I headed over to the Okmulgee County Fairgrounds for my very first chicken auction, and I’ll be honest—what I saw was equal parts fascinating and grossing-me-out. I thought it was just poultry, but they start the night selling what folks there call the “junk”: farm odds and ends like lumber, chains, and even some nasty old portable coops caked in poop (and yes… kind of gross). After that, it moved into mountains of eggs, then a huge table of baby chicks, ducks, and quail, and finally rows and rows of adult birds in big cages. What I really wanted to show you is how the bidding actually works—because it’s not always what you’d assume. With the cages, whatever is in that cage often goes for the same price per bird, and “choice” lets people pick what they want for that same price. Prices were cheap (most birds under about $15), but my biggest takeaway is biosecurity. I saw sick birds—hunched up, sneezing—and I watched how everything gets handled on the same tables and in the same air. I didn’t buy or touch anything, and when I got home I left my shoes in the car, stripped down at the washer, showered, and sprayed Vircon S because I have too much at stake with my hatchery and my animals.