News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Overton County 4-H program will host its annual Chick Chain Auction Saturday to help raise money for its Cahin Chick program.
4-H Tennessee State University Extension Agent Alyssa Anderson said the program holds an auction each year so the participants can participate in the program essentially for free. Participants receive 14 chicks at the start and when the auction rolls around the chickens are ready to lay eggs. Anderson said they have the program as the access for the youth to raise chickens in Overton County is few and far between.
“Overton County doesn’t have the most lucrative jobs,” Anderson said. “So there is a lot of youth that don’t necessarily have the opportunity to raise chicks or raise chickens if we did not have this program. It’s a great opportunity to kind of get them into raising poultry and having kind of that small business that they can get out of it with selling their eggs.”
The participant only needs to auction three chickens to cover the registration fee to participate in the Chain Chick Program. The Overton 4-H program has done the chick chain auction for several years. Anderson said the program teaches the youth responsibility, ethical decision-making, and entrepreneurship skills.
“These are life skills that they are going to be able to use for anything that they do,” Anderson said. “So it teaches them that responsibility as they are learning to raise these birds. They got to make sure that they have clean and fresh water each day and that they are fed and that they have clean housing, and it teaches them that making the right decisions in terms of their small business.”
Anderson said kids really enjoy auction day. Anderson said sometimes a participant’s family will have an emotional attachment to the chickens.
“They typically end up buying them back and that’s always a refreshing thing to see is youth growing attached to these chickens,” Anderson said. “So they want to keep their flocks and their birds. Then otherwise kids have a good time showing off what they have done to the public, so that’s always something that they look forward to.”
The Chain Chick Auction will begin at 10:30 AM on Saturday at Ag-1 Co-op in Livingston.
