In order to advance to Dixie National Rodeo and Livestock Junior Roundup (Mississippi’s State 4H show), you must compete in the County and District shows and receive a Blue Ribbon.  If you receive a Red ribbon, then your animal cannot proceed to the next show.  The ribbons are less about placement and more about normality.  Very few red ribbons are given out as the reasons they are given are because of birth defects or other problems with the animal such as a sick goat, one that is lame, or some other visible defect.

This is the story of the District show.  At the district show we were required to check our goats in the day before the show on Friday, so we got there early and settled in for the night, all was well.  The weather was good considering it is winter time here in Mississippi.  Saturday morning was like any other show, Continue reading →

Well the first goat show of the 4H season is in the books!

The day started out great with decent weather, hovering around 50 degrees and a few sprinkles, we bundled up, loaded up the goats, over the hills and through the woods and around a detour, we finally made it to the Livestock Arena.

Last year we were at this same show, showing pigs (read the about us to find out more about this).  During that show the number of animals and people were more than double than that of this year.  Not sure why that was today but it still happened and that was good.

We had a small amount of competition today as the numbers were lower, however the numbers were in our favor as we had more goats than anyone else.  In our state, we can only bring 6 does to competition, so we did bring six!

So onto the show Continue reading →

The 4H shows are kicking off in about 2 weeks for us.  The ladies of the farm have been working hard on getting the does prepared for their days of glory.  We have three weeks back to back to back of shows.  Starting with the county show and then onto the regionals and then “The Big Show”, the Dixie National Rodeo 4H Livestock Show in Jackson MS.  We’ve never been to Dixie before so we’re really excited.

So along with their regularly monthly grooming, the ladies have given the does their first trimming.  We decided as it’s been SO cold lately that we will not give them a complete shaving for the show, just get them trimmed so they look nice.  No need to put them through too much stress of freezing just for show.   They’ll have their new coats to wear, along with their sweaters if need be to keep them warm, but still I wouldn’t want to be bald in the winter either.  The doe pictured is Marlena, she’s wearing a coat designed and made by Jenny on the farm.  Marlena isn’t much of a cold weather goat.

Still some final finishing touches, trimming and bathing will need to be done before show, but most of the work is done long before this point, such as their feeding and normal care regime.  We carefully select what each doe gets to eat based on their individual needs, not only to get them ready for show but for a happy healthy life as well.  Just as we do for ourselves.

So stay warm out there and we’ll see you after show season with updates on how things went.  We hope for the best and wish all of you showing your goats good luck!

If you haven’t already, come check out our YouTube channel and see what we’ve got going on.

One Old Cold Goat