually VERY knowledgable about their bird; however I don't know how any of them would fare with questions related to production--it's not that big an interest here.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

http://www.apa-abayouthprogramsite.org/store.htm has some books on showmanship, both from the judge and tghe kids' perspectives.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Yes, done it before and am doing it again this year at three different fairs.

You'll just LOVE doing the broilers!

At the ones I judge they have it divided up:
Meat pen
Layer pen
Pullets
Hens
Roosters

Then there's the whole showmanship part where you get to ask questions to the exhibitors!

 

[AkTomboy]

The 4-H office in your area will outline what the different age range of kids should know. I just did a quiz with the kids in my group last week about them showing the chickens they picked out. If you need more information please feel free to contact me and I will shoot you a list of everything I have.

 

[Black Feather]

Thanks!

I believe I'll be doing showmanship, but maybe judging the trios as well.

What I meant in regard to the production characteristics is that the kids try to judge their bantams based on production traits....they seems to know very little about the breed itself that they are showing. I had an older 4h member come up to my place to pick out birds for his poultry project this year. I had set aside a pen of birds that had some good birds in it and some not so good birds. I wanted to see how much he knew about rosecombs, the breed he had selected. He checked for a straight keel bone, which is good for meat birds, but completely missed the huge double spike the young roo had, which is a HUGE DQ in rosecombs. I didn't let him take that bird and pointed it out. I;m just kind of curious if this is something I should expect.

I did the 4H poultry project years ago when I was a 4H member and knew way more about the different breeds of chickens than the kids seem to know these days. I'm just worried I may judge them too harshly......don't want to do that. I want to make it fun, yet have them learn and encourage them to keep showing and come back next year.

UC

 

[Smoky73]

In my county, its all production, how close to the point of lay the birds are if female and going by size and weight of meat birds and overall condition. Has nothing to do with a regular show so beauty is not an important area. The judge is the owner of a local egg farm. They also do have an "open" class for 4-H kids, meaning other adult breeds besides production birds. I have seen everything there, but they are judged against each other and the judge edmitted to me that he knows nothing about the other breeds and still tries to judge them on condition.
The kids here have to answer questions that help determine if the child takes care of the birds themselves, which has been an issue in the past. Questions about their care mostly how much feed, how often, the lighting, how often do you feed them, etc. I imagine or would hope that he does ask them question s of parts of the body.
But one year in the open breed class, he miss identified a phoenix hen for a silver spangled hamburg hen....after that....I had little interest in attending it was then I knew he knew nothing.

 

[Pathfinders]

I will be judging only one county fair this year, one I have not done before. Happily, one of the parents is someone I know, and is a volunteer for their club, so I am hoping the kids will be somewhat informed, but you never can tell.

For showmanship I make a list of questions for each age group, sometimes find my expectations are too high, but at least I am keeping it unbiased. Answers are scored and awards given based on knowledge, not cuteness of kid.

I do draw the line at judging costume shows, I make the clubs bring in a celebrity judge for that (like a local politician, they are usually always happy to oblige.) I find costume classes just too hard to judge, as often it's obvious whose mother made the costume, and I'm just not going there.

Be sure to take along your copy of the Standard of Perfection, always good to refer to if you or the kids/parents have questions. Do you have a show coat you can wear? I find that lends a semblance of professionalism.

I do find that I am very picky about condition and parasites. I will not place a bird that has mites that leave me with an armful. But I warn the kids before I start to judge about it...