Livestock Season Starts with a Shave!

I know, I know, livestock show season with the Farm Credit Showmanship Circuit has not started yet, but Richmond County 4-H goat showmen are already busy working with their show goats for this year! Check out the pictures here!

The Richmond County 4-H Livestock Club recently hosted a fitting and showing clinic at Dale & Melanie DeWitt's farm in northern Richmond County. We were lucky enough to have Brent Jennings, Extension 4-H Youth Livestock Technician, as our guest to help us learn how to show off our animals.

We started the day by learning how to lead our animals in the ring. We found out that we need some "wiggle room" in case we need to move around and that we need to leave a few feet between our animal & the one ahead of us. Everyone was a bit shaky on that first time around the ring, but by the 2nd or 3rd time, everyone was acting like old pros! Everyone practiced bracing our goats. Bracing is basically asking the goat to show its muscles for the judge to see.

We talked about what types of questions judges might ask. Examples: How much does your goat weigh? What is it's name? What breed is it? What would you change about it? What are the four stomach compartments called? How much do you feed it? (Hint: one can is not a great answer!)

After lunch we set up the stands, blowers, clippers & brushes to learn how to trim our animals. We all want our goats to look their best on show day and Brent helped everyone trim one of their goats.

We had a lot of fun & everyone is looking forward to our show and the rest of the show season! The Richmond County 4-H Goat Show will be September 12 at the DeWitt Farm. If you need directions, or would like to make a donation towards show expenses, please contact Michelle or Tiffanee at the Extension office at 997-8255!