Showing goats at the 4H Fair.

What do I need to know?

My 11 year old son has been taking care of the goats since February. I was the one who picked the breed (Saanen) and did the work until then. He doesn't lead her around on the leash much because she thinks she's a dog and will follow him wherever he goes.


What do I need to know for a Jr. 4H Show? Do I really need to shave her? If so is there a video on a Dairy Cut?

The fair is this Sunday.

Thanks!
Tonya

[saanengirl]

To do a dairy goat cut take all the body hair off with a #10 blade except for a brush on the end of the tail. As long as you can smoothly take hair off, you can do this clip. Leave the last half inch of the tailbone unclipped and trim the end of the tail straight across so it looks like a powder brush. Clip the inside of the ears with a #30 or #40 blade. If the doe is in milk, clip the udder with the closest blade you have available.

It is easier to clip (and easier on your clippers) if you bathe first.

For showing you do not use a leash: you lead by the collar. Get a choke chain collar that will fit over her head (or if too short, use a small clip to attach the ends of the collar together). Practice leading her in a circle clockwise. The collar should be held right at her throat for maximum control. He needs to walk her slowly and elegantly with her head held high. Always keep the goat between the handler and the judge. Practice changing sides on the goat. Always switch sides in front of the goat. NEVER go around behind the goat or step over the goat. Practice stopping and setting her feet square. The front feet should be directly under her shoulders, and there should be a straight line from her pinbones to her hocks to her hind feet. The hind legs should be spread just enough to show off the width in the escutcheon. Don't spread them too wide or have them too close together. If the judge asks for a head to tail line, he lines up behind the goat in front of him. If the judge asks for a side by side line, he pulls into line beside the goat that was in front of him.

The judge may ask for various moves to demostrate his ability and knowledge as a handler. If he is moving forward or backward in a head to tail line, he should always take the goat out of line on the side toward the judge, and then move the goat to the indicated place. If the person in front of him in a head to tail line has been moved, he is to move his goat forward to fill that space. If he is at the front of a head to tail line, he should move his goat forward to make room for an animal being moved into line behind him. In a side by side line it is important to remember that the goat is ALWAYS taken forward out of line and led to the indicated spot regardless of the position of the judge. This is a move that judges will use to test the knowledge of the handler. Many handlers do this wrong if the judge is standing behind the line. If the judge asks your son and another handler to take their goats toward him or her, both handlers should move to the outside of their goats and let the goats walk beside each other (it is very important to keep the two goats at the same pace). This is a technique that is used to compare two similar animals (or to test handlers). Once they reach the judge, the judge will instruct them to stop and turn around. To turn around your son should switch hands on the goat's collar and turn the goat under his arm so it makes an elegant turn. He should move back toward the line, keeping his goat close to the other one, and then go through the line and turn around as he did previously.

Your son also needs to know breeds of dairy goats and parts of the goat. At 11 he should start learning the scorecard. In showmanship classes, judges will ask knowledge questions.

[Alice In TX/MO]

I'm going to ask what may be a goofy question, but it's based on where I live.

In south Texas, we don't have dairy goats in the county or 4H fair. Are you sure you have that event? Has your son been involved in 4H already?

Have you already done the entry form and gotten the required health certificates?

[wintrrwolf]

Don't think thats a goofy question at all Alice, I am curious too since FFA here concentrates on the meat goats, so wondering if the judging will even be knowledgable when it comes to showing dairy.

[prairiedog]

We have dairy goats at our county 4-h fair and they did not shave them or anything.

[The Tin Mom]

We just finished showing for the first time in our county 4H fair. I have a friend whose daughter takes Grand Champion every year (didn't have one in our class this year). We didn't shave ours (long story) and placed 2nd & 3rd in our class - my friend said that if we had shaved them we might have been able to place better but since it was our first time she thought we did pretty good.

HTH!! It was fun!! Good luck & let us know how you do.

Edited to say that we did have showmanship as well as just showing the goats. The kids got blue ribbons but were dead last on showmanship. They learned alot & had fun, tho!

[windhound]

We have not had our fair yet but I can tell you what my kids learned at our practice show in the spring. The advice you've already been given is great. I would definitely clip the goat - my daughter was told not to clip her junior kid entry for showmanship because she was too young and the judge really criticized her for not clipping her goat. ( I think she was right not to clip it then because it was still kind of chilly and it was better to place lower than to have a sick kid).
Our fair requires proper show attire, which for dairy is a white collared shirt and either white or tan pants, a bolo tie or neck ribbon, boots or solid shoes (no sneakers) and no hats. Kids who didn't wear this were placed lower.
Know your goat breeds, anatomy, your goats birthdate and freshening date, how much you goat is milking per day. My kids were asked all of these questions.( I think they use some of them to see how involved the kid actually is with the goat project)
4-H has a set of 4 books for the dairy goat project that I would definitely get if you don't already have them. Ask your local 4-H office.
In our area there are about ten times as many kids enrolled in the meat goat project as the dairy goat project. Our leader says that meat goats are more popular because most of them are market goats and are a short term project that doesn't require as much of a commitment as dairy.
Hope this helps. Good luck!

[terri9630]

I know this is a really old thread, but our 4-H office said they don't have project books for dairy goats. Does anyone know if its available on line?

[Taylor R.]

From what I can tell, you can buy the curriculum through the official 4-H website. Dairy goat curriculum isn't available online.

I'd think you could tell your county you need the project pages for their record book and they'd have access to them. They could have them faxed over from another county or your state extension office and copy them if need be. If they aren't being helpful, you might try your state extension office directly.

[sammyd]

The kid took reserve grand champion the 2 years he took a goat to the fair.
he first year he went the showmanship part was more of a teaching time than actual judging because the fair had never really had dairy goats. The judge was pretty clear that she like them with a nice haircut....

[1sttimemom]

Do a search for 4-h dairy goat record book and you will find tons of links to them where you can print the record books for free.

[Doug Hodges]

We had Dairy and Meat goats at our County Fair. The local FFA's and 4-h's had mostly Boers. But some had pygmy's and I saw all kinds of breeds. Mostly Nubians and Boers though

[Goatsandsheep]

Originally Posted by terri9630

I know this is a really old thread, but our 4-H office said they don't have project books for dairy goats. Does anyone know if its available on line?

http://www.4-hmall.org/Category/4-hc...airy-goat.aspx

[Doug Hodges]

I would love for my kids to show our goats but I wasn't impressed with the conditions they would be in at our local fair.