Jayson Jordan, an 8th grade student at Rice and a member of Blooming Grove/Barry 4-H took the grand champion ribbon for his market broilers in the poultry division of the 50th Navarro County Youth Exposition.
Ethan Weaver of Blooming Grove FFA was named reserve champion.
Jordan took the reserve honors last year, when Danika Herod won grand champion. This year marks his first grand champion win for poultry.
Dr. Dale Hyatt of Texas A&M; University judged the chickens, based on uniformity between all three birds in the “coop,” the muscle tone, which is determined by breast width, and continues all the way up their body to their keel bone, and the length of the overall body.
“In this show, cockerels and pullets can be combined to make a pen,” said Sarah Chudalla, Navarro County extension agent. “Each kid can show two pens for the entire show.”
Kids drafted friends, family members and in some cases, near-strangers to hold the chickens upside down, which is how the judge checks their muscle tone.
“This is a six-week project, and the kids get the chickens when they are about a day old,” Chudalla said. “They now average about 10 pounds per bird. The chickens cost $1 each, and they all come from A&M.; All the chicks have a wing band, and if it gets lost, they can’t show them.”
Temperatures climbing throughout the day may have contributed to one chicken expiring during the judging.
Jordan’s siblings, Justin and Natalie, both show animals as well. Parents Dale and LaDona Jordan are supportive, and LaDona showed too, as well as her father, Don Taylor, who had the grand champion steer in 1950-51.
“They don’t fuss about working,” said grandmother Betty Taylor. “The kids come in from school and immediately get busy. Their parents help out, but the kids do the work. This is really great for them.”
Long-time poultry chairman John Putman said there were 24 pens competing this year, down slightly from last year.
“It’s a tough competition as usual,” Putman said. “Especially from the west end of the county. Blooming Grove likes to raise birds!
“This year we used different birds than they used in the Houston show, which simplifies things, and makes it easier. It’s the same type of bird, just a different hatch.”
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Deanna Brown may be contacted via e-mail at deanna@corsicanadailysun.com
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