Good Morning, I am gonna try to keep this short. We are fairly new to Nigerians (and goats in general) we have two wethers and just sent in a deposit check for a registered herd consisting of 2 bucks and 3 does which I will be picking up soon. Anyway, we got into the NDG's thinking that our county fair would allow them to show as they allow pygmies. Well, I have looked into it (I am actually our club leader) and turns out they will not allow them and now I need to write a proposal for the council to review and vote on.
I feel confident in my ability to provide the needed information but this is where I need some help... I would like to know how your county fair shows goats. (A copy of the goat page from your fair book listing divisions and classes would be ideal.) Do pygmies and Nigerian show together? Is their a mini division or class? Do they just enter in the "other" class of the dairy division? I really appreciate all the help, my four kids surely will not be the only kids entering their NDG's in the fair and so I feel this will be a great opportunity for the whole county.
I have a few more questions unrelated to county fair showing so follow me to the other forums and help me out! ;-) Thank you so much for your help!
Krystal
Replies
That's great! It's a sanctioned ADGA show with all of the various classes and everything in place.
Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres said:
Darn it. I had a really good reply....
Short version- I appreciate your replies and I would love more sharing of how other 4H shows run a SUCCESSFUL goat show with NDGs included.
(I had a rant in my reply, God, probably intervened!)
I don't know! I was just coming to read it! lol
Oh my gosh...I just wrote a reply. Where'd it go?
Yep. Found the booklet for that. Goat info is on Page 12, and might have some good information for you. https://www.co.douglas.or.us/dcfair/docs/book.pdf
Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres said:
I think my friend shows via Open Class, not 4-H at the fair... I'll have to dig a little more.
It should go without saying, but Krystal, please do NOT show that Oregon club's fair book to your fair committee. There are some groups that get it right. Really, it should not be any more complicated than showing them the ADGA and AGS information. They should be creating shows that mimic the real world.
I totally and COMPLETELY agree with you, Deb!
Aaack!!! Well, that wouldn't be the first time that a 4-H show was messed up. It is so sad that some of them can get it so completely wrong. The meat goat people would laugh their heads off at that one. I've even heard of meat trucks that specifically say they will not take NDs. NDs are registered by the dairy goat registries -- American Dairy Goat Association and the American Goat Society.
Since 4-H is supposed to be educating children, I always find it doubly frustrating when they mess up like this. We used to show our goats at ADGA and AGS sanctioned shows, and the last time my girls showed in 4-H, they were furious because the so-called "judge" did not even know what NDs were. He placed them at the end every single time simply because he was clueless. I know that 4-H doesn't have to get real judges, but they should at least get people who have a clue. Educating and encouraging children is the future of the breed, and when they mess up so royally, it winds up doing the exact opposite of what it is supposed to be doing. Thankfully my daughters had shown in lots of "real" goat shows in the past, so they realized that the judge had no idea how to actually judge the goats. Although they knew that, it was still extremely frustrating for them to see all of their hard work put them at the end of the line in every class that day -- including our finished champion that had received 8 best of breeds being put behind a saanen whose udder attachments were completely blown.
Sorry for the rant, but as you can tell, this is one of my pet peeves. They really need to do a better job in 4-H.
Here is our local 4H facebook page. You could message them and request information and booklets from them!
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