Unfortunatly you are not alone. There are alot of 4H fairs out there that have a very small poultry project. Alot of that is due to the people not trying it because it is small and no one knows anything about it. In order for the project to grow, more 4Hers have to sign up for the project. In my oppinion the more variety of birds that are at your fair the more interest it will generate. Even if you have the only silkies at your fair, they are different and maybe next year someone else will sign up and bring somemore birds and hopefully your poultry project will continue to grow.
As for the judges, most 4H fairs do not allow much money to pay judges fees. Example our 4H fair only pays $50 for a poultry judge...you get what you pay for in my oppinion. Lucky for us we have a Junior and Open poultry show also and it pays better for a judge, so we are able to have an APA judge for our fair.
If you have other birds, take more than one entry. As long as you have birds that would show in different classes. Our 4H show, you can only have 1 entry per class. Our 2 girls took 67 birds last year to the fair.
Our kids belong to a 4H club that is more geared towards rabbits and sheep. There is only 1 other family in our group that shows poultry. But we have a decent amount of kids from other 4H clubs that show at our fair. We get alot of phone calls from other 4H groups and other counties asking poultry questions. Unfortunatly you will have to do the leg work to find someone in your area that is knowledgeable in poultry. Maybe you can contact your neighboring county extension office and see if they have anyone that can help you.
Keep at it,
Christie
As for the judges, most 4H fairs do not allow much money to pay judges fees. Example our 4H fair only pays $50 for a poultry judge...you get what you pay for in my oppinion. Lucky for us we have a Junior and Open poultry show also and it pays better for a judge, so we are able to have an APA judge for our fair.
If you have other birds, take more than one entry. As long as you have birds that would show in different classes. Our 4H show, you can only have 1 entry per class. Our 2 girls took 67 birds last year to the fair.
Our kids belong to a 4H club that is more geared towards rabbits and sheep. There is only 1 other family in our group that shows poultry. But we have a decent amount of kids from other 4H clubs that show at our fair. We get alot of phone calls from other 4H groups and other counties asking poultry questions. Unfortunatly you will have to do the leg work to find someone in your area that is knowledgeable in poultry. Maybe you can contact your neighboring county extension office and see if they have anyone that can help you.
Keep at it,
Christie
