RBHS student competes in 4-H Chick Chain
Lane Nunley, fifth grade student at RBHS, shows off his prize-winning chickens he raised through a 4-H project.
By Brandi Miller for the FCT
The 4-H Club has been an important fixture in schools for many years. This club helps young boys and girls develop responsibility and leadership skills that serve these students well into their adult years. Recently a fifth grade student at Red Bay High School participated in a competition that won on a big stage.
Lane Nunley, son of Brandon and Mandi Nunley, participated in the Alabama 4-H Chick Chain competition.
“I raised ten chickens for 21 weeks,” said Nunley. “I took two to the show at the North Alabama State Fair Sept. 24.”
Katernia Cole and Wes Jarnigan, both employed with 4-H, came to RBHS and told the students about the competition. Each student in the 4-H competition got ten chickens and raised them for approximately 21 weeks. All the chickens came from the same hatchery and were born on the same day so everyone had the same opportunity.
Nunley received two different breeds of chickens – Buff Orpingtons and Barred Plymouth Rocks.
“We had to build a coop to house the chickens and provide feed and water,” said Nunley. “We had to keep records.”
All of Nunley’s hard work paid off in the end. He won first place in showmanship, first place in breed class and Franklin County reserve grand champion at the competition.
The chicks were judged on showmanship and breed. The showmanship competition consisted of how well their chicken was shown to the judges. Nunley had to be able to answer questions from the judges such as what he fed them, age and parts of the chicken. The breed was judged based on how well the chicken looked and compared to breed standards. At the competition each county and each breed was judged separately.
Nunley said he learned a lot from this experience and he would recommend other children involved with 4-H because it is fun and teaches responsibility.
“I learned all the parts of a chicken, how to wash and care for them and more about different types of breeds of chickens,” said Nunley.
“This is a great experience for kids,” said Nunley’s mom Mandi. “It teaches them a great deal of responsibility … I am so proud of the maturity and responsibility Lane has shown through this project. 4-H is teaching him invaluable life lessons, and I am so glad he gets this opportunity.”
Nunley said his favorite part about the whole experience was when he got to bathe his chickens to get them ready for the show, and cleaning the chicken coop was his least favorite part about the whole experience. But the good must outweigh the bad because Nunley said he plans on participating in more 4-H events.
“I like 4-H and the animals,” said Nunley. “The pig squeal will be next January, and I plan to do that.”
