Hi, my name is Greta Kingsbury and I turned seventeen years old on August 12. I have been in 4-H for fives years and I have loved every minute of it. The reason I joined 4-H in the first place was because I wanted to ride horses at the fair. My first two years I rode my horse Max and when he passed away I got a new horse named Blaze. Blaze did not appreciate the fair when I took him two years ago. I also did market lambs two years and have decided to do it again every year after that because I have enjoyed showing lambs.
The first year I did market lambs I bought my lamb from Hunter McAffee. The lamb’s name was Katie and she did a fantastic job at the fair. I got 4th in Showmanship. I really enjoyed doing livestock and decided to focus solely on lambs these past three years. I have started breeding my own ewes so I will be taking one breeding project. I really like being able to raise the lambs from birth to market and see how the whole cycle works.
Doing a livestock project has taught me to be responsible for another living thing. I water my ewes and lambs every day and feed them twice a day. When the ewes are bred that is when the especially need clean, fresh water. I can improve my 4-H project by spending more time training my lamb and halter breaking my lamb at an earlier age. Also, I should separate the ewes from lambs earlier.
A complication that happened this year was that I had two different surgeries. I couldn’t work with my lambs as much this year because of the surgeries. My surgeries where with in a couple months of each other. I still went to the practices so that I would be able to learn more about showing lambs. As soon as I was cleared after surgery I worked with my lamb as much as I could and made it to the Canyon County fair and now I will be able to make it to the Western Idaho Fair.
My ewes had five lambs total. I bred my ewes in September. It was really exciting to wait for my ewes to have her lambs. Only three lambs however survived. One of my ewes had triplets and the third was still born. The other ewe had twins and the boy didn’t get colostrum in time and was to week so we had to attempt bottle feeding the lambs. In the end the lamb died from watery mouth disease. Watery mouth disease is when the lamb does not get enough colostrum at the time of its birth and so E coli rapidly grows in the lamb's stomach. The lamb eventually goes into a coma and pass away.
I want to be a vet when I get older and 4-H has helped me learn more about animals. I am also learning how to care for the animals by myself and how to take care of them when they are sick. Two years ago my brother’s lamb prolapsed and we had to figure out how to stop the prolapsing. Also with the lamb having watery mouth disease I now know what to look for in the lambs to prevent it or catch it before it becomes lethal. This project has helped me learn so much.
I have made goals for my project this year. One of my goals was to teach my lamb how to walk on a lead rope without pulling. She did a great job and learned how to lead quickly. Another goal that I had was that my breeding ewes would have babies that would have good confirmation. I can achieve this goal by choosing a ram that has good conformation. Another goal is to learn how to shear my sheep. This will not only save money but also teach me valuable skills.
I have learned through 4-H that I can be strong and in control. I also learned that I can do anything I put my mind to. It has given me confidence and appreciation for animals. I will always remember my 4-H years because they have turned me into a confident young woman. I am so grateful that I decided to do 4-H five years ago.
I can apply the life skills that I have learned in 4-H by always being kind and having patience for people. 4-H has helped me so much in my life and I don’t know what I would do without it. 4-H has taught me skills I can use after I graduate and take them into my future careers. I am thankful for all the leaders I have had that have made my many years in 4-H so memorabile.
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