Three Generations Flock To Show Poultry At Fair

When her kids started 4-H, the only animals they showed were calves.

But, it wasn’t long before they decided to wing it — and they entered poultry. 

The poultry show at the Antelope County Fair soon became a family affair for Rhonda Meyer, her children, and now, her grandchildren.

“I don’t even remember what got us started in poultry,” Meyer of Neligh said. “I think we were down here because we were doing bucket calves and we just decided to watch the poultry show and we just started. My oldest son was like 9 and he’s going to be 36 in November.”

Eric, Kendra and Chelsey are now all grown with children of their own.

“Chelsey is going to be 29, so I haven’t had anyone in 4-H for a really long time, but now I’ve got my grandkids,” she said. “I just love working with them and helping them.”

For someone who never showed chickens as a 4-Her herself, Meyer’s passion for poultry has grown tremendously throughout the years. Twenty-six years ago, she started out as an assistant and has since taken over as the poultry superintendent for Antelope County. 

Now, Meyer can often be seen walking through the poultry barns at the fairgrounds wearing her T-shirt that says, “Have no fear, the chicken lady is here.” 

“It just kind of bit me, I guess,” Meyer said with a laugh.

She has so many chickens now that she isn’t even sure how many she owns. 

“Well, there’s a thing called chicken math, so we don’t really count how many we have at home, but I’ve probably got like 70,” Meyer said. “The grandkids keep them at my house because they live in town. I had to build a second coop this spring. What you don’t do for your grandkids, right?”

She also likes to keep extra chickens on hand when problems arise for 4-Hers.

“There was one exhibitor that something got into his coop two weeks ago and killed all of his chickens, so that makes me really sad,” Meyer said. “So some of the extras are used now.”

The poultry numbers at the fair have greatly increased in recent years. This year, there were about 120 entries, she said.  

“I have good kids that show and the parents are awesome and I have good helpers,” Meyer said. “I couldn’t do any of this without my helpers. It’s a team effort.”

Her own grandchildren have contributed to those larger numbers, bringing 16 of the chickens between the three of them.

Cain, 10, said he brought 14 chickens to the Antelope County Fair for the second year in a row. His younger sisters, Lily, 8, and Olivia, 6, are not old enough to be full 4-H members yet, so they each brought the one chicken they are allowed as Clover Kids. They are the children of Adam and Kendra (Meyer) Mortensen of Neligh.

Cain said his grandma has always encouraged them in their involvement with chickens.

“Everytime we go to grandma’s house, we got to see the chickens, collect the eggs,” he said.

When it comes time to bring them to the fair, Cain said his favorite part is washing them.

Olivia explained that they wash the chickens by using soap and water, vinegar, another water rinse and then they are dried with a blow dryer.

“The worst part is the smell of the vinegar,” she said, wrinkling up her nose.

The 2019 fair was Olivia’s first year showing a chicken as a Clover Kid.

“I like holding them,” she said.

In her final year as a Clover Kid, Lily was able to show a chicken that hatched in her second grade classroom. 

“We put them in the incubator. I think it was for three weeks,” she said. “And they all ended up hatching, except two of them.”

With parental permission, the second graders were allowed to take a chick home with them in May. Lily said she named hers “Penny” because it was the color of a penny.

“It lived in my basement,” she said. “Then we got all the chicks out of the basement so we didn’t have to hear them tweeting at night. They went to my grandma’s house.”

Kendra said their basement was home to about 20 chicks, then they got about a dozen more. Soon after, Lily’s chick came to live with them, so they got three more. 

“So some were out before we got the second group,” she said. “They were probably between two and three months old before we moved them out. We kept them in a big box with a heat lamp.” 

Following in her own footsteps, Kendra said she likes seeing her kids active in the 4-H poultry project.

“I enjoy their excitement when they are picking out what kinds they want and listening to their conversations about the different breeds,” she said. “It is fun to watch them interact with their chickens as they are getting ready for the show, and their excitement when they do well with them.”

Kendra said she also likes the lessons that the project has taught her children.

“I like how they learn responsibility through feeding and watering and taking care of them,” she said.

Rhonda said seeing her grandchildren with chickens brings back some fun memories of her own children.

“I remember when we blew a fuse in garage and we were blow drying all of the chickens in the kitchen,” she said. “And we have memories this way now too. It’s fun working with my grandkids. I love it.”

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