Questions about 4-h and meat sheep!

[Kanchii]

Any of you guys ever do meat sheep for 4-h? I have a couple questions...

I've had two back and forth emails with a lady from another club that is in charge of the sheep project. She says you buy the lambs in late march and sell them in July and make at least $1200. Sounds like a good deal to me... She said you can do two market animals. But can you do two sheep? Or can you only show one sheep and then like a goat?

How hard is it to be a 15 year old girl (not me) who's never had sheep and do well your first year? What are the types of meat sheep you can show? Do you go find the lamb you want by yourself or do you go as a club to get one from one breeder together?

Also I'd love to see pics of your sheep projects!

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
No, I didn't start showing in the Fair until I was all grown up.

Quote:
I'm not sure which planet or currency that is in. The 4-H kids get highly inflated prices for their animals, it's more of a charity auction. I would say clearing $300 on a lamb would be doing astonishingly well.

Quote:
She'll need to spend a lot of time handling the animal, as sheep are only innately tame if bottle fed. So, she should get the lamb as early as possible to spend more time with it.

Quote:
You can put any breed in there. Check the Fair rules, they may allow crossbreeds, too. If that's the case, you'll want a crossbreed. Size is everything in judging them.

Quote:
You find them yourself. And if they're good, they should be a tightly guarded secret.

 

[Colored Egg Farmer]

Ive shown sheep in our fair for about 9 years. All fairs are different You should check your Fair guide/ or 4-h rule books to see what the limits are. For my show you are only alowed to show one animal of each species and at the sale only one animal can be sold. My fair is The end of July an our weight limit is 85 lbs to 130 lbs. And I get mine Beginning of April. But the sooner the better.

I really want to go to your fair! you get 3x the price we get. Most I ever made was 600. and its usually only 200 for a lamb. But the fair accross a few counties goes over in to the thousands. So it really depends on how well your fair sale goes and your place.

I might be able to find some of my sheep show photos when I get home and add them.

And do you have to do a slicksheer and fitting?

 

[MissPrissy]

Our county fair is strictly a 4-H fair. Only 4-H kids can show.

In the livestock show you have the option of selling your lambs/sheep at a live auction after the fair judging. At that time the animals are arranged to be sent to a processor and from there the buyer picks up their meat.

Some of these $65 lambs/sheep sell for $1100 in the auction. It is geared toward the wealthier citizens and business men and obviously they don't want to be show up in public not supporting the 4-H kids.

Processing is then done by the pound.

I have seen some people ending up with a$2000 lamb in their freezer that could have been grown out on pasture at home for under $100.

If you are in an area that will support it i say GO for it.

My ewes should lamb in March.

 

[Tamidon]

I buy 4-H lamb from the local slaughterhouse for 200$, so the price you're being quoted seems seriously bogus

 

[MissPrissy]

All 4H clubs are not created equal. In some places she will sell her lambs for high dollar. Like here! Ridiculous.

Coming from a farming area in Ga. where 4H is big and part of the public school curriculum the 4H program here where I am in Va. now is ridiculously silly and honestly I hope my DD gets bored an wants to drop out.

 

[Colored Egg Farmer]

Quote:
Thats true but your a probably not paying for the whole thing. The company might have just bought the lambs to say they supported 4-h and didn't get there whole money back.

 

[Kanchii]

Quote:
I'm actually not surprised about the price here. Marin County is one of the richest counties in the world (wish I could have some of that money, lol, we're broke). A lot of celebrities live here, ect, so I'm not surprised people show off by buying the market lambs for a lot of $$$ here