Winter no hindrance to 4-H competitors
This is the second in a series of occasional stories on three Butler County 4-H members leading up to their participation in the 2015 Butler Farm Show in August.Winter weather didn't stop Butler County 4-H members from their preparations for the 2015 Butler Farm Show.In fact, David Schultheis, a Moniteau fifth grader, said the months of cold and snow helped his dairy cattle.“The winter weather is actually good,” David said. “In the winter, they eat more because they're cooler. That's good because in the summer time, like June and July, once it's really hot, they're not going to want to eat.”David said he knows which of his dairy cows he plans to show this year. He's spent the past few months feeding those cattle to keep them on track for their weight class.In late winter, David began conditioning his dairy cows to get them used to being touched and petted, something they'll need to feel comfortable with during farm show week in August.His next step along the road to the farm show was to buy lambs and pigs — two of each.“The breeds that I would like to have would be Suffolks and Hampshire Cross in lambs. In pigs, Yorkshire Cross or Hampshire Cross,” David said.For both lambs and pigs, David said he wants an animal with a straight back and good feet and legs.“You also want to look for a pig that has its tail corked because whenever a pig has its tail straight, it means he's sick,” he said. “Pigs can get sick very easily, so that's something you want to look for as well.”David said his spring lambs and pigs will be about four months old when he buys them. At that age he said, the pigs should be about 50 to 100 pounds and the lambs, 50 to 80. By the time the farm show arrives, his pigs should be 220 to 290 pounds and sheep should be 80 to 150.“The farm show also has a competition which is rate of gain, which means you take how much that animal weighed in the beginning and how much the animal weighs in the end,” he said. “So a steer that went from 500 pounds to 1,450 — that's a big weight difference, so they might win weight of gain.”Meanwhile, Becca Frazier, 18, of Butler, has bred a few calves and lamb over the winter. Four calves were born so far this year, and another is expected in July. Out of those animals she plans on showing a cow-calf pair this summer named Rose and Kristoff.“I was a little worried because she's a little bit of a smaller heifer, but she's been a great mom and she's done a fantastic job at raising her calf. And they're both doing really well,” Becca said.
She'll train the duo to be more sociable by going on guided walks in better weather.“I usually spend about an hour (per day) between feeding and working with my animals and making sure they're all OK,” she said. “Once the weather gets nicer and I start to exercise all of them, it'll probably be anywhere from two to three hours a day that I'll spend working with them.”She also bought lambs that she plans to show this summer. Becca said those animals have adjusted well to their new environment, which can sometimes be difficult.For Shirlann Harmon, 15, of Evans City her focus is not on the weight of her animals, but on the weight of their merits. She raises Holland Lop and Flemish Giant rabbits, which she shows at multiple competitions throughout the year.In January, Shirlann placed first in the Senior Showmanship Division at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg. In February, she placed first in the Youth Judging Competition at the Pennsylvania State Rabbit Breeders Association Show in Lebanon, Pa., where Laci, her Flemish Giant, won Best of Show out of 1,400 rabbits.“A Flemish Giant hasn't won in a really long time, so it was incredible just for a Flemish Giant to win,” Shirlann said. “Then for it to be my Flemish Giant was even better.”Shirlann said she hadn't expected to do so well in competition this year.“Especially at the state level. There are so many people in that category that I look up to as really experienced, talented, amazing people who have exceeded expectations,” Shirlann said. “And to just be in the same class as them, and to do so well is such an honor and really incredible.”Harmon faced a rough start to the year with her rabbits. In November 2013, a heat lamp exploded in her family's rabbit barn and burned the structure down. Only two of the rabbits survived, one with scars that disqualify it from competing again.After that, Shirlann worked on breeding, buying and selling to have rabbits to show again. Construction on the new rabbit barn isn't quite complete, but it was finished enough to move the rabbits in at the end of 2014.Now Shirlann is focused on her upcoming shows and on completing her workbook for the farm show. She's also applying to become a registrar, the first step in becoming a show judge.
