WOODSTOCK – It has been a busy week for members of the South Bruce 4-H Dairy Club, with the first show of the season.
The Eastgen Challenge 2023 was held in Woodstock, July 6-7. The six members who made up this year’s team were on the road early in order to get the county display and bedding pack ready before the calves arrived.
Each year the show has a theme that counties are to use when designing their displays. This year’s theme was, “Remembering Dr. Tim Henshaw.” Henshaw, who passed away earlier this year, served the ag community for more than 40 years as a veterinarian. He completed nearly 1.1 million cow examinations during his veterinarian career, and was an icon in the veterinary field. He was also heavily involved in 4-H events, including performing calf inspections at the Eastgen Challenge Shows across Ontario and the TD Classic held at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.
After unloading the carefully packed supplies and equipment, the team got to work building the display. About 30 minutes (and one trip to a hardware store) later, the display and bedding pack were ready.
The Bruce County 4-H display at the Eastgen Challenge in Woodstock. (Submitted photo)
Once the calves arrived, they were inspected to insure they were healthy, and then were taken off to the wash rack for a quick bath to clean off any dirt and manure the calves picked up during the trailer ride.
After all the heifers were settled on the pack it was time for lunch. During lunch, announcements were made about the educational learning that would happen after lunch. There were three different learning segments. The first was on new genetics developed by Eastgen to reduce methane emissions. The second was a clipping demonstration; however, due to power issues the fitter giving the demonstration could only talk the competitors through how he preps animals for shows. And the final segment was on how to feed heifers at the shows to make them look their best.
After the teaching was done, everyone had to take a quiz to show what they learned. Marks on the quiz contributed points towards Grand Champion Overall and Premier County.
Julia Ferrier shows her calf. (Submitted photo)
When this was finished the competitors returned to the barn to begin prepping for the show the next day.
At 3 a.m., the team returned to the barn. Once the calves were clean and dry, show preparations were in full swing with top lines being set and feeding started.
The show started at 8 a.m. with junior showmanship. For some on the team, this was their first time ever showing dairy.
When the show finished around 4 p.m., the display was taken down and left over supplies reloaded. Despite being tired from the two days of preparation and little sleep, everyone had a good time and are looking forward to the shows coming up in the next couple of weeks.
