Need your help guys! Local 4H asked me to lead a Duck group!

[aduckstolemyheart]

Ran into someone from the local 4H club, at my daughters Sunday school, and talked ducks. They want a duck group started but do not have a leader, and asked if I would be interested in starting and leading the group. I'm excited but have never led a group before.

So I thought, what better place to ask for help, but good old BYC!

Any tips, hints, or ideas, for running a 4H duck group from you duck owners? Also, I know there are a lot of 4H'ers here and wondered if anyone could share some experiences about how their group was run.

Thanks in advance, I think this will be great opportunity to spread awareness about duck care and the joys of owning a duck!

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

Was really hoping to get a bit of feedback, as I would really like to see the 4H club get a duck group, and I am a not sure where to start with running one!

 

[duckfat]

You would be better off it it were a poultry club that included rabbits, turkeys, chickens and ducks. You would have more participants in your club and at the 4H fairs.

 

[duckfat]

Also, confer with your state cooperative extension agent.

 

[TheReidHomestead]

Yes, you will need to consult with your local Extension office. They usually have training requirements and an ID check for you to become a leader. I agree it might be more fun to have it be a Poultry & Waterfowl group. Are you already afilliated with a pre-existing 4-H club? Than you can just start your group with that club. If not, you can start your own club and run whatever projects you want from it.

My DH is a Poultry leader. We work with breed identification, showmanship, oral reasons, identifying fryer parts, judging eggs, nomencature, poultry health (ie studying dieseases and how to prevent, treat and diagnose them). The older kids in the group mentor the newer or younger kids and gain leadership points for that. Our county holds one workshop a year and two Judging Contests. There are also materials available for leaders to use as guidelines that your Extension office may have for you or you can get online. It might be worth seeing if there are other poultry/waterfowl clubs or groups already in existance in your county so you can meet with other leaders to get an idea of what they are doing.

HTH!

 

[kswaterfowl]

I am the county poultry superintendent and a state NPIP agent. You will do much better if its poultry in general and not just specific to one species. I don't know if you can specialize so much and still be able to accomplish what is required by 4H. Our poultry manuals cover chickens, ducks, turkeys, pigeons, and even to a degree gamebirds. I wish you luck, but I know I have a hard enough time coming up with things to do at our meetings to cover all of the different species, let alone any one specific ones, without boring the kids to death and going over the same thing year after year.

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

Thank you! I really appreciate all the information. I spoke to the local club today, and they seemed very interested in having a duck/poultry group, and stated that if they could find someone to lead it, ahem, then they could have one. They are supposed to be forwarding me information on how to get it started, etc.

I can do poultry in general, it's just that most of my knowledge is really centered around ducks. I can learn anything though, and am willing to do what it takes. My daughter was wanting to join 4H this year, and is dying to show ducks, so it could be a family affair of course. I was in 4H as a kid (I show Arabian horses) and loved it. I think it's a great experience and I am so glad my daughter has such an interest in ducks.

I can use all the help I can get, and truly appreciate all the input!

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Believe me your kids will want to show every poultry project out there once they get started.

They will have a great time.