Today I showed Milkshake in the Commercial & Meat Goat show. I started off my morning by going to the pens to feed the goats. As I was feeding them something was off, Coffee Creamer was missing. Initially I was worried but then I realized that Sam most likely was washing Coffee Creamer before the show. Once the other kids arrived, we washed out goats and trimmed their hooves. Since Mr. Meat and 3048 had to be washed and trimmed and Billy had to be washed as well, I let them go first. Washing our animals was quite the ordeal because the hose broke. There was a tear in the middle of the hose which made it harder to rinse off both sides of the animal. Another issue is that we had to trim hooves. Since it was out second time trimming our animal’s hooves, they would try to run away and kick when we trimmed them. Eventually Billy, Coffee Creamer, Mr. Meat, and 3048 were washed and trimmed. By the time I had to wash Milkshake we got a new hose so it took me much less time to wash my goat than the other kids.
Once Milkshake was cleaned off, I took him inside so that I could change into my showmanship clothes. As a 4Her you are expected to dress a certain way when you are showing your animal. The proper attire for showing a meat goat, dog, cow, or sheep is a white button down shirt, khaki pants, and a belt. If you are going to wear a neckpiece it must be either green or black and it can be any sort of tie including a bolo tie, a bandana, a bowtie or a neck tie. After I changed I stood in front of the show ring to watch the other groups show their goats. The first group was the seniors. There were three kids in the Senior showmanship group for market goats: two girls and one boy. You could tell that the seniors had worked with their animals a lot because they were calm and followed their owners, for the most part, and when the judge was asking them questions they seemed confident when they responded to his questions. After the judge scored the seniors and explained why each senior was first second or third place, the judge told all the kids who were competing in first year showmanship what type of questions he likes to ask. This particular judge tends to ask what type of food the goats are eating(the brand, percentages of fat, fiber, and protein in the feed), when they were born, the gestational period of the goat, and how many goats were born during a doe’s first kidding or birth. As soon as the judge said this I ran to find out gestational time, feed percentages and how old my goat is. When we were looking at the ages of our goats, Mr. Meat and 3048 were born in February while the rest of the goats were born in March which explains why they were so much bigger when Dwayne originally bought the goats. After we found out all the information we needed to know, we went back to watching the more experienced 4Hers show their goats.
When the Junior showmanship group was in the ring, I went back to the pen to get Milkshake. I was a bit nervous as I walked over to the side of the ring but all that evaporated as soon as I stepped in the ring. I initially had trouble getting Milkshake to cooperate but the judge pointed out that I was using the wrong type of collar. When you use the fabric collar in the show ring it pushes on your goat’s windpipe so they have trouble breathing. A show collar is a bunch of metal links joined together with a clasp so that you can change the size. Show collars, which are also known as choke collars, tend to have a leather handle which you hold to control your goat. Once Milkshake had the choke collar he was much easier to handle in the ring. When we set up our animals in the ring, the judge taught me how to make sure that Milkshake’s front feet are set up properly. First you place the choke collar as close to the chin as possible, then you lift up the goat’s front two legs using the choke collar and place the goat’s feet on the ground. If this doesn’t work the first time you just repeat the process till the goat’s feet are the right distance. After Milkshake was set up in the proper showing position, the judge asked us questions. The first question the judge asked me was what type of feed milkshake was eating. I told the judge that Milkshake’s food is 16% sweet feed which contains 16% protein 3.5% fat 12% fiber. He also asked me how old he was and the best part of my goat(his rump) and the most expensive cut of meat on a goat(the loin). When I answered all of his questions correctly and knew the type of feed that Milkshake was eating, he was quite impressed. After the judge asked all of us questions he lined us up at the front of the ring in order of our placement. The judge said that I was the most knowledgeable of my class but I had to practice my showmanship a little more so I came in second place for showmanship in my group of First Year Showmanship. First Year Showmanship was split into two groups because there were eight of us and there was not enough room in the show ring. After I did showmanship with the First Year Showmanship group I went back in the ring to compete with the other 4Hers who came in second place in their divisions.I’m
After we got our ribbons we left the ring for a little bit and waited for market classes. For market class Milkshake, Billy, and Coffee Creamer were together because they were the three smallest market goats that were being shown. Milkshake came in second for market class because Coffee Creamer had more meat and more muscle definition.
Once I was done for the day I took Milkshake back to the pen and I went to visit Caroline and her goats. Caroline is in the 4H Dairy Goat Club and she has four Nigerian Dwarf goats. Nigerians are a dairy goat breed and they are good for pets because they are small and they are also good dairy goats. Caroline has four goats. Buddy is a wether and Zelda’s twin brother. Zelda is a doe who gave birth to twins about seven weeks ago named Etta and Theo. Theo has a white pull(the area beneath his horns) and dark brown fur like his mother but he has brown eyes unlike his mother. Theo also likes to be held unlike his sister who always runs away. Etta is a young doe and she has lighter brown fur and blue eyes. Caroline let me hold Theo and he is pretty cute. Whenever you hold him he becomes very still and sort of floppy. When I was holding Theo, Etta wanted some attention too so she balanced on her hind legs and pawed at me which is pretty cute. This was the perfect way to end my second day at the fair.
Here is a picture of Milkshake after his bath, Milkshake and I before the show, Chick-fil-a the myotonic goat, a video of Etta who is a baby Nigerian Dwarf goat, and a picture of Billy, Coffee Creamer, and Milkshake napping.
Adventures of a Part Time Farmer 