In many ways the true heart of the Oakland County 4-H Fair– the annual poultry exhibition is an event that scores of young people from across Oakland County look forward to all year.

One such youth is 17-year-old Oxford resident Sarah Liford. Through hard work, and with the support of local business Oxford Farm and Garden, Liford was able to raise nearly $800 towards higher education by raising chickens through the 4-H Poultry Fanciers of Oakland County competition.

Liford has been raising chickens for meat through the 4-H fair program for four years in an effort to save money for college.

Liford said this year she spent several hours each day tending to her six Cornish Cross chickens for nearly three months leading up to the 4-H Fair poultry auction, held July 14. This breed of chickens is a hybrid that crosses the Cornish and Plymouth Rock breeds, which is fast-growing and bred for meat.

“It’s a lot of work. You have to make sure they’re fed 24/7, make sure they have fresh water because, if you don’t, some chickens do die. I’ve learned a lot doing this. You learn every year how to grow them and raise them. You have to have the right food for them so they get fat. But, every year I have one bigger chicken than I did last year,” said Liford.

This year, one of her six chickens weighed in at 13 pounds, according to Liford. That’s compared to the weight of her largest chicken four years ago, which weighed around six pounds.

Six of Liford’s chickens were auctioned off at this year’s county fair. She sold one pen of three broiler chickens, which must weigh at least six pounds each, according to fair rules, for about $21 per pound. She also sold a pen of three roaster chickens, each of which must weigh at least seven pounds, for $12 per pound.

Through the program, local youths (ages 9-19) are each given several chicks at the same time in the spring. They then raise the chicks at their homes before bringing the chickens back to the fair when they are fully-grown in July for butchering and auctioning.

“The chickens are very cute when you first get them, but when they get bigger… they are just messy little things. I feel bad they have to get killed but, at the same time, good things come out of it so it doesn’t bother me as much,” she added.

She earned around $800 in total at this year’s poultry auction—all of which she plans to put towards her goal to attend college.

The auctioning event serves as a chance for local businesses to purchase the chicken meat from Oakland County youths.

One such business, which has been purchasing chicken from local youths for around eight years, is Oxford Farm & Garden.

“These kids are doing it all the work themselves,” said Oxford Farm & Garden Manager Dennis Smith. “If a kid at 8, 9, 10-years-old can have the motivation to get up, raise an animal, feed it every day, clean up after it every day… that’s the kind of thing that we, as a society, need to support. Those are the kind of morals that we don’t have anymore. That’s building the backbone of our youth… These kids are amazing.”