Oconee County 4-Her wins national poultry judging contest
Special Photo: Josie Smith
By Josie Smith
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Lexi Pritchard, a 12th-grade 4-Her from Oconee County, won the individual first-place award at the National Poultry Judging Contest held here recently as part of the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference.
Pritchard scored 1,350 points out of a possible 1,500 and received top honors as an individual competitor. She has been competing as a poultry judge with Oconee County since 2018. Poultry judging is one of the most popular contests in Georgia 4-H, with 560 students participating this year.
Participants judge both live chickens and ready-to-cook market poultry, identify parts of birds already prepared for market, and evaluate eggs for their quality and readiness for sale. Following the evaluation of a live production class, participants are asked to justify their placing decisions through oral reasoning.
Students learn and utilize national poultry and egg production standards to prepare for the contest and employ the standards in decision-making situations that call for critical evaluation. Beyond the contest, 4-Hers apply the skills they learn as poultry consumers in grocery stores and restaurants.
Pritchard also received first place in the ready-to-cook section of the contest.
Georgia 4-H sent a full delegation to the National Poultry and Egg Conference. Winta Ykeallo from Spalding County placed third in the Turkey BBQ contest. Grant Shuman from Bryan County placed fourth in the Chicken BBQ contest, and Aubrianna Stewart from Bryan County placed fourth in the Egg Preparation contest.
Turkey BBQ, Chicken BBQ and Egg Preparation are cooking competitions in which participants prepare dishes using the respective contest ingredient. Each dish must meet a set of requirements that demonstrates kitchen skills and adheres to food safety standards. Recipes must also satisfy healthy eating guidelines.
The Oconee County Poultry Judging team placed seventh overall with additional members Colin Watson, Conner Watson and Blakely Stewart.
“Poultry production is Georgia’s No. 1 industry, and this contest introduces the importance of agriculture to hundreds of students every year,” Georgia 4-H Associate State Leader Sue Chapman said. “County extension offices are continuously creating opportunities for students to become informed poultry consumers and advocates.”
The contest is sponsored and coordinated by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, the Poultry Science Association, National 4-H Council, and University of Kentucky Poultry Extension.
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