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Animal Science Projects & Activities

Dairy Dairy Beef
Horses Rabbits
Poultry Sheep and Swine
Holstein-Steer Project Meat Animal Project
Pet Care Project Dog Care & Obedience
Veterinary Science Project Win-A-Calf Project Win-A-Calf Project

Dairy

Dairy Grade and Lease Certificate

  • Due in the office by June 15 of the project year.

 

Dairy Cattle Project Materials Available:

  • Animal Science Skills for Life Series-
    • Dig into Dairy- Level one project. 1st through 3rd year.
    • Mooving Ahead- Level two project. 4th through 6th year.
    • Leading the Way- Level three project. 7th through 10th year.
    • Leader Activity Guide.
  • Holstein Association Dairy Judging Workshop also available.
  • Dairy learning Lab kit available to sign out
  • Several instructional videos available for loan
  • Annual Dairy Quiz Bowl

 

Dairy Goat Project

An Animal Science Project offered to youth ages 8-19. The project is designed to teach youth about goat breeds, housing, feeding, and showing and fitting. A county-wide club is available for youth interested in goats.

 

Dairy Discovery at Cornell University
Held annually in March

This annual program provides New York youth with fun, hands-on science-oriented learning experiences on dairy production and management topics which feature the unique facilities, industry professionals, and staff of Cornell University.

To register, contact the Wyoming County 4-H office at 585-786-2251.

Click here for more information

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Beef

Meat Animal Steer
Purchase a 400-500# calf in the fall (October, November, December) and grain feed it until fair in August. Steers may be sold at the Wyoming County Fair.

Breeding Project
Start with a cow or heifer and raise a calf each year. You may see the calf each fall or add to project.

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Horses

Youth may be independent members or a member of one of the dozen horse clubs in the county. Activities may include horse bowl, Hippology, public presentations, horse judging, horse shows, clinics, and tours. Opportunities to compete on a local, regional, state, and national level.

  • 4-H Horse Certificate (Due June 1st)
    Anyone that has a new horse they are going to use in a 4-H project needs to fill out a horse certificate.

 

  • 4-H Horseless Project
    Designed to teach basic information about horses to youth in the 8-10 year old range using a coloring book format. Topics include safety around horses, horse markings and colors, health, nutrition, anatomy and equipment. Horse ownership is not required.

 

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Rabbits

May have rabbits for both pet and market projects. A county-wide club invites youth interested in caring for and learning about rabbits to participate. Meetings are held once a month.

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Poultry

  1. A project in brooding and rearing includes raising at least 6 birds to market age either for meat or laying.
  2. A laying flock project should have at least 6 birds, and members should keep records so they realize the costs involved in egg production.
  3. Standard breeders project requires at least 2 hens and 1 cock of a recognized breed with chicks being raised each year. Special shows and demonstrations are part of this project. Suitable for youth with limited facilities.
  4. Incubation and Embryology - incubating of eggs in a still air incubator. Study of Embryology is fascinating for those who follow the detailed instructions. Individuals, clubs, or school classes may borrow one of the 4-H incubators to complete the project. Sources of fertile eggs are available locally.
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Sheep and Swine

  1. Feeding- purchase lambs and pigs in April and feed them for market weight of 80-120# for lambs and 240# for hogs. Finished animals are shown and may be marketed at the Wyoming County Fair in August.
  2. Breeding- purchase bred or open ewes or sows, grades or purebreds and feed the lambs or pigs as in the market project.
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Holstein-Steer Project

Purchase one or two Holstein bull calves during the months of May, June or July. Raise these for 12-13 months on a concentrate ration, (NO ROUGHAGE). At time of purchase, calves should weigh 100 pounds or more. A show and sale will be held during Wyoming County Fair. Materials are available from the 4-H office.

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Meat Animal Project

Meat Animal Auction
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
View brochure

 

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Pet Care Project

A pet can be any living creature that lives in or near your home and depends on you for care and feeding. The member is responsible for the cleanliness, feeding and good manners of their pet. Different pets suitable are cats, tropical fish, rabbits, birds, gerbils, hamsters and guinea pigs.

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Dog Care and Obedience

  1. Offered in the spring for 9 weeks on an area basis throughout the county. Trained leaders teach members how to train their dogs to sit, stay, stand, heel and to do the recall.
  2. Raising a Guide Dog Puppy- A 4-H'er or an adult may raise a Guide Dog Puppy to approximately 12 months of age. The puppies are usually 8-10 weeks of age at the start of the project. The puppy raiser is expected to raise the puppy in their home and to give the puppy lots of love as well as house breaking the puppy and giving it basic obedience lessons. Meetings are held approximately every 3 weeks by qualified instructors to help the puppy raiser, to measure the puppies progress and to give necessary shots, etc.
  3. Dog Agility Classes are offered to interested individuals in the spring and summer. Dogs are trained to go thru an obstacle course that may consist of tunnels, jumps, hoops, etc.
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4-H Veterinary Science Project

This project teaches information applicable to all species of animals.

  1. Unit I - The Normal Animal - the unit covers animal attitude and behavior, the skin, membranes & intestinal discharges, maintaining animal health, cleaning and disinfecting, cells, tissues, organs and systems of the animal body.
  2. Unit II - Animal Disease - Bacteria, viruses, external and internal parasites, nutrition, poisons, stress and heredity as related to diseases.
  3. Unit III - Animal Health and its Relationship to Our World - a self study course in one or more areas of animal health.
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Win-A-Calf Project

Through this project, you will learn a great deal about raising a calf and the record keeping involved with the dairy business. Also, you will be working hard for the chance to win a registered calf!

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