ROME TOWNSHIP—Think of it as friendly competition between two masters of poultry.

Last year Dakota Barnett won the grand champion trophy in the chicken competition at the Lawrence County Junior Fair.

But before that Timmy Humphrey took home that coveted top prize.

When the chickens were judged this year, Barnett came away with grand champion prize but Humphrey stood beside her with the reserve champion trophy.

Asked how she felt, Barnett replied she was surprised but pleased.

“It feels good. This is the second year in a row,” she said. “It took a lot of hard work.”

In the showmanship competition, Jonathan Keathley won first place; Austin Bodimer took second.

How does a young person win an award for his abilities to showcase an animal?

“It depends on how you hold them and what you feed them, knowing their body parts,” Bodimer said,

“You’ve got to know what you’re doing,” Keathley agreed.

In the senior showmanship division, Humphrey continued his winning streak by taking home first place while Cody Baker took second.

Humphrey attributed his success, which spans more than three years, to “practice.”

In the skillathon division, the brother-sister team of Chris and Tiffany Wilson took first and second sports respectively in the junior division while Destany Straight, Dakota Barnett and Timmy Humphrey took the top three spots in the senior division.