photos and article submitted by Rachel Petty, UT Extension Agent, 4-H Youth Development
On Thursday, September 26, 2024, eleven Smith County 4-H’ers traveled to the Rutherford County Community Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to test their knowledge of the poultry industry at this year’s Central Region 4-H Poultry Judging Contest.
Through our Poultry Judging practices, 4-H’ers learn how to evaluate live birds for their laying capacity, how to grade eggs by evaluating their interior, exterior, and broken-out quality, how to identify various ready-to-cook poultry parts, as well as how to grade those parts and whole chicken carcasses for quality. Our 4-H’ers also learn how to identify defects in further processed poultry products like chicken nuggets and chicken patties.
The various components of the Poultry Judging contest help our 4-H’ers develop their critical thinking skills, be better stewards of their own poultry flocks at home, and even prepare them for future careers in the agriculture industry.
Close to 150 individuals from all across the Central Region competed in this contest, and our Smith County 4-H’ers came home with quite a few awards!
Our Junior Team, made up of Charlotte Driver, Josie Harville, Aubrey Hicks, and Scarlett Hicks, placed 4th overall in their division. Josie Harville placed 6th individually.
Our Junior High Team, made up of Jay Driver, Tana Harville, and Turner Harville, placed 3rd in their division. Turner Harville was the overall High Individual in the Junior High division, and Tana Harville placed 6th overall.
Also representing Smith County was our Senior High Team of Easton Bibbings, Emmy Bibbings, and Levi Ferrell, and Junior individual Oakley Lawrence.
Gabe Harville, who competed nationally in 4-H Poultry Judging in 2022, was invited back to assist with the contest by helping with setup and listening to and judging Senior High Reasons.
What an egg-cellent day! Congratulations to all of these fine young people on a job well done!
If you have any questions about how to get involved in Poultry Judging or any other aspect of the 4-H Poultry project, please call the Smith County office of the University of Tennessee Extension at 615-735-2900 or email rpetty@utk.edu. 
