HARRISBURG (TNS) — The birds will be back — at least some of them — at the 2025 Pa. Farm Show.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, ornamental eggs, feathers and market poultry competitions, including chickens and ducks, are returning after a two-year hiatus due to the avian influenza outbreak.

Market poultry are birds that are slaughtered after judging.

The Farm Show runs Jan. 4-11 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg. The theme is “Powering Pennsylvania.” Poultry judging will take place on Jan. 4.

Also returning will be a duck pond exhibit that offers visitors an underwater view of swimming ducks, but Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Shannon Powers said they aren’t sure yet about the return of a baby chick-hatching exhibit.

New for the upcoming show is a youth turkey showmanship competition. Market turkeys will be shown and included in the Jr. Market Livestock Sale.

Still, visitors won’t encounter a full return of poultry. The department said some poultry classes will be limited to photos only to protect the state’s $7.1 billion poultry industry from avian influenza.

The avian flu is a highly contagious fatal disease to poultry and poses a huge threat to the poultry industry. There are no reported cases right now in Pennsylvania, but the outbreak has impacted million of birds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The state ordered the ban on poultry and egg exhibits at county fairs in 2022 to protect its poultry.

In the past, the Farm Show featured a baby duck slide but that hasn’t returned since 2019.