With more than 76.5 billion eggs consumed in the U.S. each year, you might be thinking of a career in the poultry industry. We know that judging contests help kids improve their decision-making skills and teaches them to defend those decisions by giving voice to their reasoning. Poultry judging teaches standards of poultry and egg production to ensure a safe and nutritious consumer product. Learn what makes a good egg as you compete for prizes in the Illinois 4-H State Poultry Judging Contest.
Stay tuned for 2024 information!
Participation: A county may enter any number of 4-H participants. A county team may be made up of three or four contestants with no limit on the number of teams or individuals. The scores of the three highest scoring individuals from each team will be totaled to determine each team score. All contestants will be eligible for all individual honors. The four highest senior 4-H’ers will be selected to participate on the state team. A senior 4-H’er is one who is 14-18 years of age by January 1 of the current year. The individuals that score the highest will be invited to participate in the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference during the third week of November in Louisville, KY.
Classes: Two (2) classes of past egg production hens, reasons will be given on one of these classes; two (2) classes of ready-to-cook fryers; one (1) class of ready-to-cook poultry parts; one (1) class of broken out eggs; and two (2) classes of shell eggs (candled), and two (2) classes of exterior egg quality.
Find the National 4-H Poultry Judging Manual here.
Want to learn more about the Egg Industry? Check out this COOL WEBSITE.