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Chatham County 4-H Poultry Judging Team Wins 1st Place at State Competition

This is Part 2 of this article.
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Gage is identifying poultry parts – drumstick, thigh quarter, back, breast, wings, drummette, giblet

Gage is identifying poultry parts – drumstick, thigh quarter, back, breast, wings, drummette, and giblet. Photo by Debbie Roos.

Samantha Andrews is candling an egg to be able to grade them. She is looking at air cell size and blood spots. The bigger the air cell the older the egg. Grade AA is the highest quality, the freshest, and has an air cell the size of a dime or less; Grade A is a little bit older, and is what’s most commonly found in the grocery store; Grade B eggs are usually put into cake mixes or other products. If the egg has a blood spot it is culled.

Samantha is candling an egg to be able to grade them. She is looking at air cell size and blood spots. The bigger the air cell the older the egg. Grade AA is the highest quality, the freshest, and has an air cell the size of a dime or less. Grade A is a little bit older, and is what’s most commonly found in the grocery store. Grade B eggs are usually put into cake mixes or other products. If the egg has a blood spot it is culled. Photo by Debbie Roos.

Candling an egg.

Candling an egg. You can see the air cell at the bottom of the egg – this one is about the size of a quarter which makes it a Grade B. Photo by Debbie Roos.

Cole is grading ready-to-cook carcasses. Grade A is best and is what you buy in grocery stores. He has to pick which one is Grade A, B and C – Grades B and C would be cut up and sold as parts.

Kole is grading ready-to-cook carcasses. Grade A is best and is what you buy in grocery stores. He has to pick which one is Grade A, B and C; Grades B and C would be cut up and sold as parts. Photo by Debbie Roos.

Samantha is grading carcasses.

Samantha is grading carcasses. Photo by Debbie Roos.

Samantha is grading exterior quality eggs, looking at shape, presence of calcium, dirt, manure, or feathers on the eggs. Grade A is what you buy in the store.

Samantha is grading exterior quality eggs, looking at shape, presence of calcium, dirt, manure, or feathers on the eggs. Grade A is what you buy in the store. Photo by Debbie Roos.

Dan is giving feedback to the kids.

Dan is giving feedback to the kids. Photo by Debbie Roos.

Emma is cracking the eggs so they can be graded: AA, A, B, and inedible.

Emma is cracking the eggs so they can be graded: AA, A, B, and inedible. Photo by Debbie Roos.

Emma is cracking the eggs so they can be graded

Emma is cracking the eggs so they can be graded. Photo by Debbie Roos.

Cole and Emily evaluate the interior quality of the eggs.

Kole and Emily evaluate the interior quality of the eggs. Photo by Debbie Roos.

– This egg is Grade AA because the yolk is upright like a golf ball, the thick albumen is close around the yolk and you can see a defined margin between the thick and thin albumen which means this egg is less than two days old.

This egg is Grade AA because the yolk is upright like a golf ball, the thick albumen is close around the yolk and you can see a defined margin between the thick and thin albumen which means this egg is less than two days old. Photo by Debbie Roos.

NC State 4-H Poultry Judging Contest held in Raleigh

Chatham County Peeps at the NC State 4-H Poultry Judging Contest held in Raleigh in July 2018. Photo by Rhea Hebert.

The Chatham County Peeps' Senior Team (Emily Stecher, Gage Lindley, and Samantha Andrews) won first place at the state competition in their first year competing!

The Chatham County Peeps’ Senior Team (Emily Stecher, Gage Lindley, and Samantha Andrews) won first place at the state competition in their first year competing! Photo by Rhea Hebert.

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