# New to 4H--does a runt have a chance?



## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

My Ranch Parter's grandchildren just moved into this house last Friday. The 10 year old girl is really taking an interest in the goats. She and her 8 yr old brother take turns feeding the abandoned kid we named Skinny. She is also learning to milk our dairy goat. Both me and my Ranch Partner attended city schools which did not have 4H/FFA type programs so we are really ignorant. But these children will be attending a rural school which will have both programs available. The 10 year old is expressing interest in showing Skinny. We plan on getting info from the school when she is finally registered, but I would like to know what you 4H'ers think of showing a runt. Skinny is a twin. Mom is a BoerX (Lawn Mower) and dad is a Black Spanish Goat. Skinny appears to be a runt. His brother, Fatso was clearly bigger at birth and today is twice as big as Skinny. This picture was taken the day they were born 3/24/13. Fatso has the spot on his side. I just would like to have the opinion of others as to whether or not we should encourage her to show Skinny or not? This is sheep and goat country so there are other options available. Until now she had never heard of 4H and had always been in cities schools. So any involvement we want to be a possitive one. She is currently in the 4th grade.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Bucks are almost always bigger. Runts usually catch up around weaning time. 
Go ahead & get your feet wet with what you have.


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

He will likely catch up with a good diet . It justto takes a little time for the runts. I'd show him and go on and get into it and learn.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

First, I would get info about 4-H and the different classes available to show in. I'm in KY, and here kids can only show market wethers, or registered fullblood or percentage does. At the county fairs you can show bucks, but they have to be registered and can not be used as a 4-H specific animal project.
My kids prefer percentage does, but this year they are trying market wethers.

Is Skinny a wether? I say, let the girl try him out, see if she even likes showing, I wouldn't put too much into it until you know it's something she enjoys  We had sort of a trial year with our kids in 2011, they each had a little doe & absolutely loved it, so last year they each had a couple of nicer does.

I'd get her into 4-H ASAP and make sure that all requirements are met, etc.
Here the kids have to have 6 meetings/hours by June 1st, and all market animals have to have a state KUIP tag inserted in their ear <as well as their scrapie tag>. So next month they do the KUIP tags.

I think it's great that you guys are looking into this for the kids, I bet they will love getting into 4-H, and there is so much they can learn, and they can also meet other kids


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## bambismom (Apr 1, 2013)

Hi! Our two boys showed goats for 4-H 12 years. I was going to say some of the things that hoosiershadow said, that your granddaughter needs to get registered ASAP. She might not be able to show any more this year, depending on what your deadlines are. Also, there are the deadlines when they need to be weighed and ID'd. Usually for us the weigh in's and ID's were the beginning of May. In Minnesota, 4-Hers cannot show bucks, they need to be whethered. If it is too late for her to register and show for this year's fair, I encourage her to attend the fair and watch the shows and ask lots of questions. Get as much info. as you can then she will be prepared for next year. Also, speaking from experience here, I also encourage you to show does whenever possible. Kids (human children!) have a tendency to get attached to their animals when they feed, train, and spend so much time with them getting them ready for show. If you have a market wether, they usually need to be shipped at some point. (I've seen lots of tears when this happens, but it depends on the child how they deal with it.) It depends on the farm situation, if they just have a few goats, maybe they can keep the wether around just for fun, but if they're in it to make money, the wethers have to go before they get too large. If she can still register for 4-H this year and meet all the deadlines, then by all means she should show the runt. The goats we first started out with weren't that great, but the experience is still worth it. Good luck!


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## goatgirlzCA (Mar 9, 2011)

I agree with what's been said. Now, my daughter's first wether we bought at a livestock show sale. He was by far the smallest one there, and we were the ONLY ones that bid on him, but because that's the one that she wanted we bought him ... He grew into a nice 80 lb. guy and placed third in his class at fair. Good feed, good exercise, and lots of lead time!


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## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

Thanks for the info. We took the children's registration paperwork to the school today and asked about 4-H. The person in charge doesn't know a lot about goats as they mostly show rabbits at that school. She is going to get us the number of the head person who is in a different town (county seat). She also said she would get us the info binder so we can start studying up on the subject. We were told they register when school begins next year. Then we can attend a parent meeting and learn a lot more about 4-H. Skinny is not a wether but then he is barely 1 month old. 

Thankfully all the children are now registered for school and will be catching the bus 1 mile from our house on the hwy Monday morning.:wahoo:


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## summerdreamer71 (Jan 25, 2013)

Runts don't stay runts forever.


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## 20kidsonhill (Feb 28, 2011)

we had a set of twins born last year, 12 lbs and 6 lbs. The runt actually out grew his brother and weighed 95 lbs at the fair at just 6 months of age. The important part it for them to grow steady and for mom to be feeding them well. This would be compared to a kid that is lets say a triplet and not getting enough milk from mom, when they are stunted it can take a while to turn them around. Your runt has lots of potential. 
On a side note, Spanish meat goats are not always the fastesy growers, so his mix of breed may be more of a problem than his size at birth. Being born the end of March, I suspect you will need near a .5 lbs per day gain for him to make fair weights. 
What is the minimum weigh in at your fair?
when is the show or shows? 

Our runt last year was born middle of March and was 95 lbs for a September first Fair. 


Not sure when you fair is, but an early april born kid


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## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

Skinny is still a lot smaller then his brother. His brother even looks like a buck with his coloring, but Skinny's coloring is a mystery--not a hint of dad anywhere. Brother-Fatso-is dam raised but Skinny got rejected and is on the bottle. He is doing well, but just not catching up to his brother at all. Anyway, it is becoming a non-issue. Our future 4-H'er must be hearing stuff through the hallways because she now wants a flop ear rabbit to show.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

I agree, I believe it is t late this year, but don't let that stop you from going to the fair and learn all you can. Talk to people (kids) and learn all that you can. That is the best way to see if this is something that they really want to do. Find out when show day is and be there to watch the show.


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## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

I know the fairs are over with for this year. I went to the local judging months ago.


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## goatfreak101 (Apr 28, 2013)

*Yes!*

My runt is huge now that he is grown up!!!


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## Frosty (Feb 13, 2010)

First teach them its not wether you win or lose its how you play the game. Learning how would be so much fun.


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