With more than 76.5 billion eggs consumed in the U.S. each year, you might be thinking of a career in the poultry industry. We know that judging contests help kids improve their decision-making skills and teaches them to defend those decisions by giving voice to their reasoning. Poultry judging teaches standards of poultry and egg production to ensure a safe and nutritious consumer product. Learn what makes a good egg as you compete for prizes in the Illinois 4-H State Poultry Judging Contest.
IMPORTANT: We will continue to follow Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) guidance regarding poultry exhibitions as the contest date approaches. Please watch for updates and announcements
Date: April 28, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: University of Illinois Livestock Pavilion
1380-1476 W. Pennsylvania Ave. Urbana, IL
Participation: A county may enter any number of 4-H participants. A county team may be, made up of three or four contestants with no limit on the number of teams or individuals. The scores of the three highest scoring individuals from each team will be, totaled to determine each team score. All contestants will be eligible for all individual honors. The four highest senior 4-H’ers will be, selected to participate on the state team. A senior 4-H’er is one who is 14-18 years of age by January 1 of the current year. The individuals that score the highest will be invited to participate in the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference during the third week of November in Louisville, KY.
Registration: Please register early if possible, or registration will be available at the event as well.
Contest Classes
Participants will judge:
- Three classes of past egg production hens (reasons required for two).
- Three classes of ready-to-cook fryers (8 per class).
- One class of 10 broken-out eggs.
- Two classes of candled shell eggs (20 per class).
- Two classes of exterior egg quality (20 per class).
Contestants will have 10 minutes per class.
Resource: The following resource may be, used for training 4-H’ers in Poultry Judging.
Find the National 4-H Poultry Judging Manual here.
Want to learn more about the Egg Industry? Check out this COOL WEBSITE.
How-To videos:
- Introduction to Poultry
- Past Egg Production
- Interior Egg Quality
- Exterior Egg Quality
- Broken Out Egg Quality
- Parts Identification
- Ready to Cook Carcasses
