4H People?

[readyin07]

Random question...a friend's son wanted to get into 4H. I said I couldn't do it because a friend of ours raised a pig last year and her kid was traumatized after the auction. I know certain animals HAVE to be auctioned, which ones don't? Rabbits? Milk cows/goats? 

[Deleted]

I've never participated but I've been to the fair. Those kids do lots of stuff. Agriculture, ecology, basket making, etc. It seems like a cool organization. I'm sure it varies by region though but I wouldn't rule it out.

[readyin07]

Oops, I meant to post on ML b/c I remember a few 4Hers on there. Maybe someone on here will know!

[JRo]

There's all kinds of stuff you can do with 4-H that have nothing to do with animals. I was in 4-H for a while growing up did things like cooking and photography.

[Ashley&Scott]

Horses aren't auctioned. There's usually a dog show at the fair too, my brother entered his dog a few times.

I loved 4H, I was in it for 10 years. In addition to individual fair projects we also did community service projects & had social activities. I served on my 4H board during high school which was also a good learning experience.

[estrellita]

I was in 4H up until high school and never did a single thing with farm animals. I did do pets projects but that was for our pet birds and stuff. My main areas were photography, needle arts (crocheting, went to the state fair for this) and foods among other projects. My mom and sister are actually still involved with the club now!

Anyways, I know nothing about auctions. They could be involved without doing anything like that depending of course on the club and what is offered in the area (I'm not sure if it differs, but I know certain categories are more popular in certain areas). I thought it was a great experience - leadership, community service, fun things!

[Deleted]

Former 4-Her here. You can enter your animal in market (auction) or show (more intensely trained animals). I believe you can do both in some. Like others have said there are also non animal projects like art, engineering, computers, needle arts, cooking, etc. I loved 4-H so much! I won a scholarship to the national congress and got an all expenses paid trip to Atlanta with my delegation and got to meet kids from all over the country

[nessness]

I raised chickens in 4H and they were not auctioned. You can auction eggs if you want but I just showed my chickens. I also did dog obedience. There are also tons of projects you can do that don't involve animals at all.

[4speedy]

DD did 4H for several years until sports became more important to She did dog training. She competed with both of our Weimaraner in agility. She also had to make posters and do a presentation on dog care, including keeping all the vet records. She also had to locate and make arrangements to shadow people who work with dogs professionally. She shadowed with a vet, a police dog trainer, at the Humane Society and she went with a therapy dog handler to a nursing home. It was a really good experience for her. DD's 4H club also put on their own agility competition for all the 4H clubs in the state so she was involved in planning and fundraising for that.

[peggy]

Another option beyond 4H is AKC Junior Handling if he's interested in showing dogs. I did this growing up and have another show dog now as an adult. It's a really fun sport!

[chickadee77]

Mar 2, 2017 21:44:00 GMT -5 JRo said:

There's all kinds of stuff you can do with 4-H that have nothing to do with animals. I was in 4-H for a while growing up did things like cooking and photography.

This. I was in 4-H and actually had a few things win Best in Show (or whatever it was called - I forget) and go to the state fair - none of them were animal-related.

[Saint Monica]

textbookcase

[4speedy]

Mar 3, 2017 9:20:03 GMT -5 peggy said:

Another option beyond 4H is AKC Junior Handling if he's interested in showing dogs. I did this growing up and have another show dog now as an adult. It's a really fun sport!

We looked into this.  We went with 4H although we would have preferred AKC because of the age requirement.  As I recall, AKC has a minimum age of 12 due to liability.  None of the professional trainers would allow younger kids into the training ring because their liability insurance wouldn't allow it.  That may have changed since you were younger since we have become a more litigious society.  4H would allow 10 year olds and 9 year olds if parents stayed by the 9 year old's side.

[peggy]

Mar 3, 2017 14:18:45 GMT -5 4speedy said:

Mar 3, 2017 9:20:03 GMT -5 peggy said:

Another option beyond 4H is AKC Junior Handling if he's interested in showing dogs. I did this growing up and have another show dog now as an adult. It's a really fun sport!

We looked into this.  We went with 4H although we would have preferred AKC because of the age requirement.  As I recall, AKC has a minimum age of 12 due to liability.  None of the professional trainers would allow younger kids into the training ring because their liability insurance wouldn't allow it.  That may have changed since you were younger since we have become a more litigious society.  4H would allow 10 year olds and 9 year olds if parents stayed by the 9 year old's side.

AKC Juniors starts at Age 9 - images.akc.org/pdf/rulebooks/REJRSH.pdf?_ga=1.240487875.1120575074.1488566676 

[jinkies]

Others have pretty much covered it, but I wanted to chime in as well because I had such a great 4H experience.

As others have said, if you do raise animals, there are always 2 types of classes-- market, which are auctioned for meat, and breeding stock which are judged by how well they meet ideal breed characteristics and are not sold off. Our county also has clubs for everything from cavy and rabbits, to alpaca, to reptiles, to seeing eye dogs.

There are also toastmasters programs, archery, small engines, sewing, cooking, and woodworking projects. And many opportunities to build leadership and public speaking skills.

I can't speak highly enough of 4h. It's really a fantastic organization, and so much more than just farm projects.

[textbookcase]

I was in 4h as a kid and I'm an adult volunteer now, my kids are heavily involved in 4h.

It's been pretty well covered but yeah, rabbits don't have to be auctioned, along with cavys (guinea pigs), waterfowl, Pygmy goats, dogs, and dairy heifers. At our fair all market goats, pigs, lambs, and steer must go through auction. You can also do breeding projects with most breeds.

There are also tons of non-animal projects. Cooking, rocketry, entomology, sewing, photography, robotics, etc. just to name a few. My kids each do 5-7 projects, including rabbits and goats. My oldest is also really involved in 4h leadership and does a ton of cool stuff with that.

[dbe100408]

For our county, goats, poultry, and rabbits are premium only, meaning the buyer doesn't get the animals. For DS, he shows goats, sells at the auction, brings it home, and then sells it again to a buyer. All the other posts have great info as well, I hope you find a project that works for your family!