Families are encouraged to have realistic conversations about the time and other resources
that animal projects require. Animal projects will take a minimum of one hour daily
to care for the basic needs, such as feeding, watering and vet care of the animal.
Market beef projects typically start in November or December and continue through
until July or August. Pig, sheep and goat market projects start in April or May and
continue through July or August. Training and preparing an animal for show will take
several additional hours per day. Breeding projects are a year-round commitment for
both the member and family.
Rules and Regulations (updates for current 4-H year coming soon)
The Livestock Committee developed Rules and Regulation for each of the Livestock Project
areas to help members know what to expect throughout the year and at fair. Download
your specific project Rules and Regulations for the Fair. Please print from the following
links. These are also available at the Extension Office.
Quality Assurance
For any animal project, large or small. Guidelines for a 4-H or FFA member will be
required to take QA two times:
- once for youth 13 and under and
- once for youth 14 and over.
For Market projects, Quality Assurance must be completed prior to sale.
If you need youth Livestock Quality Assurance training for 2020, there is an inline
pathway for you to complete that this year. We do not know when we will be able to
have face to face meetings this spring or summer, but we do have this option for you
to complete.
On this website you will find four interactive modules for Quality Assurance and biosecurity
in your livestock projects. Follow along with each of the four modules, and complete
the activities on each one.
When you get done with the QA modules, this link is a registration form documenting
completion. After you complete the modules, go to the website and fill this out, and
have an adult also sign that they agree, you did the four modules. That will certify
you for QA this year.
Weigh In
In order for you to show your market animal for sale at the Ravalli County Fair, it
must be tagged and weighed in. Read the 4-H newsletter for event details.
We will be doing a self-tagging for market lambs, swine, and goats for the Spring
weigh-in this year. You will be able to pick up tag(s) and a tagger at the Extension
office in Hamilton May 5th – May 27th. There will be a $25.00 deposit for the ear
tagger and it will be returned to you once the tagger and your paper work are returned
to the Extension office. We have limited taggers available, so they will have to be
returned promptly so that all members can use them if needed. You may tag in multiple
market animals, just as in all other years.
An information sheet must accompany each market animal that you weigh in. Two forms
/ member (on same page) were included with the letter sent you to last week. If you
need paperwork, please call us at the Extension Office. This information sheet must
be completely filled out once your animals(s) have been tagged and it must be turned
in to the Extension office by 5pm May 27th.
This paperwork can be dropped off at the Extension office during business hours, or
mailed to the office at: Ravalli County 4-H, 215 S. 4th St. Suite G, Hamilton, MT
59840.
If you need help tagging an animal you can call the species Superintendents, a club
project leader, or Patrick at the Extension Office, and we will come help you.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Montana State University and Montana State
University Extension prohibit discrimination in all of their programs and activities
on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political
beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital and family status. Issued in furtherance
of cooperative extension work in agriculture and home economics, acts of May 8 and
June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cody Stone,
Director of Extension, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717.
