Broilers – Dane Fitzgerald – Hardin Jr FFA

Lot 3

Broilers - Dane Fitzgerald - Hardin Jr FFA

Broilers - Dane Fitzgerald
Hardin Jr FFA

My name is Dane Fitzgerald and I am in the 5th grade at Hardin ISD. I'm a member of both Hardin 4H and JR. FFA. I have no idea what I'd like to do when I graduate but I'm sure something will come to mind when I'm a little older. For now, all the money I have earned showing has been put away for my college savings. This is my second year to raise broilers for Cleveland Dairy Days. Last year I won Reserve Grand Champion with a meat pen of 3 birds that weighed in at 33.15 lbs. My largest bird was 11.6 lbs, which could easily feed a family of 9-11. This year my birds are on the same track, while they still have a few weeks left of growing I know they will be similar in size and shape. I raise my birds in what's called a family pen with my older sister. Together we work very hard to maintain a clean and dry pen for the birds. Since we order 75 birds and process them all at once we separate the broilers into two separate pens, a cull pen and a show pen. This helps a bit with keeping the litter clean but requires extra work. It is also important that the birds have fresh feed and clean fresh water at all times and that requires us to feed and water 2-3 times a day. It's a lot of work but in the end, it's worth it. Although I'm disappointed I won't be able to show this year and defend my title, I am grateful for the lessons I've learned through out this experience. The biggest lesson I've learned is that in farming and showing, sometimes you have good seasons and sometimes you have bad ones, but it's the people that keep waking up to do the job despite the adversity that have the most success in the end.