What is Avian Bowl?

Avian Bowl is a team quizbowl event that tests participants' knowledge of a wide range of avian topics (think chicken trivia bowl!)

Avian Bowl is meant to make learning fun and stimulate youth interest in poultry. Avian Bowl is open to youth ages 8-18. If signing up as an individual, you will be assigned to a team for the competition.

Registration is done through 4-H Online. See more information about NC 4-H on the NC 4-H Extension pages. Need to find your 4-H agent? Use this county page.

Use this 4-H Avian Bowl Quick Start Guide to get an overview of what is needed to put together a 4-H Avian Bowl team, or read below to get more details.

4-H Avian Bowl Event Date and Location

Avian Bowl will be held on July 7 at 11 a.m. at NC State Campus at Bostian Hall, Room 3712, 2721 Pillsbury Circle, Raleigh, NC 27695.  Please submit questions and register by June 5, 2026, using 4-H Online under the event name.

Questions due June 5, 2026 (same day as registration)

The form to add questions is accessible through 4-H Online at the time of registration.

It can be a good review for your team to make up the questions. Please submit 20 Toss Up and 5 Bonus questions per team as part of the registration packet.  Please create high-quality questions that build context for subject matter and teach something (even if the correct answer is not known); this makes the contest more interesting and pedagogical.  Your registration questions will likely be used in the contest. Creating high-quality question examples:

Avoid questions like:  What is another name for Avian Influenza?     Bird Flu 

Create background with question:  Avian Influenza is a highly virulent poultry disease.  The reference for the form of AI that is highly contagious and fatal is HPAI.  What does HPAI stand for?      Highly pathogenic Avian Influenza

The three types of questions used in 4-H Avian Bowl are:  Short Answer, Multiple Choice, and Spelling.

Each question should include the following 4 pieces of information:

• Category: 1) Prologue 2) Raising Waterfowl 3) Breeds, varieties, and strains 4) Eggcyclopedia 5) Biosecurity 6) Embryology 7) Poultry Genetics 8) Contributions of individuals
• Question Type: Multiple Choice, Fill in the Blank/Short Answer, or Spelling
• Page Number (from Manual)
• Correct Answer
• County & Team that submitted questions

Registration

Registration for the State-level 4-H Avian Bowl will open in the spring, through 4-H Online, listed under events. 

Registration will close on June 5, 2026.  

National 4-H Avian Bowl Manual

Avian Bowl questions and answers come from the 2023 revision of the National 4-H Avian Bowl Manual published by Clemson University.  Each year, different sections of this manual will be selected as the material to cover for that particular year's contest.  This is known as the 'Study Packet'; below is this year's Study Packet:

2026 4-H Avian Bowl Study Packet

All questions and answers will come from the following material in the 2023 version of the Avian Bowl Manual:

• Prologue to Avian Bowl Manual (pdf available online)
• Raising waterfowl (Sources through Exhibiting Waterfowl) Pgs 26-33
• Breeds, varieties, and strains (through Asiatic)  Pgs 69-73
• Eggcyclopedia (Decorating Eggs through Marketing) Pgs 119-131
• Biosecurity Pgs 179-180
• Embryology (Intro through Day 8) Pgs 191-197
• Poultry Genetics (Economically Important Factors of Poultry Genetics through Terminology) Pgs 209-211
• Contributions of individuals from industry, academia, & government to the advancement of poultry science (1971-1974 inductees only) Pgs 218-220

Note: The above study material came from the National 4-H Avian Bowl Manual, revised in 2023. If you wish to purchase a printed copy of the revised avian bowl manual, you may do so through Clemson University. National 4-H Avian Bowl Manual.

Dillard Building
105 Klugh Avenue
Clemson, SC 29634
(864) 656-0281 (phone); Attn: Shannell Mathis (shannem@clemson.edu)

An ADA-compliant PDF version will be available for purchase later in 2024.

Can also purchase through Cashnet at the bottom of this page.

Get more details about Avian Bowl rules.

For additional information, contact

Dr. Mary Fosnaught 4-H & Youth Development Extension Associate NC State Extension Prestage Department of Poultry Science Raleigh, NC 27695-7608

E-mail: mhfosnau@ncsu.edu
Phone: +1 919.515.5529