Summer poultry judging camps welcome youth and coaches to Aggieland
Attendees prepared for the upcoming judging season through hands-on practice and friendly competition with a mock contest.
Department of Poultry Science hosted three camp sessions in June to accommodate all judging abilities. Session one was a two-day camp focused on youth ages 9-13. Session two was a three-day camp intended for youth ages 14-18. Judging coaches participated in a two-day camp during session three. The camps were coordinated by Brett Meisinger, Texas A&M Poultry Judging Coach and Lecturer, and Ally Spears, Program Coordinator.
Camp attendees had an opportunity for one-on-one mentoring from Texas A&M Poultry Judging Coach and Lecturer Brett Meisinger. Brett and his nationally ranking judging team members officiate several poultry judging contests and 4-H/FFA market poultry shows across Texas every year. "Aside from judging basics, it is a great way to develop further commercial poultry industry knowledge to educate poultry consumers," says Meisinger.
Each camp session covered the major components of a poultry judging contest including written exam information, egg grading, live bird evaluation, and ready-to-cook carcasses. The Department of Poultry Science understands that the youth of today are the future of the poultry industry. Programs such as these play an important role in providing them with educational opportunities to learn career-building skills and gain involvement in the industry.
There were nearly 150 participants from across the country representing Arkansas, Colorado, Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington.
Thirty-five current or incoming Poultry Science students who have experience with poultry judging assisted as camp counselors. Many of the current students are Aggie Poultry Ambassadors, Poultry Science Club Officers, graduate students, and/or Texas A&M Poultry Judging Team members.
Programs such as this one allow Texas A&M poultry science students to put their own technical knowledge and leadership skills to the test by assisting as group leaders. Some of these students have future career plans that include becoming educators, so these experiences provide them the opportunity to apply their talents.
Since each counselor has previous poultry judging experience, they were able to provide their unique "tricks of the trade". This proved to be extremely beneficial during Session Three with Coaches and Ag Teachers. Since the two youth camps were held before Session Three, counselors were able to share insights into how the students were learning and what teaching techniques proved to be the most successful, as well as what contest changes they could expect during the 2024-2025 judging season.
Please visit our Flikr to view all photos from this year's camp.
A special thank you to our event sponsors:
Gold Sponsors:
• Ag Pack Nutrition
• Wandering Maverick Boutique
• Farmers State Bank
• Texas Poultry Foundation
• H-E-B (donated all products)
• Tyson Foods (donated all carcasses)
Maroon Sponsors:
• Cal-Maine Foods
• Hendrix Genetics
• Ideal Poultry Breeding Farms, Inc.
• Elaina and Emanuel Jr. '72 Glockzin
White Sponsors:
• Robert "Bob" Palm '65
• Tamara Robinson Burnett