Family traditions dominate chicken show

ROME TOWNSHIP — There was an air of familiarity about the Lawrence County Junior Fair chicken show Monday evening.

At the end of what Judge Bill Karcher called an impressive chicken competition, Skye Barnett walked away with the grand champion trophy and Kim Schmidt walked away with the reserve champion trophy.

Poultry was an amazing fit for both of the young ladies: Skye’s sister, Dakotah Barnett, won the grand champion or reserve champion honors several years in a row and she alternated those top spots with Kim Schmidt’s brother-in-law, Timmy Humphries.

“Those are five outstanding birds,” Karcher said of the top chicken pairs in each class. “I would be very pleased as a consumer. I am very impressed with the birds here.”

Karcher said he chose Barnett’s chicken for grand champion because of “the width of the breast, length of the breast and the muscle that is almost to the keel,” Karcher said. “It’s really got a lot of finish. It’s extremely impressive.” He said the others rounding out the top five were extremely close to her (Barnett) in quality. He added, “That speaks volumes about what’s going on in this county.”

Schmidt went on to capture first and second places in the fancy poultry judging for her male and female partridge Wyandotte foul. At the end of the evening she also walked away with the senior chicken showman award. Is there a secret to Schmidt’s success?

“Not really,” she said. “I work hard and pray to God that everything comes out alright.”

The junior chicken showman award went to Cori Boggs, who, “This is my first time (showing chicken).”

New, maybe, but she was clearly prepared.

“She’s good,” Karcher said.