It’s good to be the king – especially if your subjects are delicious.

Just ask Alex Johnston.

The Oxford High School junior was crowned Poultry King for the upcoming Oakland County Fair to be held July 7-16 at Springfield Oaks County Park in Davisburg.

“I was really excited,” he said. “I was not expecting it. I thought I’ll try (for the title) because it’s a new experience and maybe I’ll get it, but I never really expected it to happen. I was in shock. I thought it was really cool.”

Johnston, who’s part of the 4-H Poultry Fanciers of Oakland County, raises chickens for both meat and competing at shows.

“I’m actually relatively new to the whole thing,” he said.

He started in May 2016 with six market birds. The breed is called Cornish Cross, also known as broilers. It’s a hybrid that crosses the Cornish and Plymouth Rock breeds.

“They’re not bred to lay eggs. They’re bred for meat,” Johnston explained.

According to an article written by Jennifer Sartell, of Iron Oak Farm in Fenton, and published on the website Community Chickens, the Cornish Cross is a fast-growing bird that reaches table weight at around eight weeks and can outgrow its own body functions if not sent for butchering when ready.

The Cornish Cross can actually eat itself to death because “usually their heart, lungs and legs can’t support the rapid growth,” she wrote.

Three of Johnston’s chickens were auctioned off at last year’s county fair and they fetched a pretty penny. Weighing approximately 9 pounds each, they sold for about $20 per pound.

“Seeing all these people bidding on your birds is a really cool moment,” he said.

The other three birds were kept for the Johnston family dinner table.

“They tasted really good. It was probably some of the best chicken I’ve ever had,” Johnston said. “They were home-raised, so I know there were no by-products in them.”

Johnston doesn’t have a problem having the chickens he raised butchered because the Cornish Cross will eventually eat itself to death and “they had a good life” under his care.

“They lived pretty well,” he said. “They were eating all the time. They got plenty of water. They got to go outside.”

This year, Johnston raised 12 market birds.

“We have roasters and we have broilers. The roasters, they live twice as long,” he explained. “(According to fair rules), the broilers must be (raised to be) a minimum of 6 pounds. The roasters must be a minimum of 7 pounds and the maximum is 14.”

In addition to market birds, Johnston raises chickens that compete in shows. He has 20 Serama chickens, also called the American Serama, and one Belgian Bearded d’Uccle (a Belgian breed of bearded bantam chicken) for show purposes.

The Serama chickens are placed on a table and judged according to how they stand and look. The Belgian Bearded d’Uccle is judged while in its cage on things such as condition and feather quality.

“There’s a standard for how the bird is supposed to look, the qualities it should have and shouldn’t have,” Johnston explained.

Johnston spends at least four hours a day caring for his chickens. He makes sure they get plenty of food and water, are not getting overheated and receive some fresh air and exercise.

“You have to clean their cages at least once a week and I have a bunch of cages,” he said.

“It’s a lot of responsibility. You can’t skip a day,” Johnston added.

The show birds require some extra work.

“I take them out like twice a day and pose them on a table,” Johnston said. “You have to train them to pose right (for judging) and hold them, so they get used to being held.”

Johnston encourages folks to attend this year’s county fair and enjoy all that it has to offer.

“It’s a really great experience,” he said. “You can see my birds and I can tell you all about chickens.”

He also encourages young people to get involved in the 4-H program.

“It’s a really great experience and it teaches you a lot about responsibility, livestock and agriculture,” Johnston said. “You learn a lot, for sure.”