Recently, Dawson County 4-H members competed at the Northeast Area 4-H Poultry Judging contest in which their poultry knowledge was matched against 4-H members from other counties in the district.

High school and middle school students competed in the contest, which was held in Athens.

High school team members were Krista Barnicoat, Kristen Goswick, Taylor Thompson and Audra Vaughters.

Middle school team members were Autumn Callahan, David Goswick and Jason Redd.

There were over 325 4-H students competing in the contest, sponsored by the Georgia Poultry Federation.

Team members prepared for the event by attending classes and workshops on egg production, meat quality, market egg candling, exterior egg quality, broken-out egg quality and poultry parts identification.

At the competition, all contestants judged two classes of live birds for egg production and gave oral reasons for their selections on one class.

In addition, they judged carcasses for meat quality, judged eggs to determine freshness and grade, and judged eggs for exterior and broken-out quality.

For more information on 4-H projects and educational judging events, contact Ian Cowie at the University of Georgia Dawson County Extension Service at (706) 265-2442 or visit www.georgia4h.org.