Teen stays busy with his chicken business
Jul. 17—GREENSBURG — With the 2022 Decatur County 4-H Fair now in the rearview mirror, many Decatur County farming families can breath a collected sigh of relief. The preparation, the animals, the long hot days in the dead of summer, all are now just the memories of another local county fair.
What's left are the results of all the competitions, the trophies, the ribbons, and lessons many youngsters learned. For so many in this little farming community, it's the end of a long yearly cycle.
For 2022 North Decatur High School grad Christopher Gauck, who plans to begin his studies at Purdue University in Agribusiness, this is just the beginning of a larger cycle.
Even though he realizes that life has many twisty turns, he plans to earn his degree and return to his vocation and possible life's pursuit: raising and marketing meat chickens.
Before anything, it's important to understand some chicken farming lingo.
A "chick" is a young (baby) chicken. A "pullet" is an immature female chicken: and a "cockerel" is an immature male chicken. A "hen" is an adult female chicken, while a "cock" or a "rooster" is an adult male chicken.
According to the University of Kentucky School of Agricultural Sciences, the word chicken comes from the Anglo-Saxon word cicen. Chick is simply a contraction of chicken. Chicken can also refer to the meat coming from the bird so it is okay to say "I eat a lot of chicken" rather than "I eat a lot of chickens," which would change the meaning somewhat.
The son of local meat producers Kim and Steven Gauck, Christopher has been in FFA for all four years of his high school career, and is a 10-year 4-H member.
Gauck shared his information and views of the industry as he explained his process.
"This is my fair batch," he said as he pointed to a coop in a field near his home.
Yearly, 4-H leaders will purchase a large number of young chickens and 4-H students and competitors will take them home to raise so competitions during the year aren't skewed by things like price and genetics.
"That's how they keep the playing field level for competitions," he said.
Gauck tries to raise his chickens to around 3 or 4 pounds for market and the fair, and his reasoning is wise.
"Customers don't want a huge 7 pound meat chicken because they can't eat all of it, so I sell a lot of 3 pound chickens," he explained.
As he prepares for judging for the fair, Gauck chooses two of the remaining 25 that are closest in size, weight and meat placement.
When it comes to gender, a common question is "how can you tell males and females apart?" Males have a larger combs and wattles. Their tail feathers are pointed while those of the female are rounded. In addition, males crow while females do not.
"The vent in the rear of the [female] bird is bigger, because they lay eggs. Males also grow faster," he said.
As for the economy of the beginner chicken farmer, Gauck looks at it from the business aspect. In 2021, he produced 400 (four batches of 100) and has ordered 400 to produce this year. When all have gone to market, he realizes that he might have to purchase another batch to make it through the year.
Considering he will be leaving this year for study at Purdue, he has planned to sell his business to his sister, who raises pigs. He's not sure whether he will purchase the business back from his sister when he finishes his degree.
When he's asked if he talks to his chickens while he works with them, his answer is funny.
"Sometimes. Mostly when I'm trying to load them in their crates or in the trailer. I get mad at them when they won't cooperate," he said.
He admits he becomes closer to his show chickens because he spends more time with them.
Gauck raises Black Gold English chickens for show.
"I'm excited to show them every year at the fair and I guess I become attached to them, so I may talk to them more," he said.
According to Gauck, anyone interested in raising chickens needs to read "The Standard of Perfection." Considered by many to be the "chicken Bible," it contains a complete description of all recognized varieties of fowl.
First published in 1874 by the American Poultry Association, the Standard of Perfection classifies and describes the standard physical appearance, coloring and temperament for all recognized breeds of poultry including chickens, ducks, turkeys, and geese. The current edition was published in 2015.
According to Wikipedia, "The Standard" is used by American Poultry Association judges at sanctioned poultry shows to judge poultry, and by those who participate in the competitive showing of selectively bred birds that conform to the standard, which led to the term "standard bred" poultry.
At its inception in 1874,the book only listed 41 breeds, but today's version has nearly 60, only 19 of which are recognized by the American Poultry Association. Eleven of these classes are devoted to chickens, of which six are classes of large breeds and five are bantam classes.
Gauck feeds his Old English chickens a higher protein content feed to reach the benchmarks set forth in "The Standard." And the requirement for show chickens are quite different from those of meat chickens.
"When you hold one of my Old English chickens in your hand, they should feel compact and muscular, kind of like a baseball," Gauck said.
He prefers to raise bantams, saying they're just easier to maintain.
Before the fair competitions, each must have blood tests for genetics and health purposes. These birds are judged on appearance, size, muscle structure, and of course, tempermant.
As for eggs, you might wonder if he collect them. Again, his answer is humorous: "Only when I feel like it," he said with a laugh.
Gauck summed up his high school career well when he said he's a chicken farmer and has grown a successful business.
"I've done a lot of stuff for the community and in my time with 4-H. I've won Best in Show and lots of awards with my chickens, and my business has helped me a lot," he said. "I'm pretty proud."
Contact Bill Rethlake at 812-651-0876 or email bill.rethlake@greensburgdailynews.com
