What is 4H?

[Gypsy07]

Can anyone explain 4H to me please?

I've seen it in connection with showing all sorts of animals but never with an explanation...

BTW I'm not stoopid, just not American. LOL!

 

[bacres]

4-H is a group that you can belong to where you learn about the animal you raise. Like im in 5 different clubs for my different animals and they teach me more about my animals.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Go here - 4-H - and you'll learn all about it.

In a nutshell though it's a program created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered through the states and counties that participate. Most it is an extra-curricular program though there are some schools that have clubs. Children from six years of age up through high school age can participate. There are an enormous number of project areas that kids can choose from. Livestock of every sort are still common projects thus the frequent mention of 4-H poultry shows.

.....Alan.

 

[wyliefarms]

4-H is a youth organization that started in the early 1900's to promote canning and home ecomonics and animal husbandary to the youth, who would in turn teach their parents the new way of these areas. The agricultural college of the state (in the USA) oversees the program. The program's expanded and today include engines, computers, photography, clothing and textiles, art and drawing, and many other areas that today's youth is interested in. My family is a 4th generation 4-H family. I love the fact that the whole family is involved together. Not like girl and boy scouts where the genders are seperated.

When I was in 4-H, I had a lot of projects that were market animals- mainly beef and swine. Auctioning off those animals at our county fair paid for quite a bit of college. I am teaching my children the same way on saving to pay for college. We are going to pick up market hogs this week and end of May market chicks will be mailed to us for the kids to raise for our county fair in July. My one daughter has about 100 chickens and has an egg business and show bird business. The kids learn so much from 4-H that it will be great when they become an adult!

Hope this helps

Is there anything like this in Scotland?

 

[willkatdawson]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4-H I was in 4-H when I was a child. Everyone in our club brought home 10 RIR chicks to raise. We were to take them to the Cobb county fair and sell them to raise money for our club. My mother and I headed off with our 10 hens in her vista cruiser station wagon with the hens in the back. No one bought our chickens, not even one. At the end of of the fair my mom bought my chickens as well as all of the other club members chickens. Needless to say she didn't plan on this turn of events and so we put the chickens lose in the back of the station wagon. My father said as we came down the driveway he could tell he was going to need to expand the coop because all he could see were chickens squished against the back windows.

What a GREAT mom and dad I have!!!!

 

[Lollipop]

Yeah, what they said. The 4-H`s are Head, Heart, Health, and Hands. Learned it when I was 11.........Pop

 

[Gypsy07]

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LMAO! HOW many chickens was that then?

 

[Gypsy07]

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Ah, I get it now! Our equivalent would be the Young Farmers Association. That's for kids right through to young adults. And at local and national agricultural shows there are always sections for young folk to show their livestock and their handling skills as well as their painting, sewing, woodworking, baking and other handicrafts. Pretty much the same as 4H by the sound of it...

 

[Gypsy07]

Thank you all for the explanations.

A couple of times I'd seen mentions of animals that weren't quite good enough for some big fancy show or other but they'd be fine for 4H, and it puzzled me...

 

[Ryu]

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Most of the time the 4-H club won't have am APA or ABA sanctioned show or a liscensed judge. Sometimes it someone from the area that is knowledgible about the breeds but not necessarily a judge.

Some 4-H shows are sanctioned shows, but our never were.