Mark Light, Hardin County 4-H educator, provided the Icon with Hardin County poultry project updates. These updates are the 2015 plan in response to the Ohio Department of Agriculture ban on poultry exhibitions.
"In case you haven’t heard, in an aggressive move designed to help protect Ohio’s $2.3 billion poultry industry from the avian flu that has so negatively impacted other poultry-producing states, this past Tuesday, June 2 the Ohio Department of Agriculture canceled all live bird exhibitions this year," said Light.
"The ban includes county and independent fairs, the Ohio State Fair, and all other gatherings of birds for show or for sale, including auctions and swap meets. This action will affect the Hardin County Fair and all those who participate in this poultry show."
After meeting with the poultry committee and Hardin County Fair Board Saturday night, a decision was reached regarding, what will be offered as alternative learning experiences for the youth who have poultry projects at the county fair.
Switching Projects
Members are not permitted to switch projects since enrollment and registration deadlines have passed. If you have other projects, you could drop the poultry project and return your book (4-H).
Completing the 4-H Poultry Project (4-H only)
Hardin County 4-H members should continue to raise their turkeys, ducks, market chickens and fancy poultry as planned. Market chickens can be purchased from any hatchery. Members will participate in livestock interviews on August 4. If a member chooses to not raise birds for their project, the project would be complete after attending livestock interviews as a nonlivestock project (poultry self-determined).
County Fair & Sale Participation
Members choosing to raise their poultry as planned will develop a poster for each poultry project (market, turkey, ducks, fancy poultry) registered for the fair. The displays will be exhibited in the poultry tent during the fair. This poster = your fair premium. More specific details about the poster dimensions and topics will be shared in July.
Exhibitors will be checked during the two weeks prior to the fair to assure possession and care of the poultry project by a department representative who will follow bio-security guidelines to prevent any spreading of diseases.
Poultry project members will be able to participate in poultry showmanship during the fair. This will primarily be knowledge based, but may include showing a stuffed educational bird. The fairboard will hire a judge as usual for the show. The county poultry showmanship champion will participate in the showman of showmen.
Sale Participation
Market poultry project members will be eligible to participate in the sale if they raise their market project animals, attend quality assurance and livestock interview, participate in poultry showmanship, have a farm visit, bring their NPIP papers to the “weigh in” and exhibit a poster display for each market poultry pen. Showmanship = Sale.
Members will participate in the sale by having exhibitors walk into the sale ring. Buyers will not take possession of any poultry projects. Members will retain possession of the birds for home processing or delivery to a processor. This is being done as a 2015 exception only. Future fairs will be dealt with in that year and may involve different arrangements.
Please call the OSU Extension office 419-674-2297 or email [email protected] to indicate whether you intend to continue to raise live birds, or whether you intend to do this project as a nonlivestock poultry self-determined project, or drop the project.
