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Originally Posted by Tree City
First off, how awesome that your family has been/is involved with the fair like that! Our state fair is open to everyone (I think?) and I can't find info about 4-H events. (The website is confusing, tbh, and I'm waiting on an email from our local chapter. I gave my email address on Saturday but haven't heard back yet.) I do know there is a 4-H poultry club nearby...perhaps I should send an email directly to the leader?
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If you have the info for the leader, I would definitely go ahead and contact him/her. They can start helping you with questions. Some clubs are active year round and some are more spring/summer depending on what project areas their members are involved with. If that club is active now, it would be great to get to a few of their meetings before it's time to get chicks.
You might want to get your hands on a copy of the Standard of Perfection. Your library might have a copy or maybe the club leader would have a copy you can borrow. It's basically a guide to all the different breeds of chickens and what the physical traits are of each breed. If you're raising chickens for eggs or meat, these traits aren't as important (although you'd want to know which breeds are good layers or considered good meat birds). If your kids will be showing at the fair, the birds will likely be judged against these standards (think the Westminster dog show but not so high stakes).
Chickens are a great fair project for kids as they're a much easier animal to handle than a 1200lb beef steer (I speak from experience lol). It's a relatively inexpensive project to get into and they'll learn responsibility from taking care of them (also pretty easy).
If you don't hear back from your local 4-h office soon, try digging around on your state's ag college website ( or google your state name and 'extension office poultry'). Here's a link to some info on MSU's site:
https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/t...new_hen_owners