CONNOQUENESSING TWP — The junior livestock auction at the Butler Farm Show Thursday night went a little differently than most years.

The first 14 animals of the auction were the poultry meat pens, but the youths who raised the chickens weren't permitted to bring them to the show, a precautionary measure taken this year because of a national outbreak of Avian Flu.

So instead of displaying their chickens to a crowded barn full of bidders, they brought the next best thing: posters with photographs of their animals.

People and businesses at the auction bid on more than 200 chickens, hogs, goats, lambs, rabbits and cattle, all raised by members of a Butler County 4-H Club or the National FFA Organization.

Many of the animals sold for more than their market value to support the young farmers and give them money for a college education or future livestock raising.

Buyers also had the option to donate the meat to benefit the 4-H and FFA scholarship funds and educational programs, the auction itself or other nonprofit organizations.

Keith Stivason, 13, of Cabot said he was told at a 4-H meeting to bring a poster with photographs of his chickens.

His animals, weighing 36 pounds and 4 ounces, sold for $270 to Bonnie Cahill, a family friend.

It was Keith's first time participating in the farm show and auction since he joined 4-H about one year ago. Meat chickens are sold when they are only a couple months old, but they still require a lot of attention.

“If it's hot out, you have to have a fan on them to keep them cool. I always have food and water for them. If they get dehydrated, they will lose weight,” Keith said.

Going through the auction for the first time without having to worry about the animals made it a little easier, according to Keith's mother, Linda Stivason.

“It was kind of like a dry run,” she said.

Poultry wasn't the only animal in which the farm show took precautions against disease.

Austin Miller, 12, of Saxonburg said the pigs had stricter rules than the other animals because of concerns about swine flu.

The pigs were brought to the show Tuesday and were to be taken away this morning, while most of the other animals are there for the whole week.

“They say one thimble of that flu could affect the whole United States,” Austin said.

Austin brought two hogs and one steer in his fifth year at the farm show. He is putting the proceeds of his sales into a college fund.

Jay Allen, 10, of Saxonburg raised this year's grand champion steer. Weighing in at 1,379 pounds, it sold for $9 a pound. That's more than $12,000 for the animal.

Jay, participating in the farm show for his second year, said he didn't expect to win grand champion.

“I was shocked and happy,” he said.

Courtnie Roberts, 16, of Clarks Mills, Mercer County, raised this year's grand champion hog, which weighed 284 pounds and sold for $8.50 a pound. Her sister, Kaiden, 11, raised the reserve champion hog which weighed 277 pounds and sold for $5.50 a pound.

Courtnie and Kaiden both have been 4-H members since they were 8 years old, but this was their first time coming to the show in Butler County.

It was not Courtnie's first time raising a grand champion hog, though for her the show isn't just about the competition.

“We just like to show our animals and have fun,” she said.

Courtnie said the money will go toward a college fund, but she also wants to buy a car.

Brandon Rodgers, 12, of Saxonburg brought one steer to the auction.

He said the competition isn't just about raising superior animals because the youths and their animals also are judged on showmanship.

“You can't walk in here with an animal straight out of the field,” he said. “They judge your ability to show that animal and have control over it.”

There was one record price set Thursday: Sarah Rager's grand champion pen of rabbits, weighing 13 pounds and 2 ounces, sold for $2,700 to the Treesdale Landscape Co. of Mars. The previous record, set in 2014, was $2,500.

The farm show continues today and Saturday.