It was quite a night! Our 4-H members and their families came out to see them show the animals in the ring. This usually happens as part of the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair. However due to concern for public safety (due to high COVID numbers) the fair board canceled the fair for this year. So we worked with a variety of folks and made this happen this year for all our showmen.
Tonight was our small animal shows; rabbits, laying hens, and turkeys. For almost half of our participants it was their first time in the ring. That can be very scary. As your animal is being examined and someone is determining how well you took care of it, you also have answers questions from a stranger. An adult with more knowledge than you. Will they be nice, do they have a sense of humor, will you know the right answer? To make it even worse, your parents aren't in the ring to make sure you do it right you have to do it on your own and your parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, and strangers are watching you. That can be really intimidating. Let me start by saying how proud I am of all of our youth who took on this project, got in the show ring, and made it happen. They did a wonderful job no matter where they placed. I also want to congratulate the parents for getting through it, and making sure they completed the project. Y'all did a great job!
We started our night at the Southeastern Ag Center with our Rabbit show. We had two competitors in our Jr. Division. Ian Malloy and Cam Pittman took the ring. Our judge for the night, Tony Bullard, examined the rabbits and talked with the competitors. Both rabbits were in good health and our judge said it was very obvious that both participants had taken care of their animals. Both were knowledgeable on the breed and were able to articulate what they had done to taken care of their rabbits. After everything came down to the end the judge awarded Ian Malloy first place and Cam Pittman second.
Next up was our laying hen show. This year our participants raised Golden Laced Wyandottes for laying hens. The received them when they were just a few days old and they have done an excellent job. As you can notice they are similar sizes and all of them have done their best to keep them in a happy and safe environment. In this division we started with our Cloverbuds, our youngest members ages 5-7. This is a non competitive division. Each youth gets experience raising and showing their animal before they start competing at age 8. In the ring tonight was Jase Chavis, Granger Herndon, Meredith Hodge, Bradleigh Norton, and Addie Shooter. Helping our cloverbuds in the ring were senior showmen, Maggie Love and Lee Pate. With our Seniors they help our youth get to and from the tables and make sure we don't have any animals escape. They all had a chance to tell the judge about raising their animal and told him if they had gotten any eggs yet. They did a wonderful job keeping control of the birds in the ring and you could tell how proud they were of these animals.
Next up it was time for our Jr. showmen. Entering the ring with their chickens were; Syler Forbis, Emma Herndon, Walt Malloy, Jahari Roberson, and Jackson Shooter. In this competitive division the placing is based on the showman and the bird quality. When it was all said and done Walt Malloy took first place, Emma Herndon took second, and Jahari Roberson took home the third place win.
Finally rounding out the night was our turkey show. The youth participating in the turkey show receive their polts from the state at just a few days old. Their best bird goes to the state fair and generally their second best bird comes to the Robeson Show. However this year our show was the day before weigh in at the state fair so we had them bring their best bird, weighed them (they need to weigh at least 15 pounds to show at state this year), and after the show we loaded them up to deliver to state for weigh in and the subsequent state show on Thursday. Our birds weighed in at almost 15 pounds to almost 24 pounds this year. They were good sized Toms that they had raised over the course of 4 months.
In our cloverbud division we had Addie Shooter. Addie showed a 23 pound bird with spotting by a senior showmen, but primarily on her own. To show a turkey you hold them upside down so the judge can feel the breast, wings, and will feel the legs and thighs all for meat and fat quantity. Addie did a fantastic job and received a ribbon for her efforts.
Up next was our Jr Division. Jade Brown and Jackson Shooter entered the ring with their turkeys. What many people don't realize is that turkeys are hard to raise. You have to teach them to drink, you have to protect them from predators, and they have a tendency not to be really smart so you have to think outside the box to make sure they don't injure themselves. In talking with both Jade and Jackson our judge felt like they had done their very best and had learned a ton about turkeys. In the end however he awarded Jackson the first place ribbon and Jade second.
In our senior division we had Maggie Love and Lee Pate going head to head. Their birds were less than a pound apart making this decision difficult for the judge. When it was all said and done he awarded Lee first and Maggie second place. In my opinion everyone one of our 4-H members walked away a winner.
If you would like to see all of our photos from the show please click this link. If you are interested in being a part of this program please contact Wendy Maynor at wrmaynor@ncsu.edu.
