By Joseph DiCristofaro
The Ironton Tribune

The 2024 Lawrence County Fair was the site of Bronx Carpenter being crowned the 4-H and FFA Grand Champion in the market chicken category on July 9.
“It feels pretty good,” Carpenter said. “Last night we washed all our chickens and got all the feathers fanned out to make sure they look good.”
Carpenter has been involved with 4-H for nine years and was the 2023 Reserve Champion. This year he took home the top spot in the market chicken category.
“My favorite part was at the end when you see whether you won or not; that was the best part,” Carpenter said.
This year’s competition was judged by longtime 4-H member and judge Mark Lange, who brought over two decades of experience to the Lawrence County Fairgrounds.
“I’ve been judging 4-H for 28 years; when I started judging I was 17,” Lange said. “I’ve had chickens all my life and I wanted to give back to the 4-H community that gave to me.”
With that much experience judging Lange knew exactly what to look and feel for when judging the dozens of chickens that appeared before him.
“The most expensive part of meat is the breast so that’s where about 90% of my attention is located,” Lange said. “You want to see a nice wide breast, a long breast and make sure that thickness is carried all the way through.”
When judging market chickens Lange looked for the birds to be almost identical; that’s what makes the best poultry he said.
“I look at the other bird that’s in the pen and look at the uniformity between the two,” Lange said. “When I look at a pair of birds if we butcher them right now both carcasses should look the same.”
Lange also informed the crowd and competitors that sometimes the way to improve the quality of chicken is through the quantity that is raised.
“The more birds you raise the more likely you are to find those two chickens that feel exactly the same in the hands of the judge,” Lange said.
Being a 4-H judge requires judges to be open to odd schedules, such as a 9 a.m. start time on a Tuesday, but for Lange, his day job and 4-H endeavors lined up perfectly.
“The state of Ohio has a shortage of judges that can come out and work with these kids on a weekday,” Lange said. “I worked in public education for 21 years, so it worked out perfect for my schedule.”