Poultry Judging | Tennessee 4-H Youth Development

The Tennessee 4-H Poultry Judging Contest teaches youth how to evaluate poultry products for quality and market readiness. Participants identify poultry parts, grade eggs, and evaluate both live birds and ready-to-cook carcasses. They also present one set of oral reasons to explain their decisions and demonstrate their understanding of poultry science and food quality standards.

National Poultry Manual

About the Contest

This contest is open to 4-H members in grades 4–12 as of January 1 of the current year. The top four senior teams from each region will advance to the state contest. Please check your regional calendar for the exact date and location.

Teams consist of three or four members.
The top three individual scores are combined for the team total.
Each member works independently

The contest includes:

Judging post-production hens
Giving one set of oral reasons
Evaluating RTC (ready-to-cook) broiler carcasses for quality
Identifying chicken parts
Grading eggs for interior and exterior quality through candling and visual inspection
Assessing broken-out egg quality and further processed products

The state contest is held during Fall Judging Day in October at Brehm Animal Science on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus.

The winning team representing Tennessee at the National 4-H Poultry Judging Contest in November in Louisville, Kentucky.

Partial funds for the trip to the national 4-H poultry judging event for the first-place team.
Plaque to the champion team and the high-scoring individual for production and market products.
Medallions for members of the champion team
National Poultry Contest Information from UK Extension