RICHMOND – During last year’s virus-truncated Ray County Fair, chicken expert and judge Jake Montemayor, Warsaw, explained the importance of picking the right chicks to youngsters who entered the competition. An agriculture and FFA teacher who judges chickens at area fairs, Montemayor looks for a “standard of perfection” in each chicken breed, as determined by experts who specialize in each of the roughly 1,000 breeds. To Richmond’s Mariah Hutton, then 15, Montemayor explained something important about getting the right chicken – picking chicks that come from higher-quality hens. But not all chicks are meant to win Best of Show. They are wanted for laying eggs and becoming McNuggets. SMITH’S HATCHERY For hatchery season, February to October, 300,000 eggs are delivered every seven days to Jeff Smith’s hatchery in Lebanon. For hatcheries, getting newborn chicks to their owners is a race against time. He has about 100 employees to get 200 varieties of chicks delivered safely. …