Poultry
As a top producer in the poultry industry, Arkansas takes pride in educating youth about the world of poultry. Through hands-on programs and competitions, young people can engage at the county, district, or state level.
Explore the exciting opportunities we offer: 
- Arkansas Poultry Chain Program
- Arkansas Embryology Project
- 4-H Broiler and Turkey BBQ
- County and State Broiler Shows
- Exhibition Poultry Shows and Poultry Showmanship
Poultry Contests
For more information about national poultry judging, please visit the UK Poultry Judging website.
Broiler and Turkey BBQ contests are competitions where participants are required to
grill a portion of a broiler or turkey. There are county, district, state and national
BBQ contests that participants can work toward. Contestants compete at county level
to qualify for district. From the district contest, there are a set number of contestants
that can earn a spot at the state competition. Our state BBQ contest is held at the
annual Poultry Federation festival. From there contestants qualify to attend the National
Poultry and Egg conference in November. For more information about BBQ Contests, contact your county agent.
Chicken BBQ
Turkey BBQ
For Parts ID and Egg grading, The National 4-H Poultry Judging Manual can also be found online at: https://national4hpoultry.ca.uky.edu/poultry-judging-manual
References/study materials of other similar skill-a-thons can be found at:
Poultry Skill-A-Thon Study Guide Chicken/Duck Edition
Live Birds
Many counties offer young people an opportunity to raise broilers for competition. County agents or state specialists obtain broilers from local hatcheries. Participants are given an equal number of broilers from the same parent stock. From that point participants can use their husbandry and nutrition knowledge by aiming to produce the best broilers by county fair time.
We also offer a broiler show contest at the Arkansas State Fair. Birds are distributed in August and reared by competitors until the Arkansas State Fair Broiler Show. For more information about broiler shows in our state, contact your county agent.
Any 4-H member in good standing is eligible to participate in this project. Members are given up to 25 chicks in the spring. Each county has a set of requirements for the project. All poultry chain chicks from each county are eligible to enter the state fair. Youth are taught how to successfully raise a small flock of poultry. For more information contact your county agent.
Embryology
This project is intended to teach youth about the embryology process. Small, portable incubators are placed in school class rooms or with 4-H clubs. Eggs are provided from the University of Arkansas Poultry farm upon availability. Many times the eggs used for this project are from show-quality parent stock.
