Activities and Events

Pet Day

Pet Day serves as both a fundraiser and a promotional event for the Poultry Science Club. The club maintains a booth at this event, held each spring by the College of Veterinary Medicine. All members take turns helping to run the booth, which features baby chicks and ducklings that members of the public are invited to interact with. Club members assist children and their parents in handling the chicks and answer questions about poultry, the club, and OSU in general. Many members of the public are curious about which careers poultry students will be entering, so this event provides a good forum for education in that matter.
In addition to the chicks, a coloring contest for children is held, the club informational display and scrapbook are available for viewing, and OSU Animal Science shirts are sold.

Ag Day

The Poultry Club has a booth at this College of Ag event, usually held a few days after Pet Day. The chicks and other baby poultry are displayed for OSU students and staff to see, as are the club display board, scrapbook, and information on Poultry Club events. All members take turns staffing this booth.
This is an opportunity for potential members to learn about the club and to meet some of the current members. It also gives other OSU students an opportunity to learn more about poultry and to interact with baby chicks, since many students have never had the chance to do so.

Pacific Egg and Poultry Association Annual Meeting

The Pacific Egg and Poultry Association annual meeting is perhaps the most important event to Poultry Club members. It is the major meeting of egg producers on the west coast, and is held in a different location each year. For example, in 2006 it was held on Oahu, Hawaii from February 27th to March 3rd. While at PEPA, members are invited to attend all conference workshops and seminars, often given by leading poultry veterinarians, geneticists, and other professionals. Members also are introduced to industry representatives in both social and business settings, and have the opportunity to tour local poultry facilities. In 2005, the OSU Poultry Club was given a tour of Nicholas Turkey Farms in California by Nicholas’s head veterinarian.

Not only does PEPA provide members with networking opportunities and a glimpse of the internal workings of the egg industry, but also the members of PEPA are very supportive of students. All of OSU’s Poultry Club members who attended PEPA in 2005 (as well as some who couldn’t come) received scholarships, and this has been the case in past years also. PEPA also pays for Poultry Club members’ conference costs, including hotel stay. The only cost incurred by the club itself is for airfare and transportation.

Another important event involving PEPA is the development of a club scrapbook. PEPA holds a contest for Poultry Club scrapbooks from all attending schools. The OSU Poultry Club has won the scrapbook contest six times and placed second in 2005. Not only is the scrapbook important to PEPA, but it chronicles our club members and activities from year to year and promotes fellowship amongst members as they create pages.

Local Industry Meetings

Locally, Poultry Club members are able to attend other industry meetings and events. Although Oregon does not have a large layer industry, there are several broiler growers, and Poultry Club members are perpetually invited to attend the Oregon Broiler Growers Association meetings. These meetings are held throughout the year in Salem. Poultry Club attendance is usually approximately five members per meeting. It is valuable for members to talk with producers to learn how poultry farms operate and to hear about some special problems and technological advances that are being made in the broiler industry.

Community Service

Easter Eggs

Each year during our last meeting before Easter, the Poultry Club stuffs toy eggs with Easter- and poultry- themed items such as fuzzy chenille chicks, stickers, and erasers. The eggs are then donated to a local church to be used in an Easter egg hunt. Club funds are used to purchase the eggs and toys, and all members present at the meeting help stuff the eggs.

Hanson Trophy Case

A second traditional service project is the cleaning of the Hanson Poultry Trophy case in Withycombe Hall. This project usually takes two meetings to accomplish, as there are many trophies. In 2005, the club purchased extra silver polish, so there may be no cost incurred for several years. All members present at these meetings help.

Poultry Shows and Workshops           

Each year, many members also participate in various 4-H events and poultry shows throughout the state. Usually there are two or three members at each event, with more at larger events like the Pen of Fryers Contest. At these events, members volunteer to help with coop-in and coop-out, judging, teaching seminars to 4-Hers, and assisting extension agents with public outreach. At some events, members even cook omelets for event attendees. Some of the events members participate in are: Western Oregon 4-H Poultry Field Day, held in early April at the Polk County Fairgrounds; Ag Expo, held in April at the Benton County Fairgrounds; Ag Fest, held in April at the Oregon State Fairgrounds; and the Pen of Fryers and Pen of Layers Contests, held in May or June at the Polk County Fairgrounds.