Poultry

Market Chicken & Duck Pick-up

Pickup will be at the Heritage Coop on Third Street. Please come prepared with something to take your poultry home in.  Your housing at home should be ready to go to put your birds in. Anyone can pick up your birds. Youth do not have to be present.

We cannot hold the birds.  They must be picked up during assigned pick up.  Members needing supplies from Heritage are asked to call them ahead of time so your order will be ready.

  • Tentative for Market Chickens is July 10 or 11
  • Tentative for Market Ducks is July 18 or 19

 

Avian Bowl, Poultry Judging, and Livestock Judging

The rules and entry forms are officially posted for the 2024 Avian Bowl, Poultry Judging, and Livestock Judging contests. Please visit our website for all of the up-to-date information. Please forward this information to anyone who may be interested. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out!

Market Turkey Pickup – May 8

The market turkeys are scheduled to ship from the hatchery next week. We are expecting them to arrive on Wednesday, May 8 in the afternoon. If the turkeys arrive as scheduled we will hold pick up at Heritage Cooperative at 219 S. Third Street in Marietta from 3 to 5 pm. You might want to call the Extension Office to make sure they have arrived before traveling.

Be prepared for them to arrive early or arrive another day. Unfortunately we have no control over when they might arrive.

If you have additional questions please call the Extension Office at 740-376-7431 or email hartline.24@osu.edu

Backyard Poultry Certificate Course

Backyard Poultry Certificate Course $25

Backyard Poultry Marketing Flyer

For a variety of reasons, there is an increase in interest in keeping backyard poultry. Backyard flocks provide the opportunity for people in rural and urban areas alike to produce tasty eggs and meat for personal and family food security. You might want egg layers. You might want to raise meat birds for a harvest in your freezer. You might even have a youth interested in raising chickens for their 4-H or FFA project, as these lower maintenance livestock can be kept in a fraction of the space for a fraction of the cost when compared to other species.

Whatever your reason for raising poultry, this course is designed to provide you with the knowledge and resources you will need to get your backyard flock off to a great start.

This self-paced course is expected to take 2-3 hours to complete and includes the following 6 modules:

  • Getting Started
  • Brooding, Basic Husbandry & Nutrition
  • Housing
  • Egg Production
  • Maximizing Health
  • Biosecurity

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Webinar – Dec 19

The recent HPAI outbreak in multiple counties in Ohio has resulted in over 4 million birds being affected and prompted a lot of questions. You are invited to attend a Zoom webinar discussing the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
When: Dec 19, 2023 6:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Ohio Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Update
Also a response page is available at: https://u.osu.edu/poultry/hpai-information/

Here is the list of topics to be discussed on the zoom:

  • Biosecurity basics
  • Symptoms and signs of HPAI in poultry
  • Control Area – what is it and what does it mean for backyard farms?
  • Surveillance Zone – what is it and what does it mean for backyard farms?
  • How long does a quarantine last?
  • What is the status of the incident?
  • What can you do if you have questions?
  • Q&A
Please click the link below to join the webinar:

Backyard Poultry Certification Course

Interest in keeping backyard poultry has been increasing steadily with a huge jump in growth around the COVID pandemic and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreak due to egg price increases and egg shortages.  We have also see a big jump in the number of 4-H kiddos who want to keep chickens and turkeys for 4-H livestock projects.  Many cities and municipalities require a certification before they allow you to keep backyard poultry.  Lots of people just want to learn more about this for their own family and personal food security.  Maybe this is the perfect holiday gift for that hard to buy family member.  Whatever your reason, we have you covered.

The course costs $25 dollars. (Super cheep!)  Click on the QR code or head to go.osu.edu/chicken

This self-paced course is expected to take 2-3 hours to complete and includes the following 6 modules:

  • Getting Started
  • Brooding, Basic Husbandry & Nutrition
  • Housing
  • Egg Production
  • Maximizing Health
  • Biosecurity

After completing this course, learners will be able to:

  • Identify rules and regulations relevant to raising backyard poultry in their state, city, or municipality
  • Source healthy birds to raise in their backyard
  • Apply concepts of basic husbandry, nutrition, and housing to successfully raise backyard poultry.
  • Explain how eggs are produced
  • Practice safe handling of birds and eggs
  • Recognize health-related abnormalities of poultry through physical examination
  • Describe the roles of of veterinary care and biosecurity in maximizing poultry health

There are NO refunds issued for this course.
If you have questions about the course, contact Tim McDermott at mcdermott.15@osu.edu for assistance.

Market Turkey Pickup – May 10

The market turkeys are scheduled to ship from the hatchery next week. We are expecting them to arrive on Wednesday, May 10 in the afternoon. If the turkeys arrive as scheduled we will hold pick up at Heritage Cooperative at 219 S. Third Street in Marietta from 3 to 5 pm. You might want to call the Extension Office to make sure they have arrived before traveling.

If you have additional questions please call the Extension Office at 740-376-7431 or email hartline.24@osu.edu

Poultry Webinars – April & May

Geared towards youth participants taking poultry projects but anyone is welcome!
Webinar links and details below:

Wednesday, April 26th: Poultry Health
https://osu.zoom.us/j/98164067948?pwd=OWdqQ2dhTk95MDdwNzBZOW51Mzhjdz09

(Password: 682120)
Protecting animal health at home and at the fair, common disease ID, and more!

Thursday, May 4th: Poultry Nutrition
https://osu.zoom.us/j/92999680333?pwd=b2dyK0h3S1ljK2RkQlFHWmlaM1FzZz09

(Password: 870670)
Nutrition best practices, how nutrition impacts meat quality

Monday, May 15th:Poultry Handling and Welfare
https://osu.zoom.us/j/97491993463?pwd=bWVLNTZ5MVRDaUZDTCtZN1lzdzJUUT09

(Password: 231076)
Animal handling and welfare at home and at the fair, impact of handling and stress on meat quality

Flier: Youth Poultry Project Webinar 2023