Fair Prep Day

We ended our day yesterday at 1:30am this morning! It all started with bathing the lambs, followed by bathing and loading three of our show pigs into the trailer (we were all pouring sweat and ready to send Bailey to Freezer Camp rather than the Fair!) before heading to the Livestock Exhibitors Meeting where we unloaded the very generous donation from Tractor Supply just before the skies opened up & absolutely poured! The Livestock President had to hold the meeting, yelling over the thunderous rain pelting the metal roof of the livestock barn. 

At the conclusion of the meeting, RV, HP & LP had Chicken Showmanship where HP took Reserve Champion and RV & LP took Blue Ribbons. Congrats to our amazing Chicken Showmen! 

9pm, is our night over? Not by a long shot! We head back to the Barn and quickly load the last of the show pigs, then we're off to the farm to help clean and repair the trailer. Finally home by 1:30am and quickly to bed, we're at it again this morning! Welcome to 5am... I don't like it! 

Bottle Feeding the Triplets

Having baby calves around is tough work, but all the kids rise to the occasion with great responsibility. They have all learned to hold and feed the calves, to capture them and get them back to their mother when feeding time is over. 

Since Raspberry had triplets, we need to help her by supplanting the babies, since it's unlikely that she would produce enough milk on her own to sustain them. The kids are learning to make the bottles, how to hold the calves and how to get them to latch onto the bottles. It's been an exciting experience for all! 

Sheering the Lambs

Today our kids got to learn how to sheer a sheep... or three! Our 4H Extension office sent three volunteers and the equipment to teach our kids how to do a rough sheer to help keep them cool and eating through the heat of the summer and prepare for their slick sheer just before the fair.

We set up on my front lawn... I can only imagine what my neighbors think! It took a bit to get going. Apparently one of the 4H Adult Volunteers had borrowed the sheers and put the blades on backwards. After some struggling, and a couple nips on the lambs, one of them figured it out, the switched the blades around and were off to the races! Smiley and BamBam were sheered first, the Adults started by showing the kids, then let them try their hand at it. T and TABS did very well, AJ wasn't having anything to do with it. I think the couple nips in the beginning did him in. SAS and RW collected the wool from Smiley and BamBam and later we will learn to clean and spin it. We didn't collect the wool from Blu because she is not a wool lamb, she is a meat lamb, so her wool was just discarded.

When they were done, Justen took a look at a nick on Smileys foreshank and decided that it likely needed stitches. That was not my cup of tea, so I offered up some super glue for skin and we used that to glue our little lamb back together again. I was actually pretty impressed with how well it held for her! We also sprayed her with a wound spray dressing and a fly spray to keep the flys off.

All in all, it was an eventful and educational day! We love our 4H community and our Extension Office! So many people willing to share their time and knowledge to help our kids learn and grow!

Pet Wash Fundraiser

What a fun day we had! MC, AJ, SAS, TABS, RW, and HP were all on hand with Dad Helper L and I (Leader SS) to wash pets! Tractor Supply in Perry... LINK.... provided all the supplies we needed and we got right to work! Luckily for us, we were right next to 

Weigh-in & Tagging

Today is the day that we find out how much our Piggies weigh! Believe it or not, but there is alot of excitement and anxiety that surrounds this day. Not quite as much as when you have a 222 lbs. piggy weighing in for a 220 lb. fair, but still alot!

Luckily for us, our little widgets (that's what I call them because I cannot come up with a better word suited for their level of mischief!) were on their best behavior! Our 4H Extension Office sent out a couple of volunteers and a scale for us to weigh and tag all of our market livestock. As soon as Justen brought the scale to the fence and we slid it open, the first little piggy, Spiderham, trotted right in. This would have been the easiest thing in the world, had ALL the others not immediately crowded around and fought to get on the scale too! We were fighting to keep the little piggies out, where normally they are fighting to get the piggies in!

With Spiderham (Clubby) in the scale, she was weighed and tagged. Our smallest little girl came in right at 85 lbs. a whopping 35 lbs. under where she should be right now to make weight for the fair. TABS babied her from birth, corrected her clubbed back feet, taught her to nurse from her mother, and protected her at the feed trough from her bigger siblings as much as she could... We knew we were going to have to be pushing her, so this wasn't too much of a surprise. Next in the scale was Lila, SAS' perfect piggy. She came in just slightly under weight at 100 lbs. but definitely doable. Ruthie, our little runty, was up next and surprised us all by out weighing Spiderham at 91 lbs.! Boris, our clubs only barrow, followed Ruthie at 98 lbs., there is a little work to do with him, but just as with Lila, I think they will make it just fine. Then came Bailey, she hesitated at getting on the scale just a little, but a couple marshmallows at the other end was all the convincing it took! On she came and off she went at a very comfortable 114 lbs. Last on the scale was Dot and, as expected, she tipped the scale at 118 lbs., and won the prize for our clubs largest pig! They should each be right around 120 lbs. to comfortably make weight at the fair. We have some work to do with these little piggies, but I have faith that we will be able to get them to weight by fair time.

Next up were the lambs, who were not as happy about the scale as the piglets were. The lambs were very content eating the grass and rose bushes at the barn. Poor SC, we'll need to replace those roses for her! But, staying true to character, our lambs were all a little under weight as well. Blu weighed first, and heaviest, at 65 lbs., but needing to be right around 100 lbs. right now, she was nearly 40 lbs. under. BamBam was very close to Blu at 63 lbs. and Smiley wasn't far behind at 60 lbs.

We will need to do some major push to get these animals to weight, but Justen gave the kids some great advice on working with them (although he said that we are "lightyears ahead on working with our animals") and pushing the weight. We will be starting the lambs on grain and keeping them out of the fields... no more grass for them! Just grain and hay! The piglets, since they can eat anything, will go to straight show pig feed and anything else with lots of protein and fat content that we can find for them. Justen even suggested milk replace, which we may try if we still are feeling a little skinny in a month or so.

All in all, we learned alot, got our livestock tagged for the fair, and were able to get an idea of how big they are and how big they need to be. We have work to do, but that has never been a problem for us! :) As always, Bring It!

We Have Ducklings!

One day, and I can't say for sure which day exact ally it was, we noticed that we hadn't seen OddBall, the duck, in awhile, so a search ensued, but to no avail. OddBall was still missing. A few days later a storm was rolling in and the kids went out, before school, to batten down the hatches, and get the animals into their pens ahead of the storm. In the hustle and bustle of the impending storm, we learned two things... First, we learned the location of our missing duck, OddBall. Second, we learned that OddBall was a GIRL! And she had a nest!  We were able to figure out that she was sitting on about a dozen or so eggs. 

As you can imagine, this was a rather surprising revelation for us! We were terribly worried about her and her nest of eggs during the storm, so when Dad got home, he built her a "duck blind" to protect her from the storm. Thankful so! The worst snowstorm of the entire year hit us on April 15th, but Momma OddBall was safe, sound, and dry through the night!

The duck blind protected her throughout the storm and through the next few weeks as she hatched her babies. 

This afternoon, as we got home from work and school, the kids dutifully ran out and checked on OddBall to find, to their utter delight, beautiful, perfectly smooth, white eggs replaced with adorable, fuzzy little ducklings! 

OddBall did a great job on her first clutch and hatched seven darling little ducklings! 

Welcome Blu

After the loss of our sweet Izzy, help and assistance came out of the woodwork to replace T's sweet girl. I cannot tell you how overwhelmed I was with the love, support and compassion that comes from the Ag. Community. One donor, who insisted on staying anonymous, found a beautiful lamb, not far from our farm, transferred the money into our 4H account and even called to make sure that we could go pick her up!

So, we loaded T & TABS into my car, and made the drive out to Henefer, where we met with the sheep farmer & her son. They introduced us to a beautiful lamb, whom T would later name Blu, for the deep blue color in her eyes. This wonderful farmer taught us everything she knew about raising lambs, answered all of our questions, and helped us load her into the back of my car. 

On the ride home, TABS & T had a lot of fun taking selfies with the new lamb, but they were hungry, since Leader HW and I had loaded them as soon as we got home, and left right away... without dinner. 

We decided to stop at McDonalds to grab a bite to eat. My only request... Keep The Lamb Quiet! The ordering process went something like this: 

Order Taker: Welcome to McDonalds. What can I get you? 

Me: I'd like an Oreo McFlurry and... BAAAAA! 

Car Occupants: HAHAHAHAHAHA

Me: SHHHH! 

Order Taker: Um... I'm sorry, what was that? 

Me: I'm sorry... An Oreo McFlurry, a chocolate shake...

BAAAAAAA!!

Me: A coke and 

BAAAAAA!!

Me: And a small

BAAAA!!

Me: fry. 

By the time we got to the window, my whole car was laughing to the point of tears, and the order taker immediately busted up laughing when he saw the lamb in the back of my car! It was a complete fiasco! 

But we are all glad to have our beautiful Blu home and ready to start working with her. She has a good nature and will be a great project for T. 

Sad News - Izzy

It is with a very heavy heart that I have to announce the passing of our youngest little lamb Izzy. While we are not fully aware of what caused her passing in the night, we believe that she may have been ill and the terrible rain storm last night was just too much for her little system to take. Our entire club mourns the loss of this sweet little girl, but none more than T. He bottlefed her from a tiny lamb to the vibrant and playful little lady she had become. She was such a sweet-natured and good tempered little girl and she loved her T very much. BamBam and Smiley laid by her side throughout the night, leaving only when TABS moved them this morning to check on her.

When I got the call from TABS this morning, I was at a dance competition with SAS and all I could understand was "is dead". I walked out of the competition to try and find out what was going on and help calm my devastated child. Come to find out, she had called me even before going to get her Dad, who was just a few yards away in the house. I talked her through making sure that little Izzy was really gone and then sent her to get her Dad, while I made the worst phone call... I had to call T's Mom and let her know what had happened. They were at a wrestling meet, so she didn't immediately let T know. He found out after the meet, when he and she were alone in the car, so he could grieve in privacy.

Once we all got home, Leader HW and T came and picked up Izzy and TABS and they went out to the farm where they were able to lay Izzy to rest. This has been a very, very difficult time for our club, and something that we have not had to deal with up to this point, and something I hope we will never have to deal with again, although that is very wishful thinking! Luckily, we have an amazing 4H community who have reached out with love and support. We are very blessed.

Moving forward, we need to find a new animal for T to show at the fair, and in a price range he and his family can afford. This is not going to be easy, but I will not let him go without! He worked SO hard for and with Izzy, I will do everything in my power to make sure that he is able to go to the fair. If anyone knows of a breeder in, or near Utah, please let me know.

Piglet Mayhem

Who knew that six little piglets could be SO much trouble!?! Someone left the barn door unlatched and the little monsters pushed their way out of their stall and into the main barn where they tore apart feed bags, dumped over chick and duckling pens, strewed wood shavings everywhere, pooped all over everything, and just generally wreaked havoc all night long. This morning, they have been grounded to the outside pen while the kids got to work cleaning up the mess. 

It took all ten kids more than three hours to clean up the mayhem! From this point on, those six little piggy's will be sleeping outside! What little pills! 

Tire Toys - Thanks Discount Tire on Hillfield in Layton

Our piggys and our goats have some new toys thanks to our wonderful friends at Discount Tire on Hillfield Rd. in Layton! I spoke to Mike & Dan and they were both amazing to let us take as many tires as I could fit into my little Dodge Journey (we even had one sitting on SAS's lap!), to help keep our little piggies and goats entertained. As everyone should know... Bored Goats Escape! These tires should provide them all with lots of fun enrichment and exercise.

We love the companies who sponsor and help our little club grow. Please consider supporting them as well! When you find yourself in need of new tires, I can't imagine a better place to go than Discount Tires on Hillfield in Layton. Not only will you get the best price on tires and the best service, but your old tires may end up recycled into goat or piglet toys!

TABS With her Camera

TABS is the oldest of our 4H'ers and she has alot of experience with cameras, growing up with a Momma who's both a professional photographer and a complete camera geek! She has such a unique and personal feel for her camera and her pictures are always so stunning!