4-H-er thread!

[shadow rabbit10]

I will be there next May too as well as the Salem one in April. Hope to see you there. I will be bringing Black LF Ameraucana and SC LF Rhode Island Reds so if you like both of those breeds and varieties be sure to check them out. Whether or not they are "show quality" is all in the eye of the beholder but I have done well with them. I see you have Polish. If you got them where I think you got them from you will probably do well with them.

Your 4H leader seems is into showmanship, conditioning, and grooming, which is a good foundation of knowledge for kids to be breeding and showing good quality birds. You can go out and pay someone big bucks for a nice bird, but if you don't have the knowledge or experience of conditioning and showing a bird to its full potential, you'll lose. I know your leader did Salem's judging. I had the opportunity to walk the aisles of the Salem show with one of their members and check out her placings. I probably would've agreed with most if not all of them if I had to judge the same set of birds. She knows what she's doing.

BTW.....do you know who is judging the invitational next year? Same judge as last?

I'm not sure if I'll be at the invitational. I'm in college right now (I go to school in another state) so unless the show is in May I don't think I'll be able to attend. And even so I graduated 4-H, so I can't show anymore (I'd only go to say hi to people). And unfortunately my Polish isn't show quality. She's a hatchery bird. Almost all of my birds are hatchet birds, and due to town regulations I couldn't really get anymore birds that would have been show quality. That's why I'd like to get a farm someday.
And yes, my leader does taking conditioning and knowledge pretty seriously. She always tells us that you won't win showmanship or you're bird won't be judged well if it's not conditioned properly. And she's right. I've seen some really knowledgable people lose showmanship because they're birds were not conditioned well. She's a really great leader.
And I'm not 100 percent sure who's judging. There was a breeder who would judge our shows for a few years but he started to become too familiar with certain members' birds and we didn't think it was fair so we strayed away from using him as the judge. At our fair this year a man who has a poultry farm in NJ and is pretty knowledgable about birds judged the show and showmanship contest and everyone thought he did a pretty great job and I thought we were thinking about hiring him for the invitational this year, but nothing has been confirmed yet. I still get emails from my 4-H club so I can let you know if I hear anything.

 

[waddles99]

I'm not sure if I'll be at the invitational. I'm in college right now (I go to school in another state) so unless the show is in May I don't think I'll be able to attend. And even so I graduated 4-H, so I can't show anymore (I'd only go to say hi to people). And unfortunately my Polish isn't show quality. She's a hatchery bird. Almost all of my birds are hatchet birds, and due to town regulations I couldn't really get anymore birds that would have been show quality. That's why I'd like to get a farm someday.
And yes, my leader does taking conditioning and knowledge pretty seriously. She always tells us that you won't win showmanship or you're bird won't be judged well if it's not conditioned properly. And she's right. I've seen some really knowledgable people lose showmanship because they're birds were not conditioned well. She's a really great leader.
And I'm not 100 percent sure who's judging. There was a breeder who would judge our shows for a few years but he started to become too familiar with certain members' birds and we didn't think it was fair so we strayed away from using him as the judge. At our fair this year a man who has a poultry farm in NJ and is pretty knowledgable about birds judged the show and showmanship contest and everyone thought he did a pretty great job and I thought we were thinking about hiring him for the invitational this year, but nothing has been confirmed yet. I still get emails from my 4-H club so I can let you know if I hear anything.

The last one was in May I think. This next show is going to be my last show that I can go to as well(senior in high school). It will only be my second time going to this show, I wish I had gotten into showing chickens earlier. Is there any reason why you cant sell your birds and get some new nicer quality ones? I totally get the quantity limit, town ordinances can be crazy like that. If I were you I would sell your current birds, and look into some other options, since they aren't really doing anything for you showing wise. Since you are older, you would be showing in larger, more competitive open shows, so nice birds are necessary to even go anywhere with those shows.

Also, just saying.....if someone is "knowledgable" and neglects to condition their bird properly.....well then they're not knowledgable! LOL. Conditioning doesn't have to be any harder than buying a show ration and feeding it!

I totally agree with you on the practice of switching judges each year. I know the judge you are talking about and have heard similar stories. He's a very nice guy with great birds but I can see how one would get familiar with the birds each year....especially if some of the birds may have been sold by him to members to be later judged by him. I'm sure you guys will do a good job picking the judge. I was just curious. If you guys ever don't have anyone to judge the show the APA licensed judges list is a good resource. I know the man who judged the state 4h show would be happy to judge this one. He is licensed and very knowledgable.

 

[fluffyflocks5]

My name is Lauren, I am in 4H vet science program, and I have 5 chickens (booted banties) and (Easter eggers) and possibly an other breed. Fluffers, Humptey Dumptey, Polito, Sweet Pea, and Crow. I also have two (3/4 Pygmy 1/2 Nigerian dwarf) goats twin brother and sister Milo and Mocha. I do not show my animals however. Three dogs and a cat too!

I Love this website and finally joined!!!

 

[prizepete]

My name is Lauren, I am in 4H vet science program, and I have 5 chickens (booted banties) and (Easter eggers) and possibly an other breed. Fluffers, Humptey Dumptey, Polito, Sweet Pea, and Crow. I also have two (3/4 Pygmy 1/2 Nigerian dwarf) goats twin brother and sister Milo and Mocha. I do not show my animals however. Three dogs and a cat too!

I Love this website and finally joined!!!

Hey! those sound cool! I love my goats and chickens... and everything else I have.........

 

[shadow rabbit10]

The last one was in May I think. This next show is going to be my last show that I can go to as well(senior in high school). It will only be my second time going to this show, I wish I had gotten into showing chickens earlier. Is there any reason why you cant sell your birds and get some new nicer quality ones? I totally get the quantity limit, town ordinances can be crazy like that. If I were you I would sell your current birds, and look into some other options, since they aren't really doing anything for you showing wise. Since you are older, you would be showing in larger, more competitive open shows, so nice birds are necessary to even go anywhere with those shows.

Also, just saying.....if someone is "knowledgable" and neglects to condition their bird properly.....well then they're not knowledgable! LOL. Conditioning doesn't have to be any harder than buying a show ration and feeding it!

I totally agree with you on the practice of switching judges each year. I know the judge you are talking about and have heard similar stories. He's a very nice guy with great birds but I can see how one would get familiar with the birds each year....especially if some of the birds may have been sold by him to members to be later judged by him. I'm sure you guys will do a good job picking the judge. I was just curious. If you guys ever don't have anyone to judge the show the APA licensed judges list is a good resource. I know the man who judged the state 4h show would be happy to judge this one. He is licensed and very knowledgable.

Well I wouldn't really want to sell my birds right now because they're my pets and I've had them for years. I know you have to get rid of bad show stock for good ones, but these guys are a bit different because they're my first birds and they were meant to be pets anyways. Plus I can only keep 12 birds max in my town and I'm never home to take care of them. I go to school about 4 hours away so I'm away from home most of the year. I am home this week for the holiday but this is only my second time home in about 4 months. My mom takes care of my animals while I'm gone, but she doesn't love doing it so she refuses to get more. I had to argue with her to even let me keep my chickens and all of my rabbits. I've been done with showing for a little while now, but I do plan to get back into it when I can actually get good show stock and some land. I too, wish I got into poultry earlier. Honestly I don't even know how I convinced my mother to let me keep chickens!

And yes, one of our members has bought several birds from the man so we needed to change it up. And it's always good to hear different opinions anyways. And thank you. I'll keep that in mind in case they need a judge. Have fun in your last year as a 4-Her. It's certainly sad but you'll have so many memories to look back on!

 

[waddles99]

Well I wouldn't really want to sell my birds right now because they're my pets and I've had them for years. I know you have to get rid of bad show stock for good ones, but these guys are a bit different because they're my first birds and they were meant to be pets anyways. Plus I can only keep 12 birds max in my town and I'm never home to take care of them. I go to school about 4 hours away so I'm away from home most of the year. I am home this week for the holiday but this is only my second time home in about 4 months. My mom takes care of my animals while I'm gone, but she doesn't love doing it so she refuses to get more. I had to argue with her to even let me keep my chickens and all of my rabbits. I've been done with showing for a little while now, but I do plan to get back into it when I can actually get good show stock and some land. I too, wish I got into poultry earlier. Honestly I don't even know how I convinced my mother to let me keep chickens!

And yes, one of our members has bought several birds from the man so we needed to change it up. And it's always good to hear different opinions anyways. And thank you. I'll keep that in mind in case they need a judge. Have fun in your last year as a 4-Her. It's certainly sad but you'll have so many memories to look back on!

I already am exploring the world beyond 4H as I mentioned earlier. 4H is definitely something you outgrow. I am sad to leave but even more excited at the possibilities that await. As soon as I graduate from high school and 4H we are moving to 5-10 acres in the country where all livestock are legal. I want to get a ton of chickens and goats and a couple heifers. Cant wait for that.

 

[miss heny]

I recommend on the cattle to be careful, the beef market has severely crashed as of late. And dairy is a highly high work field to be in, I personally cannot wait to not be showing dairy goats as heavily for that reason

 

[waddles99]

I recommend on the cattle to be careful, the beef market has severely crashed as of late. And dairy is a highly high work field to be in, I personally cannot wait to not be showing dairy goats as heavily for that reason

I wouldn't be keeping them for beef, only for show.

 

[miss heny]

I wouldn't be keeping them for beef, only for show.

ah okay. Show cattle has little better money, though dont do angus unless your super rich to get good shock stock for the angus circuit. Mini cattle do well in open shows

 

[waddles99]

ah okay. Show cattle has little better money, though dont do angus unless your super rich to get good shock stock for the angus circuit. Mini cattle do well in open shows

Nobody does this for money, if they do they're in the wrong business lol! I spend thousands on my show birds and get maybe $50 in premiums for a good day at a show. I don't sell birds to anyone either. Poultry premiums are extremely low.

Also....I like herefords. Angus are less flashy to me.