By Mike Donahue
Moapa Valley Progress
Twelve young southern Nevadans, including three in Moapa Valley, are participating in the first ever 4-H Market Poultry Project for this year’s Clark County Fair, April 7-10.
The project, in which the kids purchased day-old chicks from True Value – Home Hardware and Variety Store in Overton on Feb. 7 to raise until fair time in April, is designed to teach the young participants how to set goals, keep records and apply poultry/livestock raising skills they are learning in 4-H, according to Lori Leas, the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension (UNCE) 4-H coordinator for northeast Clark County.
“Since this is the first year for the program, I restricted it to those kids who had previous experience with poultry,” Leas said. “I ended up with 12 kids from four 4-H clubs including three from the Kidz-n-Ewe Club in Moapa Valley; two from Virgin Valley Livestock; two from Sandy Valley 4-H, and five from the Road Runners 4-H Club in Las Vegas.”
When the kids first picked up their day-old chicks in Overton, they looked like any other teeny, tiny young chicken – all fluffy and yellow. Within days, however, the kids were aware these were not the type of birds they were used to – they started growing at a fantastic rate.
They are a special Cornish cross chicken, bred strictly as a meat or market chicken and in a short eight weeks they should grow to be at least 80 percent of their adult size and weight – between 3 ½ and 7 pounds.
Some might think that raising these chickens is pretty easy since they grow so fast but that is definitely not the case. They can actually be overfed to the point where they’re unable to walk, something that would immediately disqualify the bird.
Most of the kids got between six and eight birds. They will be responsible to properly feed and water them until April. At fair time, each project participant will select a pen of three birds to be judged.
Judging rules state that each bird must be under 10 weeks old and weigh between 3½ and 6 pounds. All chickens will be weighed in and if any bird in the pen weighs more/less than the maximum/minimum the entire pen is eliminated.
“The best meat-type chickens are birds that are compact, well-filled and rounded with solid flesh,” Leas said. “When the kids select the birds for their pens, they’ll want the three that are most alike – similar in size and weight.”
The birds will be judged 10 percent on symmetry, 10 percent on condition, 10 percent on wings and shoulders, 20 percent on back and spring of breast, 20 percent on length of keel, 20 percent on legs, and 10 percent on skin, color, texture and distribution of fat under the skin.
Project participants include Kenna McMurray, 15, Ryan, McMurray, 9, and Brianna VonCollenberg, 11, all from Moapa Valley; Lorin Reber, 13, and Nathan Reber, 11, both from Virgin Valley; Nicole Bangs, and Dalton Burlingame, both from Sandy Valley, and Katie Combs, 17, Clayton Combs, 15, Chad Brewer, 14, Ryan Huskins, 15, and Bryan Hoge, 14, all of Las Vegas.
