# Give me the run down



## Haviris (Oct 7, 2007)

My nephew wants to show a goat this year. Showing of any kind is completely new to him (he's 14). Not sure exactly what his ag teacher has in mind, he's supposed to get me more info tomorrow (or I will call myself), what are the different classes? And what are the general rules for them (I do realize this will vary, just want an idea what I'm getting into). Personally I want him to get a doe, I have wanted to ad a few boer does to the herd and this would kill two birds with one stone! So is there a certain age and weight the goat has to be? Horns or no horns? Registered or not? etc.

The ag teacher has given us a name and number for a lead on a goat, I'll probably be calling tomorrow to see what he has.


----------



## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

I contact the fair office and see if they have a listing of 4H clubs. There is way to much stuff that needs to be learned and no way to teach it over a forum. Better he gets a mentor (4H leader).


----------



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Every state is different. I agree, call and speak to the 4-H Leader and find out what all he needs to do. Is he planning to show as 4-H or FFA? I know with 4-H they have to have 6 educational hours/meetings in by a certain date. I'm in KY, and kids here had to have them in by May 1st in order to have a 4-H project. Now, that doesn't mean they can't show, just means they can't show as a youth 4-H, so market wethers/commercial does would be out. Again, every state is different.

Here they have open shows for Boers at the county fairs. Fullblood/Percentage does 7 Fullblood bucks have to be registered. 
They are shown by age <market wethers & commercial does are shown by weight>. Usually it's 0-3mo, 3-6mo, 6-9mo, 9-12mo, 12-18mo, 18-24mo, etc.
A commercial doe is an unregistered doe used for producing a meat goat. However, Commercial does have to be young, like wethers and still have their milk teeth. My kids like registered breeding does because they can show them as long as they want.

Most all places will require health papers, so you would have to talk to your vet about getting that. Here, a health paper will last the goat through the show season.
Find out the rules about having a scrapie tag. I know some breeders don't use them if their goats are tattooed, but I was told they look down on that here.

Also, here in KY market wethers & commercial does are required to have mandatory tag inserted in their ear by a state official at a tagging site. No tag, no show. But again, that is here.

I have 3 kids ages 7, 13 & 15. They have 9 goats they are showing in 4-H - 3 wethers, 2 bucks and 4 does. The nice thing about having a wether is, they can auction them off at the end of the show season at the county 4-H auction. It helps raise $$ for 4-H <they keep a small %>, and the kids get the rest of the $$. Plus they can either keep or sell their breeding doe.

One thing I love about our state is, the kids can go to other counties to show. So, they usually do 5+ shows each summer. This year we're hoping to do more. It's a lot of fun, and keeps us busy through the summer


----------



## HerdQueen (Oct 15, 2012)

Meat or dairy? 4H or FFA?


----------



## Haviris (Oct 7, 2007)

Meat and FFA, (there is no 4H in this case), I'm assuming his ag teacher will 'mentor' him in this, I realize I can't learn it through a forum, but I can get an idea. I figure he'll be pushing him to get a wether, I want him to get a doe ( may try a wether next time if he decides he wants to do it again) and I want to get an idea of what I need to know/ask before getting to far along.


----------



## crazygoatlady_inthemaking (Apr 25, 2014)

Wethers are normally dehorned but not always it depends on where you are at. In georgia most people show does for that reason to have more in the pasture. It depends on other stuff too beause where im at they want the wethers to be almost tube like and the does to be more round. Also most people are against feeding hay and have their own feeding style. Goodluck getting advice from other showers because once you have a certain way that makes you win its like a million dollars that you don't share with anybody.

Well are you showing in commercial or registered shows? 

In comercial its just showmanship class where they go by grade and then there are weight classes where they normally seperate does and wethers and go by weight of the goats. The majority of comercial shows in my area are bracing shows because the judges are sheep and goat judges.
Ex. Class 1 (50lbs-70lbs) 
Class 2 (71lbs-90lbs)
I don't know about registered show because ive never shown in them but im sure its pretty different.


----------



## Haviris (Oct 7, 2007)

Thank you! He'll be showing in commercial.

I noticed that about the hay, I'm having a harder time with that, just having trouble wrapping my head around it! For now he's still working on his pen so they are at my house with my goats, and I can't limit them without limiting my own, so once they get moved to his house we will limit the hay. Do they generally feed no hay, or just limited? What do they feed in place of?


----------



## crazygoatlady_inthemaking (Apr 25, 2014)

Well we feed no hay to our show goats because over the years its just easier to fill them out and not get a huge gutty look that isn't always attractive with feeding no hay at all. Im no specialist but it has to do with the rumen in their stomach and all it just makes them bloat when they have hay. 

We replace hay with feeding our goats rolled oats that you can buy at your feed store. We normally feed 4 oz of the oats per goat but i don't think it matters amount we just think its a good amount haha(add that to your normal feeding routines) and we feed ours twice a day. 

Its healthier than just feeding pellet food and no hay because the oats act a grain source in their diet. Also we sometime let our show goats eat hedge and stuff just as a good treat.

Hope that helps!


----------



## Haviris (Oct 7, 2007)

It does help! Thank you!


----------



## crazygoatlady_inthemaking (Apr 25, 2014)

Haviris said:


> It does help! Thank you!


You're welcome!


----------

