Feathers, ribbons and bragging rights for Tiffin family at the Sandusky County Fair

By Sheri Trusty, Seneca County Media Relations Coordinator

Several Seneca County youths found a lot of fun and a lot of success at the Sandusky County Fair. The short drive to Fremont offered a long week of connecting with friends and collecting ribbons.

Fourteen-year-old Max Miller of Tiifin brought Cornish Cross chickens – and his expertise in poultry raising – to the judging table and walked away with Grand Champion in Heavyweight Class, Grand Champion Meat Bird and Grand Champion All Poultry.

Max enjoys raising chickens because of their simplicity and practicality.

“They’re easy to raise, and you can butcher them,” he said. “And you don’t have to walk them.”

His family – which includes parents John and Betsy Miller and siblings, 11-year-old Ellee Miller and 9-year-old Jay Miller – raises dozens of meat chickens annually. They butcher 50 chickens three times every year. Max’s experience with poultry showed during competition.

“You have to match their breast size, and they were all exactly the same size,” he said. “If they become oversized, you have to cut their feed down.”

Competitors strive to have 7-pound chickens – no smaller, no bigger – by the time the fair starts. The 7-pound mark is chosen by judges to maintain a fair competition.

“It they are too big, they put others at a disadvantage,” Max said.

As a first-year competitor, Jay earned first with his chicken and third with his dairy beef feeder.

Ellee earned Reserve Grand Champion in Heavyweight Class, and she took first place in the fair’s Lamb Scramble. Although she is 11, she was placed in the 12-year-old scramble when her bracket got too full. She took a lot of ribbing from the boys and then secured the lamb in 17 seconds, netting a $100 prize and bragging rights.

“The boys were cocky at the start,” Ellee said. “It was good to beat them.”