Is 4-H for Kids? Chaos before the Fair
Two weeks. That is the amount of time that has gone by since our kids showed at the local fair. 4-H is definitely one of the better things I can think of to have your kids doing, but sometimes, it's not always a walk in the park.
All summer the kids looked forward to showing. We had big plans for them to attend their first clip & show clinic to help them learn how to properly prepare their heifers for the fair. But like most things, it conflicted with the farm schedule.
Not only did it fall on Father's Day weekend but we were putting up silage.
For a moment we had planned on putting a small event on the farm for the local kids to help prepare them for the fair, but once again, we were too busy with farm work.
Throughout the craziness of our summer with the lack of hired help and an abundance of feed to put up--the kids still managed to make time to train their heifers.
Cow Riding as 4-H Show Prep
Our daughter had no issues with her 2015 heifer, Toni. Toni is a jersey heifer that will be calving this November.
They would go for walks throughout the farm once our daughter had her chores done. Once they decided that was boring, they moved on to more advanced training.
Cow riding. Yes, folks, Toni allows her to ride on her back.
What's a Free-Martin?
Our son had his calf all picked out. Such a sweetheart of a jersey calf. She followed him around like a puppy dog.
Then one day not too long before the fair, the calf paused a moment to relieve herself. To our surprise a stream of urine shot out her backside in a straight line. We were caught off guard but quickly remembered that she was the twin, we decided to give a chance after being born with a bull calf. This little incident was a telltale sign that she was a free-martin.
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Often when a heifer and bull calf are born together the heifer is not born with the right reproductive parts. So needless to say, we decided that she could not go to the fair.
Last Minute Calf Switch & A Mother's Dilemma
Last minute, he had to switch to a different heifer calf. With the help of his sister, he had his new calf leading like she had been halter broke her entire life. Now, the biggest decision of them all- do we take three heifers.
Okay the real question was, do I (the mother) want to take three heifers thus being at the fair for four days straight with three kids ages 4, 6 and 9?! From 6:00 AM to 9-11:00 PM each night.
The answer was no. No, I did not want to be at the fair for four days straight with three heifers and three young kids by myself. But I would do it for my kids.
Our youngest picked out the cutest little jersey/Holstein calf.
Unfortunately, she took a little dip in weight after we weaned her from milk and we did not want to stress her out anymore by taking her to the fair. So we made the call to keep her home. Our little guy was devastated.
Before we knew it, the fair had arrived and we were loading two jersey heifers onto our neighbor's cattle trailer to be hauled to the fair.
