Lily Bachelder, 7, of New Sharon is pictured with two of the three meat chickens she raised for Wednesday’s Youth Market auction at Farmington Fair.  

FARMINGTON — Three meat chickens sold for more than $500 during Wednesday’s Youth Market Lamb, Steer, Hog and Poultry auction at Farmington Fair.

It was not because the chickens were special that they went on the auction block five times.  

It was because Lily Bachelder, 7, of New Sharon, the 4-H member who raised them, planned to donate the funds earned from the chickens to help hurricane victims.

They were sold and donated back four times. The fifth time they went on the auction block, the buyer took them, said Sarah Churchill, a member of the fair auction committee.

Bachelder is a first-year member of the Supper on the Table 4-H Club. The club centers around market animals. Usually younger members start by raising poultry and lambs. Older members raise steers and hogs.

Bachelder’s mother, Kiley Knapp, said she figured Lily would want to use some of the money raised from her chickens to purchase a toy for herself but instead she wanted to buy toys for children affected by the hurricanes.

“I’m very proud of her,” Knapp said. 

Knapp said half the funds will go to the Red Cross, the other half to a Masonic Lodge in Madeira Beach, Florida, where an uncle was a member until his recent death at an early age. That area was recently affected by the hurricane and the lodge is helping Patty Knapp, Bachelder’s grandmother.

This is the first year Bachelder raised market animals. 

Meat birds were donated to the group for members to raise and place in the annual market auction. On a Facebook page, FCAS Youth Livestock auction, where 4-H members posted short bios about themselves and their animals, Bachelder said she had spent about $40 to raise the birds.

Youth from ages 6 to 18 can raise any animal they choose to sell from options given, Churchill said. This year, the auction, sponsored by the fair board, included five steers, five hogs, 13 lambs, six sets of three chickens and four turkeys. 

The animals, except for the chickens, are purchased and raised by the children and all of the proceeds go back to the children, she said.

All the animals were sold during Wednesday’s market auction. Some were purchased by local businesses and some by individuals.

“All the kids did awesome,” Kiley Knapp said.

Members usually use the funds they receive to buy another animal to raise and for feed and special equipment. Most of them also put some funds away for college.

The Knapps were waiting on customers Thursday at the new Supper on the Table food booth at Farmington Fair.

The club, led by Sarah Rowe and Lilly Bagley, is raising funds for the club’s programming and events, educational trips and speakers.  

Parents and grandparents have stepped up to run the booth and prepare the daily specials and treats available, Knapp said.

The 4-H members have also helped and were selling items to people watching the pulling on Wednesday. It was their half-day off from school so they could attend the fair.

abryant@sunmediagroup.net

Lily Bachelder holds one of the young meat chickens she raised this year. The birds were placed in the Youth Market auction at Farmington Fair on Wednesday.