Our little 4H club started, almost as a joke, when my youngest daughter decided that she wanted a pig. She had been so ill for so long, that as a Mommy, I would have given her nearly anything she asked for. She asked for a pig.
Now, from my point of view, I had successfully raised four healthy, happy laying hens... why couldn't we raise a pig? And so it began. I rallied some friends with the same interests, and they brought their kids and before we knew it we had nearly twenty head of poultry, two of which were Turkeys, eight goats, two Mommy / Baby Nigerian Dwarf Pairs, three baby Pygmy Goats and a Lamancha / Fainting Goat cross and three, yes three, little piglets.
Our club included kids from 6 to 16 years old, guys and gals, from all walks of life. Getting everyone together was usually a chore, but when we did, we always had a great time. We started with grand plans! We were going to do so many things, tons of plans for indoor projects along with our animal projects. Boy were we surprised when the reality of raising that many animals hit! Were we every busy! Building animal enclosures, feed troughs, feeding and watering the animals and training, not to mention bathing, cleaning, and veterinary care! Had someone told me in March that I would be giving a goat a manicure in May, I would have told you that you were nuts! But our kids really dug in and got the job done.
When fair time finally came, it was a time of excitement and anxiety, but we all came out so much better for it. Not all of our animals placed well, one of our piggies was the smallest at the fair, made weight by just two pounds! The most nerve wracking weigh-in I have ever had to experience! Our goats were naughty in the arena and by Showmanship, the small piggy was in heat and picking a fight with every piggy in the place! But in the end, our youngest, and craziest, little goat took Grand Champion in the Dairy Goat Class, something we never expected, but absolutely cherish! It just goes to show, you don't have to come from a papered lineage to be amazing! Our kids all learned amazing lessons, responsibility and teamwork and each and every one of them came out better than we started. We are excited to get started on a new 4H year. Follow along with us, get to know our kids and our animals and follow us as we rock another County Fair!
