Submitted photo Christina Stout of Kinsman, a 1995 graduate of LaBrae High School, said she always has enjoyed raising animals, which is part of the reason why she helps as an adviser for the Feathered Friends 4-H poultry club.

KINSMAN — Christina Stout has always cared for animals.

A 1995 graduate of LaBrae High School, Stout said she was exposed to an assortment of animals during her childhood.

“We always had rabbits, cats, hamsters, I’ve always liked animals myself,” she said.

In recent years, Stout’s enjoyment of raising animals has pushed her to help out with the Feathered Friends, a 4-H club based out of the Ohio State University Trumbull County Extension in Cortland.

“My daughter has been in it for six years,” Stout said. “This is only my second year being an adviser.”

Stout and her daughter, Grace, have been raising poultry at their Kinsman home for several years, and decided about six years ago to get involved with the Feathered Friends club.

“We had raised egg-layer chickens since she was 2 and she’s currently 15,” Stout said. “Basically, for 13 years, we’ve raised chickens, egg-layers. We also tried market chickens on our own and (Grace) just really liked it. She just loves the chickens.”

Stout heard about the poultry group from a friend who already was a part of the club. She said she and her daughter thought the idea sounded “pretty neat,” and Grace decided to join the Feathered Friends.

Stout said she is one of two advisers of the 4-H group. She said the club has existed for 12 years and has 41 members.

“In the club, we teach about market and fancy (poultry), and fancy just means they’re like pets or you show them,” Stout said. “It’s turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese and game birds, mostly Guineafowl.”

The kids in the group hold regular business meetings where the members of the Feathered Friends vote for a club president, vice president, treasurer and secretary. Stout said the kids handle the meetings themselves.

“They’re learning a lot of leadership skills,” she said.

After regular entertainment like games and snacks, the kids are engaged with an educational component as well. Stout said members of the club learn all about raising poultry.

Ultimately, Stout said everything she helps kids with at Feathered Friends points them toward fair season.

“The big part of it is all working up towards going to the Trumbull County Fair,” she said. “They have to learn a lot of specific things. Everybody taking any animal to the fair has to take a quality assurance class. It teaches them all about the proper way to basically raise your animal, making sure you’re keeping things clean and feeding them properly.”

Stout said the members of the Feathered Friends club also partake in a “Skill-a-thon,” which she said tests them on all the skills needed to raise poultry.

“We do have to teach a lot of stuff and make sure they’re getting all the knowledge they need,” Stout said.

The group meets from October through June.

“We order all the poultry, the kids will start getting them from February all the way to May at different times,” Stout said. “They start getting all their little chicks and ducklings, turkey poults and stuff. That’s when it’s really exciting for the kids.”

Members of the club have project books in which they record the details of raising their poultry.

Stout said advising the 41 members of the Feathered Friends group is hard work, but that she enjoys it.

Stout is a 2001 graduate of Youngstown State University where she studied early childhood education, grades K-3. She said she has always enjoyed teaching.

“I actually went to school to be a teacher,” she said. “I’ve just always been involved with kids and teaching and educating since I was like 18. I like doing the projects and seeing the kids work together and get excited about it.”