JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
With fall bird migration underway, scientists are already seeing a new wave of bird flu outbreaks. More than 3.5 million poultry have died in the last 30 days. That's according to the USDA. In California, state officials have been taking steps to mitigate the spread of infection all year. That seems like a good thing, but as April Dembosky of member station KQED in San Francisco reports, it has one group of youngsters feeling crestfallen - the 4H club.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED FAIR WORKER #1: All right, we are ready, and here comes...
APRIL DEMBOSKY, BYLINE: County fairs roll out almost every month across California. Parents and kids swarm this one in September.
UNIDENTIFIED FAIR WORKER #2: This is the place to be - the Santa Cruz County Fair.
DEMBOSKY: They eat cotton candy and corn dogs. They visit the pigs.
(SOUNDBITE OF PIGS GRUNTING)
DEMBOSKY: They pet the sheep.
(SOUNDBITE OF SHEEP BLEATING)
DEMBOSKY: They talk back to the cows.
(SOUNDBITE OF COWS MOOING)
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Imitating cows mooing).
DEMBOSKY: But over in the poultry barn, not a cluck to be heard. Kids sit on hay bales wearing their white 4H uniforms and green ties. 4H clubs are known for their youth animal husbandry programs, and this is usually their Super Bowl, where they get to show off the skills they've been honing all year. But this time, they left their chickens at home.
HAYLEY MACIEL: Because the bird flu is going around.
CLAYTON BETTENCOURT: Yeah, I know. It's 'cause of the bird flu.
CALEB PEREZ: And they don't want everybody's chickens to get sick.
DEMBOSKY: Hayley Maciel (ph), Clayton Bettencourt (ph) and Caleb Perez (ph) are the youngest participants in this year's chicken showmanship contest. They line up on the stage in front of the judge, each holding a stuffed toy chicken.
DONALD BARGER: Is it easier to hold those than your ones at home?
HAYLEY: No.
BARGER: No, not at all (laughter).
HAYLEY: That was so hard. You would think it would be easier, but no, it's actually harder 'cause their legs are so far apart.
DEMBOSKY: The kids take turns caging their fake birds, making sure they put the head in first so they don't hurt their wings. Then they answer quiz questions from judge Donald Barger, like what kind of comb does an Old English Bantam hen have?
BARGER: A round of applause for these young exhibitors.
(APPLAUSE)
DEMBOSKY: Chickens are the 4H gateway animal. Kids aren't allowed to compete with pigs or goats until they're 9, after they learn the basics with poultry. Seven-year-old Clayton watched his chicken hatch from its shell.
CLAYTON: I've shown her all my life. Her name is Spark (ph).
DEMBOSKY: He says the fair just isn't the same without her.
CLAYTON: She would stay on my shoulder. She would eat my corn dog and my beans.
DEMBOSKY: Then she'd fall asleep in his lap.
CLAYTON: She's actually pretty fun. If you had her, you'd have a good time with her 'cause she's so sweet.
DEMBOSKY: California's state veterinarian banned all live chicken shows, starting last January. The goal is to avoid bringing poultry together in a place where disease could spread. But some people think the trade off to kids' education isn't worth it.
PAMELA FLANDERS: They're like, what? No birds?
DEMBOSKY: Pamela Flanders runs the poultry barn at the fair. Normally, the 4H kids would sit here all day while fairgoers pet each chicken.
FLANDERS: And the people just go from kid to kid to kid, you know, and I think it matures them 'cause they're having to field questions from all different types of people on all different types of subjects related to birds.
DEMBOSKY: She says that's a learning opportunity that you cannot replicate with a stuffed toy. Flanders hopes state officials will lift the ban next year, but veterinarians say that's unlikely. So kids will have to adjust. For Clayton Bettencourt, his first place win was bittersweet.
Congratulations. How do you feel?
CLAYTON: Good. And I still feel bad, like, 'cause there's no chickens.
DEMBOSKY: With bird flu this widespread, veterinarians say stuffed chickens may be the way of the 4H future. For NPR News, I'm April Dembosky at the Santa Cruz County Fair.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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