Interested in learning more about poultry breeds? Watch videos of select large fowl, bantams, ducks, geese, turkeys, and guinea fowl HERE.

Poultry Biosecurity Resources

Defend the Flock Tool Kit: USDA-APHIS

Backyard Biosecurity for Birds: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian-influenza-disease/birdbiosecurity

 

Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) Important Information

On January 1, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new regulations addressing on-farm antibiotic use in food-animal production must be implemented. The agency’s effort is aimed at eliminating the use of medically important (to human illness) antibiotics for growth promotion purposes in food-animal production and bringing therapeutic use in feed and water – to treat, control or prevent spe­cific disease – under additional veterinary oversight. Producers, veterinarians, feed mills and suppliers will all face new requirements. This affects everyone (including 4-H members as youth producers) keeping, owning, and/or raising food-producing animals. 

Please be aware that anything you may hear about the possibility of 4-H advisors being able to get a VFD for all of their club members is not accurate. Ohio 4-H members (parents/guardians) are the owners/caretakers of their livestock projects and will need to obtain any VFD they might need to properly care for their food-producing animals. To write a VFD, veterinarians must personally see the 4-H members’ animals, become acquainted with their care, and have done so recently enough (within the last six months) that they can make medical judgments. Veterinarians should not write a VFD for an entire club.

It is very important that 4-H members and their families establish a veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR) prior to January 1, 2017. Click on the link below to download the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) Fact Sheet for 4-H Youth Livestock Producers and Families, important to read and understand when taking Ohio 4-H food-producing animal projects, even if they are not intended for food production.

• Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) Fact Sheet for 4-H Youth Livestock Producers and Families

 

4-H POULTRY RESOURCES FROM eXTENSION

Unless otherwise indicated, these articles from articles.extension.org/poultry are for use with 4-H poultry projects. eXtension is a national database that collects articles and videos from Extension experts around the country. To make the articles easier for Ohio 4-H members to access, they have been downloaded and collected here. Not all of the available articles are included here, but these are the ones most likely to be relevant to 4-H members. A handful of articles from our Ohio 4-H specialists are included too. Use the links below to download and print each article. There are a lot, but most of them are very short.

Interested only in chickens? The italicized titles below cover the basics. For convenience, they are also available in this single document called Basic Information About Chickens (162 pages).

 

Additional Resources

Downloadable List of Poultry Resources

Need some reliable, research-based sources for information about your poultry project? We recommend you start here, with the links below. 

• eXtension, articles.extension.org/poultry. This national database collects articles and videos from Extension experts around the country. Not seeing what you want to know? Submit your own question to Ask an Expert.
• University of Kentucky Poultry 101, afspoultry.ca.uky.edu/extension-poultry101. A good general overview of poultry from our land grant partners at University of Kentucky.
• American Poultry Association (APA), amerpoultryassn.com. Information about shows, health, and competition from the publishers of the American Standard of Per­fection.
• American Bantam Association (ABA), bantamclub.com. A wealth of resources and images from the publishers of the Bantam Standard.
• Poultry Show Central, poultryshowcentral.com. Up-to-date resource for information about poultry shows, breeders, and more.
• United State Environmental Protection Agency, epa.gov/agriculture/agriculture-ag-101. Click on "Ag101 (PDF)" and then on Poultry Production for an overall perspective on the broiler and layer industries. 

These print resources offer thorough and practical information too: 

Storey’s Guide to Raising Poultry, 4th Edition: Chickens, Turkeys, Ducks, Geese, Guineas, Gamebirds by Glenn Drowns (2012)

How to Raise Poultry: Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Revised (FFA) by Christine Heinrichs (2014) 

 

Youth Poultry Clinic Resources - Wooster

• Quality Assurance GPPs 2, 4, 5 PowerPoint (March 24, 2018)
• Quality Assurance GPPs 7, 8, 9 PowerPoint
• Basics of Poultry Health by Dr. Mohammed El-Gazzar

 

General Poultry Resources and Information

Putting Science into Animal Sciences Projects Fact Sheets

• Should I take Broilers as a 4-H Project?
• Should I take Turkeys as a 4-H Project?

4-H Program / Project Book

Previous Ohio 4-H poultry project books have been condensed into one Poultry Project and Record Book for members of all skill levels. Use this book for these projects:

This book and other Ohio State University Extension, 4-H Youth Development publications are available from the Ohio State University eStore or from local county Extension offices, where Ohio 4-H club advisors, club members, and other Ohio residents get the best price.