Kempsey students raise chicks for hands-on agriculture competition

The competition is organised through the Sydney Royal Easter Show and involves the students getting practical farming experience by raising the chicks over a six-week period.

Kempsey High School and St Paul's College have each received 10 chicks to raise in the lead up to the Royal Easter Show.

"They will be tracking the data while raising the chicks, and will have to care for the chicks in regards to nutrition and overall care," Kempsey High School Agriculture teacher Linc Urquhart said.

"We have 13 students from Year 9 involved in the project and we'll also be getting Year 7 students involved as well so they can learn about the health and nutrition for the chicks."'

The students will be paying close attention to heat, feed and water as well as providing the chickens with safe shelter.

The 63 school participating in the competition will present their birds for meat judging on Saturday April 4 at the Royal Easter Show, with the top 12 finalists' birds then put on display in the Poultry Pavilion.

"We will be taking two males and two females that are raised at the school to be judged. They will be judged as a live exhibit as well as on the hook," Mr Urquhart said.

The competition will be judged by experts from the commercial poultry industry, and students will be critiqued on the presentation of their exhibits, conformation, muscle growth, fat cover, health and pair similarity. Students will also deliver a PowerPoint presentation detailing how the birds were raised and prepared for the show.

"We're going to be trialing two types of protein with the chicks to see how they grow on each. The whole process is very student focused and overall it has very educational purpose."