Birds of a feather flock back to Lebanon Area Fair as poultry ban lifts after 4 years

Chickens and their fine feathered friends came home to roost at the 2025 Lebanon Area Fair. 

The 69th edition of the agricultural extravaganza witnessed the triumphant return of about 30 species of poultry and waterfowl animals following a four-year hiatus due to the avian flu epidemic. 

LebTown interviewed several Lebanon County 4-H poultry club members and their parents, and all said they experienced a rollercoaster of emotions between the time the show went dark a few years ago and its return this year. There were about 120 different entries across poultry and waterfowl divisions. 

Tim Nagle of North Annville Township said his sons were disappointed when the flu led fair officials to prohibit poultry from being at the fair. That was especially true of his oldest son, 16-year-old Bryce, who enjoys raising and showing birds as one of his favorite hobbies.

“My boys really enjoy showing, especially my oldest, Bryce. They were all geared up to start showing and then COVID hit and everything else. And they kind of got discouraged with showing because we couldn’t. We had good show birds,” said Tim. “But he was like, ‘Why am I feeding all these birds?’ He said, ‘For what? We have great birds to show with and we can’t go to a show.’”

That irrefutable logic led Bryce to make a tough decision, a decision he didn’t want to make. 

“He got so upset, he sold them. He got rid of them. He got out of his best show birds that he had in a long, long time,” added Tim.

Bryce explained his reasoning.

“Other people, just for their backyards, they don’t necessarily want them, so you don’t have a purpose for them. You have no market to sell them. So then you’re not profitable with the feed, your expenses, and anything else you have in a bird,” Bryce said. “So the people that might come and say, ‘Oh, I want to buy some birds to just put in my backyard and raise myself,’ they’re not always focused on show birds. They just like what’s pretty.”

Brother Carter Nagle, 14, said the absence of the shows was boring, he missed his 4-H poultry friends and he was unable compete and possibly win at the poultry competitions. Now, he’s happy that the show has returned to the fair, which runs through July 26. 

The Nagle family is also showing goats, hogs, market turkeys, and steers this year. Carter said he had between 10 to 15 of the family’s 30 poultry entries at the fair. 

“I would have to say my favorite animal species to show would probably be pigs, but I do enjoy putting in poultry as well,” Carter said. “I mean, they’re just unique in general, you know? And once you have them for so long, you’re just really happy about what you’ve accomplished. I am very happy, and ready to win again.”

Grace Marencic, 10, of Tower City, said she’s also happy that poultry have landed back at the fair. One reason is to be able to hang out with her fellow poultry pals. She was showing as a 9-year-old 4-H member since she was that age on Jan. 1. She just celebrated her 10th birthday on Friday, the day before the fair opened to the public.

“I like to show birds and I like to show Hudans, a rare breed of bird, and I like to show that we have a rare breed of bird,” said Marencic matter-of-factly. 

Grace’s mother, Mariell, said she and her daughter were ecstatic for the return of the poultry showmanship portion of the competition, which will be the first official showmanship judging for her child. Grace had eight poultry entries at the fair this year.

Grace participated unofficially when she was 5 and was given kudos by fair officials for her knowledge and composure while being questioned by a judge. Grace said she was upset the first year poultry was banned since she was really looking forward to the showmanship competition that year.

“She did so well and it was like the club made such a big deal about it for her that her first memory of showing birds was just, I mean, Dana (Lape) the (4-H) leader made a huge deal about it and made Grace feel like she was a million bucks at the age of 5,” Marielle said. “So now that’s all we remember happening. And now we were like, ‘Oh no wait, we’re gonna do it again! This is so much fun!’”  

Poultry show judge Dylan Lape, son of Lebanon County 4-H poultry club leader Dana Lape, said the fair was complying with state rules to ensure the animals are kept as safe as possible. Animals had to undergo blood tests to ensure they weren’t infected with the flu, and other biosecurity methods were implemented for the fair. 

Barriers were erected to keep the general public from having direct contact with the animals and the animals themselves have been segregated. Waterfowl are being housed about 8 to 10 feet away from the chickens, while market turkeys are along the right wall of the South East Hall, away from the chickens and waterfowl.

“It actually worked out this barrier that they asked us to put up to keep the public away from the birds. It actually allows for the kids to stand in between and then they can talk to people as they walk by. So like last night during, because the rush is obviously in the evenings, there were a lot of people walking through here and there were kids talking to them and stuff like that,” Dylan said.

Dylan said another biosecurity measure installed is the youths only working with their animals during the fair. (Upon returning home, club members will be required to quarantine their animals for 14 days and feed and water them separately from the rest of their flock that remained at home.) 

“That’s one of the changes we also implemented was because of trying to be more biosecure. The kids are actually feeding their own birds this year. Historically, we have groups have people sign up and we get a whole bunch of feed donated and we go through twice a day and feed. This year the kids are all in charge of feeding their own and then we just have teams going through twice a day and watering, making sure everybody has water,” Dylan said.

The youths’ presence has led to greater interaction with the public, which all of the adults interviewed by LebTown said is a good thing.

“I love being at the fair because it’s so educational and I think that bringing back the chickens, obviously that they’re actually here, and you can actually see them and we can bring them out to the people is a good thing,” said Tim Nagle. “It’s a way to educate the public further on them and the fact that they’re not unsafe animals, so it’s exciting that we are back here with the animals.”

“I think the kids are all excited to have birds here again,” said Dylan. “This year everybody seems to be really excited. There’s birds here all week. And even the public seems to be really excited, so a lot of the kids are enjoying interacting with the public and telling people about their birds and things like that.”

Mariell highlighted the educational component to the poultry exhibits, adding that it’s beneficial for the industry to educate the public about it. A set of signs at one end of the hall listed numerous fun facts under the header “Did you know?” At the other end of the building, two signs explained what the avian influenza is. 

Another educational component to return to the fair was the incubator, where eggs that are laid are hatched in front of the eyes of young and old alike.

“I think it’s big because I think the little kids getting to see chickens in person in the egg in the incubator is always the biggest hit,” said Dylan. “Even over the last couple years when we’ve had a video broadcast. You didn’t really get anybody stopping and watching it. You can see the chicks are hatched and they’re stacked around in the incubator is just different. Getting to see it live versus just watching the screen.”

That was surely the case for several wide-eyed young children who were intently fixated around the incubator. As a chick emerged from an egg, one boy screamed out, “He’s hatching! He’s hatching!” 

That comment elicited squeals of joy from his friends standing around the live exhibit, a sense of awe and wonder in their eyes at the miracle of birth for the only animals at the fair to emerge from an egg.