Estill wins poultry Knowledge Bowl at county fair

This year the San Diego County Fair had no chickens or turkeys due to the outbreak of Virulent Newcastle disease, but the competition for 4-H Club members included a June 19 Knowledge Bowl for poultry, which was won by Fallbrook 4-H Club member Christian Estill.

"It was pretty intense, a lot of fun, but a lot of hard questions that had me stumped," Estill said.

The contestants had buzzers, and if a 4-H Club member though they knew the answer they would press the button on the buzzer. Each round had 12 questions. Estill lost in the first round, but the competition used a double-elimination format, and Estill won the next two rounds.

The 2018-2019 academic year was Estill's first in Future Farmers of America, although he has been a 4-H Club member for six years including with Texas 4-H Club chapters. Estill has raised poultry for five years and has also raised rabbits for two years. Last month Estill also made his debut showing swine at the San Diego County Fair.

In addition to raising animals for the fair market show, FFA and 4-H Club members develop a business plan. The notice that no poultry would be shown at the San Diego County Fair was issued before when FFA and 4-H members normally begin purchasing poultry and developing business plans, so Estill had not developed a business plan for the chickens he was unable to show.

"I do raise chickens on my own," Estill said.

That didn't eliminate poultry from Estill's 2019 San Diego County Fair activities, he said.

"I was able to do the Knowledge Bowl, which is a lot of fun," he said. "I enjoy doing it."

This year's fair included a youth rabbit breed show, June 18-23, in which Estill participated. He raised the reserve champion New Zealand rabbit and placed second in showmanship.

The market livestock show took place June 24-30. Estill showed two hogs, and while neither placed in the lightweight class, his 241-pound Hulk and 224-pound Iron Man both received blue ribbons. Hulk sold for $3 per pound at the June 29 auction. Iron Man was sold for $3.75 per pound in a barn sale.

Estill completed 11th grade at Fallbrook High School last month and will return as president of Fallbrook's 4-H Club chapter for the 2019-2020 school year, which will be his third term in that office, and he will also be the youth director of the county 4-H Club organization for the third year in a row.