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Rev. 1/2018

Market Chicken Record Book

Members showing a market chicken project must complete this record book

MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer. Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, age, height,

weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or veteran status.

Name: _______________________________________________________________ Address:_____________________________________________________________ 4-H Club:_____________________________________________________________ 4-H Leader:___________________________________________________________ Age (as of 1/1):__________________ Years in 4-H Chicken Project:______________

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W hy Keep Records?

Keeping records on your project can be interesting and fun - not dull or boring.

Good records will:

Help you learn about animals, their rate of growth, the feed they require, the cost of the feed and their habits.

Help you plan future projects.

Let you know if you made or lost money and how much.

Improve your management practices.

Give you a record of your project activities.

Keep this record as part of your Personal 4-H Records. This information is helpful for you to plan future year’s market projects, as well as if you ever apply for 4-H awards or a 4-H scholarship. Remember - Records are no better than what YOU put into them! - At least one project picture is a required part of this record book. Taking pictures of your project animal throughout the project will indicate how your animal has grown and developed. I understand that this is a completed Market Chicken Project Record Book as required.

4-H’ers Signature:

4-H Leader’s Signature: Youth I hereby certify that, as the exhibitor of this project, I have personally been responsible for the care of this animal, record keeping, and have completed this record book. I am aware that this record book may be on display during the auction and/or fair, and thus all content will be appropriate. Youth Signature: Date: Parent/Guardian I, the parent/guardian, certify that my son/daughter has completed this project and completed this record book and will comply with all rules and regulations. I give permission for this record book to be displayed to the public and will ensure that all content is appropriate. Parent/Guardian Signature: Date:

** RECORDS START WITH POSSESSION OF YOUR ANIMAL(S) AND END WITH FAIR WEEK **

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This Year’s Project Goals Complete this portion of the record book pre-project or once animals are purchased. List three goals that you have for your animal(s) project: 1.

2.

3.

List three potential buyers you plan to approach this year: 1.

2.

3.

How will you advertise that your chickens will be for sale at auction?

Project Information

Number of birds at start of record:

Hatch date of bird(s):

Date of ownership or purchase date:

Estimated beginning value of animal(s):

Tell us about your project bird(s) (check all that apply):

Purchased my bird(s)

Project bird(s) are hatched & owned (from a bird on my family farm)

Other (please explain):

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Weight Record

Number of birds purchased: Price per bird (P): x (incl. shipping)

Total cost of birds:

Weekly Weight

Number of birds at end of record

Mortality

Comment:

Total weight of all birds

(example: 8 lbs)

Average weight per

bird

(ex., 8 lbs/15 birds = 0.44 lb/bird)

Day 1 (when obtained)

End of Week 1

End of Week 2

End of Week 3

End of Week 4

End of Week 5

End of Week 6

End of Week 7

End of Week 8 (Final Weight for

Jumbo Cornish Rock Cross)

End of Week 9

End of Week 10

End of Week 11

End of Week 12 (Final Weight for

other breeds)

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My 4-H Photographs. Label each photo with the date and a caption.

What breed are your birds?

Tell some of the history of the breed and some unique characteristics.

*PHOTO* The bird(s) flipped to show breast size. Include a ruler in the picture to illustrate size. Include separate pictures of each of your chickens.

*PHOTO* The bird’s wing – extended.

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Feed and Environment

What did you feed your birds?

Why did you select this feed?

Describe the living environment for your bird(s):

Feed tag

*PHOTO* Housing facilities

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EXPENSES

Number of animals reflected on this chart

$ Total Expense per animal (Total cost/Total number birds)

EXPENSE ITEMS

March

April

May

June

July

EXPENSE

TOTALS

Veterinary Charges

$

Medication/ Insecticides

$

Bedding

$

Fitting and Showing

$

Equipment

(Feed pans, etc)

$

Housing

$

Interest on Money Bor-

rowed for Project Animals

$

Advertising/

Marketing

(postage, etc.)

$

Monthly Feed Totals

$

Other (specify):

$

MONTHLY TOTALS: $

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My Market Pen

Market Pen Break Even Price

4-H animals are sold by the pound at our Junior Livestock Auction. The “Break Even Price” (per pound) will tell you what price you need to get for your total pen to break even on your project.

*Amounts are reported in Pre-Fair Newsletter

Why is it important to calculate the Break Even Price?

Number of

Market Birds

in Pen (N)

Breed

Purchase

Price (P) of

Market Pen

(P x N)

Beginning

Weight of

Pen (BW)

Pg 3

Finished

Weight of

Pen (FW)

(at weigh-in)

Amount of

Gain for

Pen

(FW – BW)

EXPENSE FOR MARKET PEN (N x total expense per animal – pg 8) i.e., 3 chickens x $5 = $15 per pen

$

PURCHASE PRICE OF PEN (P x N) – see above i.e., 3 chickens x $2.50 each = $7.50

$

FAIR PICTURE*

$

AUCTION COMMISSION FEE* FW x market price x 0.04 commission rate

$

PROCESSING AND DELIVERY COSTS* Butchering and mileage cost to get birds processed and delivered to buyer

$

BUYER RECOGNITION Gift, postage, etc.

$

TOTAL PEN EXPENSES (TPE) Add column

LBS.

FINISHED WEIGHT OF PEN (FW)

$ /LB.

BREAK EVEN PRICE = TPE / FW Cost per pound

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MEAT CUTS

Situation: You want to prepare chicken for your family. Each family member has a favorite part so you need to be able to identify all the parts of the chicken to make sure that everyone is happy. Label the diagram.

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Project Reflection

Please respond to the following questions:

1. What did you learn in the project this year?

2. What did you do to keep your bird(s) healthy?

3. My favorite part of my project was:

4. The most difficult part of the project was:

5. Explain how you trained and prepared your bird(s) for fair:

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Judge’s Comments This page is reserved for the judge’s comments to provide feedback.

The market project owner did the following items well:

Areas to improve include:

Additional comments:

Judging Results (office use only) Ribbon Award: A B C

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My 4-H Market Chicken Record Book Score Sheet

4-H Member: ___________________________________________________________ 4-H Club: ___________________________________________________________

Page Possible Points

Your Points

1 COVER SHEET 5

All information is completed.

2 WHY KEEP RECORDS 5

Leader signed book.

3 PROJECT GOALS 10

All information is neat and complete.

All questions are answered.

4 WEIGHT RECORD 10

Weights are recorded.

All questions are answered.

5 4-H PROJECT PHOTOGRAPHS 10

Includes photographs of project animal. Captions included with pictures. All questions answered.

6 FEED AND ENVIRONMENT 10

All information is neat and complete.

7 PROJECT EXPENSES 10

All information is neat and complete.

8 MY MARKET PEN 14

All information is neat and complete.

Calculations accurate. BEP clearly defined.

9 MEAT CUTS 16

All information is neat and complete.

10 PROJECT REFLECTION 10

All information is neat and complete.

Total Points

A: 100-90; B: 89-80; C: 79-70; DQ: Under 69 100