Ordering chickens for a 12 year old boy in 4h

[Laney]

As a 4H mom, I jut need to recommend that you be SURE that you get a recognized breed. For example, Do NOT get Easter eggers. THey are wonderful birds, but your son won't be able to compete in 4H with them. If you want colored eggs, you have to get true Americauna's, or true Araucanas, Welsummers, Faverolles etc. You'll see on the hatchery sites that their Ameraucana's aren't for 4H competition, it's because they are easter eggers and not true ameraucanas and would be disqualified before your son could show it.

We are in the process of picking out a breed for my daughter (age 14). She currently shows goats in 4H and wants to show poultry too. She'll probably show my Delawares this year, and will choose a project breed to start this year. (Kids choose their breeds, and keep the record books over the spring/summer and show in the fall.)

My daughter is very interested in Ameraucana's both because of their eggs, and the many colors. We will be buying eggs from a breeder if we chose Ameraucana's. She also found La Fleche's cool (Very cool comb, one of a kind), Rosecombs, Barred Rocks and a few others I can't remember. I really only let her look at endangered birds, but she really liked the Ameraucana's despite that.

In the end, I basically told her to look at the breeds, research them, and come to me with the information she needs. She wants silkies too, but that was met with the information that she would have to build a coop for them, with a run attached.

Laney

 

[CityChicker]

I would really leave it up to him. Let him do the research. He will likely have far more interest in the project if he gets to pick based on what he wants and what appeals to him. I would also not pick a breed based on what he thinks may win. That is something a lot of people try to do but, the biggest part of 4-H is having fun, learning self-motivation, leadership, and developing an interest in what could be future careers or hobbies. It is not all about winning.

In fact, picking an obscure breed that needs more work will likely be an even better learning experience (it sounds like you are leaning towards that anyway). I loved all my years in 4-H. In the early years, my family *did* pick my birds and animals for me as well. Don't get me wrong, I still loved it even then, but my interest really grew when I was allowed to choose what I wanted and basically run with it. For one of my first major projects (used for 4-H and FFA), I went with something that no one else showed in town (hard to believe with the number of people that show them now, but it was goats, Nubians and Nigerian Dwarfs). In the end, it really set me apart as all the other projects were sheep, pigs, or cattle and I won the regional award for speciality animal production. Likewise, I at times did really well with lesser know poultry breeds as well.

 

[froggie71]

There are alot of things to consider. Such as how your fair is run. Our fair has a category for mixed breeds just for the 4-Her who has bred his chickens and hatched out eggs (many could be mutts). However when it came to the state show, the judging was much tougher. Though we love our EE's for their eggs and their friendliness, we will not be showing them. I have 15, 14 and 12 year old boys in 4-H. We have a variety of birds. Some are a bit friendlier and easier to handle then others. Make sure he handles the birds alot. This makes a big difference in how they act. I do think one of the nicest birds are the Orpingtons. Also Brahmas are nice and can be gotten in both Large Fowl and Bantam sizes. 4-H is a great organization and it's great your son is getting involved. Good luck!

 

[BBK]

My son started the chicken part of 4H at 12 also...He went straight to the RIR roosters...
Look, he (your son) needs to work with them ....that's the key...my son had NO problem with his rooster..

and then after the fair he sold it to an apple farm for breeding according to the lady. She had a flock but no rooster.

we're getting another RIR, hopefully rooster for this yr. too. He's now 14...

his 4H group, would set up a table with a cage, in the garage...They would put 2 chickens in it at a one time. then one would be the judge and one would do the showing.... They have 2 pages of info , one to show, taking out of the cage...from start to finish and the other page is all about questions that the kids should know, in case of a tie. He just won showmenship last yr. in Jr. division. And grand showperson....

Also there was lots of cochins at our fair.... and...
don't get EE's they're not pure or any mixes. With all the work, I'm sure he wants to win!!! smiles...

best of luck
melinda

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Absolutely--do NOT order chickens from a hatchery if you are planning on exhibition. Even for showmanship it is better to have a higher quality bird.

Some 4H groups do meat birds and layer competitions, in which case the club will probably enter the order, and it will be far a specific number of birds per child. However it does not sound like this is what you are inquiring about.

 

[WingingIt]

If you haven't already, the very first thing you should do is get a copy of the rule book for the fair that you intend to show in. They vary GREATLY, I've discovered. This is our first year in 4H and we did poultry and had a great time. Here some fairs (like our most local one) only allow you to show meat birds and they HAVE to be ordered from the same hatchery as everyone else. The next larger one allows 'show' poultry, but only four certain breeds. The one back home is huge and I don't know their rules, but I saw hundreds of chickens of all different breeds the last time I attended it.

So my first suggestion would be to get a copy of that so you don't disqualify yourself before you even get started by getting a type not allowed or waste money on birds they won't allow you to show. Also, find out how many poultry entries you can have per entrant. We could do up to six, but they ran two sets at once, so we'd have had to have someone else approved to show 3 for him (while he was showing the other three at the same time) if we'd have signed up for six......and the approval has to be done ahead of time with forms, etc.

Good luck to your son!

 

[cottagegarden]

Your son would do better if you just closed your eyes and randomly picked off the BYC Eggs for Sale area than ordering from a hatchery!
Don't do that to him (0:
I am sure as he learns a little bit he will find a breed that interests him. My children both bought their first breeds themselves and would
not hear any input from mom about what they want to raise. Now I just say"no" to keep the numbers down.
My DD was set on doing Showmanship with our Ameraucana Roo her first year, but I did have to lean on her and suggest a Silkie.
Not only did she take 1st in her age group, the Silkie took Reserve Feather Footed Bantam Class.
So that made it fun for her. Of course, what did she do....bought Bantam Ameraucanas!!

I am sure you could find some birds locally on here or craiglist or start a hatching!
Good luck! its a great adventure!!

 

[poltroon]

Winging It's advice is good; even within our small area the fairs vary greatly in rules and procedure.

Talk to the 4H leader too - they all have different levels of expertise and interest. If you want to put together a group order from someone other than a hatchery (there are many breeders that handle multiple breeds), your leader will probably be happy to let you take the lead on that if it's not already their practice.

Have fun!

 

[Fourgirlsoneboy]

We aren't allowed to show roo's. Only hens (and it has to be 3 at that!!). Call your fair board and find out what the rules are!!

 

[stephhassler]

Quote:
Ditto the part about call your fair board. Or as another post said, get a copy of last year's fair book. We are allowed to show only a male & female pair. Drives me nuts - I don't want all those dang roosters around, but we must keep them so my son can take the girls to the fair. I know the surrounding counties allow pairs of hens and some even allow singles. Just make sure you know what you need ahead of time - and get some extras in case of illness or predators.