An incoming Benjamin Logan High School freshman received an early birthday gift Sunday, July 6, one day ahead of his 14th birthday by taking one of the top awards at the Logan County Junior Fair’s poultry show.
Rylan Cook of Zanesfield’s tom turkey “Kenny Peckney” received the reserve grand champion turkey award in his first year showing turkeys.
“I like it a lot more than showing chickens. It’s a lot of fun,” the Logan County Livestock 4-H member noted after the show. He has been showing chickens for three years as well.
Fellow BLHS student Lauren Kennedy received her first-ever grand champion turkey honors for her turkey hen “Raquelle.” Her tom turkey “Ryan” also received the champion award for tom turkey portion of the contest as well.
Grand champion turkey
Lauren said she and her sister, Hailey, named their turkeys exhibited in the poultry show after characters in the Barbie movie, with her sister’s turkeys named “Barbie” and “Ken.”
Following high school, Lauren said she would like to pursue a math-related major in college, possibly working in the engineering field in the future. She also foresees staying involved in the agriculture field in the future with her family.
“I want to stay involved and I’d love to see my kids in 4-H, too,” the Friendly Farming 4-Hers member said.
Fellow exhibitor Elizabeth James also received the reserve turkey hen award in the contest Sunday afternoon.
Grand champion pen of three chickens
In the meat pen of three chickens contest, siblings brought in the top two awards, with older brother Reed Strayer, 16, capturing the grand champion banner and younger brother Owen, 10, receiving reserve grand champion.
Reed, an incoming Indian Lake High School sophomore, said he was fortunate to also receive the grand champion title for his chickens in 2023. The Riverside Hustlers 4-H member lives just outside of DeGraff.
Owen will be in fifth-grade at Indian Lake Middle School and said he was “just a little nervous” heading into the show. He won the grand champion award at last year’s fair.
In the commercial meat pen roaster contest, siblings also dominated, with Alivia Kinney receiving grand champion, and her sister Alexandra Kinney garnering reserve grand champion.
For each portion of the contest, the poultry show judge said she considers that these entries are market birds for meat consumption.
“I look for the most marketable meat, and consider how much do they weigh? How long and wide is the breast? How filled out are the drums and legs?”
She praised all of the exhibitors for their hard work and said that the meat pen of three chickens was “an extremely tough final drive; one of the toughest that I’ve ever judged.”
Reserve grand champion pen of three chickens
