Bladen County student from Emerau Bladen holds one of the chickens that she raises on her family farm in Tar Heel.

Bladen County student from Emerau Bladen holds one of the chickens that she raises on her family farm in Tar Heel.

NC COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

BLADEN COUNTY – The North Carolina Cooperative Extension is sponsoring its annual 2025 Regional Chicken Project and will be providing fun and interesting information through May.

The program is statewide and is made possible by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension which has a goal to teach children responsibility, animal husbandry and money management through raising chickens.

The Regional Chicken Project is an opportunity for you in 4-H and FFA to learn more about the livestock industry. Through this project youth will get to choose a laying hen and/or broiler chicks to raise. The birds will be raised and youth will complete a project record book to document their care and knowledge learned about chickens.

Youth will also compete in a chicken show where they will demonstrate to the judge their knowledge of their birds. Trainings will be provided through Zoom and in-person workshops. At the completion of the project youth who raised broilers will donate them to be processed and given to a local food bank.

Laying hens can be kept to lay eggs for a potential egg business and future shows and projects.

Although registration began in December and laying hen chicks have a Jan. 11 registration deadline, broiler chicks registration is still open until Feb. 7. There will be an orientation Zoom Feb. 11, Laying Hen chick delivery in February and broiler chick delivery in March. The show will be held May 6.

For more information, you can call your Bladen Extension Office and speak with Bladen representatives Becky Spearman at 910-862-4591 or Toni Newby at 910- 862- 4591. In Robeson County you can contact Taylor Chavis at 910-671-3276.