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Ohio 4-H Youth Development

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Poultry

Welcome to the Ohio 4-H Poultry Projects and Resource page!

 

Calendar of Events Resources Ohio Poultry Veterinarians
Ohio Pollorum Testers Contact Information  

 

The Ohio Department of Agriculture confirmed that Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza has been detected in a backyard chicken flock located in Franklin County. “Enhanced Biosecurity is the number one preventative measure against avian influenza,” said Dr. Dennis Summers, State Veterinarian in a statement. “HPAI can infect any size flock. We urge all poultry owners to intensify their biosecurity and best management practices."

Below are links to resources from the Ohio Department of Agriculture and a brochure from OSU Extension outlining signs to watch for, prevention, and biosecurity.

Ohio Department of Agriculture-Best Practices for Biosecurity

OSU Extension Avian Influenza brochure

Poultry Biosecurity for 4H Youth (from 4.23 live webinar)

 

 

 

2023 Calendar of Events

March

  18 - Ohio Youth Poultry Clinic 

May

  4 - Youth Poultry Webinars: Nutrition

  10 - Youth Poultry Webinars: Health & Biosecurity

  15 - Youth Poultry Webinars: Handling, Welfare, and Carcass Quality

JULY

  17 - Ohio State Fair 4-H Poultry Judging Contest Postmark Entry Deadline

  17 - Ohio State Fair 4-H Avian Bowl Contest Postmark Entry Deadline

  29 - OSF 4-H Poultry Judging Contest

  29 - OSF 4-H Avian Bowl

AUGUST

  2 - In-Person Skillathon

 

Resources

Breeds & Selection Anatomy & Physiology Production
Nutrition Behavior Housing & Management
Biosecurity Health & Disease Showing
Human Health Project Book Additional Resources

 

BACKYARD POULTRY INFORMATION

Click on this link Backyard Poultry Production to find excellent information about finding and raising backyard poultry from Tim McDermott, DVM and Franklin County Extension Educator.

 
Putting Science into Animal Sciences Projects Fact Sheets
  • Should I take Broilers as a 4-H Project?
  • Should I take Turkeys as a 4-H Project?

 

4-H Program / Project Book

Previous Ohio 4-H poultry project books have been condensed into one Poultry Project and Record Book for members of all skill levels. Use this book for these projects:

  • Chicken, Exhibition (Fancy)
  • Chicken, Market
  • Chicken, Egg Production: Hens and Pullets
  • Duck, Exhibition (Fancy)
  • Duck, Market
  • Goose, Exhibition (Fancy)
  • Goose, Market
  • Turkey, Exhibition (Fancy)
  • Turkey, Market
  • Helmeted Guinea Fowl

This book and other Ohio State University Extension, 4-H Youth Development publications are available from the Ohio State University eStore or from local county Extension offices, where Ohio 4-H club advisors, club members, and other Ohio residents get the best price.

 

4-H POULTRY RESOURCES FROM eXTENSION

Unless otherwise indicated, these articles from articles.extension.org/poultry are for use with 4-H poultry projects. eXtension is a national database that collects articles and videos from Extension experts around the country. To make the articles easier for Ohio 4-H members to access, they have been downloaded and collected here. Not all of the available articles are included here, but these are the ones most likely to be relevant to 4-H members. A handful of articles from our Ohio 4-H specialists are included too. Use the links below to download and print each article. There are a lot, but most of them are very short.

Interested only in chickens? For convenience, they are also available in this single document called Basic Information About Chickens (162 pages).

 

Breeds & Selection

Interested in learning more about poultry breeds? Watch videos of select large fowl, bantams, ducks, geese, turkeys, and guinea fowl HERE.

 

Anatomy & Physiology

 

Poultry Production

 

Nutrition

Nutrition - Nutrition best practices, how nutrition impacts meat quality

 

 

 

 

Behavior

 

Housing & Management

Handling, Welfare, and Impacts on Meat Quality - Animal handling and welfare at home and at the fair, impact of handling and stress of meat quality

Part 1 - Welfare & Handling

 

Part 2 - Meat Quality

 

 

Biosecurity 

Health - Protecting animal health at home and at the fair, common disease ID, and more!

 

 

 


Health & Disease

Aspergillosis Egg-Bound Infectious Bronchitis Mycoplasmas Sudden Death Syndrome
Avian Influenza Fowl Cholera Infectious Bursal Disease Newcastle Disease  
Blackhead Fowl Pox Infectious Coryza Pullorum Disease  
Botulism Fowl Typhoid Laryngotracheitis Salmonella Enteritidis  
Egg Peritonitis in Laying Hens Green Muscle Disease Marek’s Disease Staphylococcus  

 

    

 

Showing

Preparing Poultry for Show Day with Ohio 4Hers

 

 

 

Preparing Poultry for Show Day with Ohio 4Hers - Washing & Transporting

 

 

 

Handling Techniques

 

 

 

Assessing Muscle Conformation

 

 

 

 

Human Health/Zoonosis

 

Additional Resources

Downloadable List of Poultry Resources

Need some reliable, research-based sources for information about your poultry project? We recommend you start here, with the links below. 

  • eXtension, poultry.extension.org. This national database collects articles and videos from Extension experts around the country. Not seeing what you want to know? Submit your own question to Ask an Expert.
  • University of Kentucky Poultry Science, afs.ca.uky.edu/poultry. A good general overview of poultry from our land grant partners at University of Kentucky.
  • American Poultry Association (APA), amerpoultryassn.com. Information about shows, health, and competition from the publishers of the American Standard of Per­fection.
  • American Bantam Association (ABA), bantamclub.com. A wealth of resources and images from the publishers of the Bantam Standard.
  • Poultry Show Central, poultryshowcentral.com. Up-to-date resource for information about poultry shows, breeders, and more.
  • United State Environmental Protection Agency, epa.gov/agriculture/agriculture-ag-101. Click on "Ag101 (PDF)" and then on Poultry Production for an overall perspective on the broiler and layer industries. 
These print resources offer thorough and practical information too: 

Storey’s Guide to Raising Poultry, 4th Edition: Chickens, Turkeys, Ducks, Geese, Guineas, Gamebirds by Glenn Drowns (2012)

How to Raise Poultry: Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Revised (FFA) by Christine Heinrichs (2014) 

 
 

Ohio Poultry Veterinarians

Click here for a list of poultry veterinarians willing to treat 4-H members' poultry. Click here for an Ohio map showing location of poultry veterinarians. (Updated June, 2019)

 

Certified Pullorum Testers

Click here for the list of certified pullorum testers (Updated 2021)

A great factsheet from OPA on Pullorum Testing Common Questions and Answers

 

Acknowledgments

On behalf of the Ohio 4-H Poultry Programs, we would like to offer our sincerest THANKS to the following organization(s) their support of our programs.

Ohio Poultry Association: www.ohiopoultry.org

 

Contact Information

OSU Extension Poultry Team

Michael Cressman, Assistant Professor - Professional Practice