Market Animal Project Calendar

1. Market Animal Project Calendar A month by month step calendar to help the market animal project member complete their project.

2. January • Beef project members should have their project animal purchased already. Beef steers should be purchased around 500 – 600 lbs. Holstein steers should be around 700 – 800 lbs. Market cross steers, where 1 parent is beef and the other parent is dairy, should be purchased around 450 -550 lbs. • Steers don’t need to be pushed right out of the gate. A light ration can be fed at this time. • You should also be halter breaking your steers and starting to handle them. You can also start tying them up for a little bit of time.

3. February • I would definitely have my steer purchased by this time. • I would continue to work with my steer. Tying it up, starting to walk it, and starting to use the show stick. You want him to start getting used to you having the stick in your hands and using it on him. • Remember that a calf will eat approximately 2-2.5 % of its body weight per day. So, if I have a 600 lb steer I should be feeding him at least 15lbs of a balanced ration at this point. You want to also allow a little roughage in his diet.

4. March • You should be out handling your steer everyday. When your feeding you steer, you should be talking and petting him. • You should still be putting the halter on him, walking him, and working with the show stick. • If you have access to a scale, you should be weighing your steer to see where his weight is at. In Shawano your steer has to gain 2 lbs per day. By this time you should be feeding your steer close to 17.5 lbs of grain and continuing to feed some roughage.

5. March cont. • Those of you showing sheep, March is the month that your sheep should be born by. You could also go for a lamb that was born as early as February. If you are looking at a crossbred, Hampshire, or Suffolk sheep you want to go with one that was born late January – early February. You definitely don’t want a lamb born later than the middle of March. • Those of you showing swine, March is also the month that your market hogs should be born. I would go with a hog born between mid March to mid April.

6. April • We have beef weigh in on April 14th, 2012 @ 9 am to noon at Bonduel Equity. • You would like to see your beef steers around that 800 – 900 lb mark. Dairy steers you want to see more around that 900 – 1000 lb mark. Market cross steers you want to see around that 600 – 700 lb mark. Remember you have 137 days from this weigh-in to fair. Steers have to gain 2 lbs per day. • This is the month you want to start your Shawano Co. Livestock Financial Record for your beef project. • You should be feeding around 21.5 lbs of feed to your steer at this point and now you also want to start pushing your steer. You also want to make sure you worm your steer.

7. April cont. • You want to continue working with your steers. You should be able to tie them up without them fighting the rope and you should be able to lead them around without them fighting you. • Sheep project members should be looking at purchasing their project animals. Usually this is around the mid to end of April. Lambs should be weaned and around 50 lbs when you get them. • Swine project members should be looking at getting their hogs also. You want to get them toward the end of April. Hogs should weigh around 45 – 55 lbs.

8. May • You should still be working with your steers daily. • You should be feeding them at least 22 -24 lbs of grain and should still be feeding some roughage. • Sheep project members should be taming down their lambs by hand-feeding and spending time in the pen with them. • Weigh-in for Sheep is May 11th, 2012 @ 6 pm to 7 pm @ the Shawano Co. Fairgrounds. Sheep should weigh-in around 65 – 70 lbs. You have 110 days from this weigh-in to Fair. Lambs have to gain .2 lbs per day. You will also start your Shawano Co. Livestock Financial Record at this point.

9. May cont. • Lambs will consume 2 to 3 lbs of grain mix per day. If lambs are cleaning up this amount of grain within five minutes then you can start increasing their grain by a half a pound until they don’t clean it up right away. You should also feed them twice a day. Divide the total amount of feed your feeding per day in half. Provide small amount of high quality long hay. Fresh, clean water is also important. You want to also make sure your lambs were wormed at weaning if they weren’t you want to do that now. • Clean pens, feed troughs, salt boxes, and waters daily to prevent coccidiosis.

10. May cont. • Vaccinate with clostridium perfringens type C & D bacterin-toxoid (30 and 60 days of age) for overeating disease. • Swine project members should make sure that feeder pigs have a dry, draft-free sleeping area (3 to 4 sq. feet per pig). • Start pigs on the same type of feed that they were consuming before you bought them and then slowly transition them over to the feed that you will be feeding them.

11. May cont. • Swine weigh-in is May 12th, 2012 @ 9 am to noon @ the Shawano Co. Fairgrounds. Swine should weigh-in around 65lbs. You have 109 days from this weigh-in to fair. Swine need to have gained 170 lbs in this time. You should also be starting your Shawano Co. Livestock Financial Record sheets at this time. • A 50 lb pig will eat about 3 lbs of feed per day. • Make sure you worm your pigs every 30 days. • Provide daily balanced diet, clean environment, and fresh water. • Start working with your pig. You want to start going into the pen and playing around with them.

12. June • You should be continuing your workouts with your steer. You should start taking him on longer walks and walking him outside in the yard. • You should also start washing him and getting him used to the fitting chute. • If you have access to a scale you should be weighing your steer to see where you are at with his weight. If you are feeding out two steers you should be going through close to 100 lbs of grain a day at this point. If you don’t have access to a scale, you can tape your steer. This will give you a rough idea what your steer weights.

13. June cont. • If your market lambs aren’t sheared yet, you want to do that now. Lambs should be washed a couple of times so they are used to it. • You want to make sure your lambs are kept dry and shaded if they are outside. • You want to monitor weight and condition of lambs. Make sure lambs are getting daily exercise. • You want to start practice walking and setting up your lamb; you want to also practice holding lambs for handling by the judge. • Lambs should be eating 4 to 6 lbs of grain daily and wormed once a month. Continue feeding some long hay.

14. June cont. • You should be getting your pigs out and walking them. Avoid mid-day temperatures. • Swine should be eating 4-6 lbs of feed daily. Swine should be fed two to three times a day which encourages interaction between you and your pigs. • Swine should be wormed. • You should wash your pigs. Not only will this get them used to being washed but it will also help keep them cool.

15. July • If you have access to a scale you should weigh your steer, sheep, and/or hog. If you don’t have access to a scale you can tape your steer and/or hog. There isn’t a tape for sheep. It is important to monitor your project animals weight. • Animals should still be eating at least: 4 to 6 lbs for sheep; 4 to 6 lbs for swine; and at least 25 lbs for beef per day. Sheep and beef should still be getting some hay. All should be getting plenty of CLEANWATER.

16. July cont. • You should be continuing with your daily workouts with your project animals. • You should also be working on you Financial Record sheet. • Make sure animals are wormed. • Also, make sure you are continuing to make sure pens are clean, dry, shaded, and properly bedded. • You want to also wash your project animal.

17. August • Fair entries are due August 1st, 2012. Make sure you sign up for your market class, showmanship, and carcass. You also have to have your COOL sheet turned in by this time. • If you have access to a scale you should weigh your steer, sheep, and/or hog. If you don’t have access to a scale you can tape your steer and/or hog. It is really important to be monitoring your project animal’s weight at this point.

18. August cont. • Final weights you need to meet are: Sheep – min. is 110 lbs; Swine – min. is 230 lbs; Market Beef – min. 1000 lbs, Market Dairy – min. 1100 lbs, and Market Cross ( 1 parent Beef / 1 parent Dairy) – min. 950 lbs. • Ideally you don’t really want to go over the following weights: Sheep – 140 lbs; Swine – 300 lbs; Market Beef – you actually want to be around 1300 -1500 lbs, Market Dairy – you want to be around 1500 -1700 lbs, and Market Cross – you want to be around 1000 – 1200 lbs.

19. August cont. • Animals should still be eating at least: 4 to 6 lbs for sheep; 7 to 9 lbs for swine; and at least 25 lbs for beef per day. Sheep and beef should be getting some hay. All should be getting plenty of clean water. • You should be continuing with your daily workouts with your project animals. • You should also be working on your Financial Record Sheet. • Make sure animals are wormed early in the month. Make sure you double check withdrawal days to market.

20. August cont. • Also, make sure your are continuing to make sure pens are clean, dry, shaded, and properly bedded. • Sheep should be washed three to five days before the show and then blanketed. Swine and steers should also be washed before going to the fairgrounds. • Final weigh-in is August 29th, 2012 at the fairgrounds. Make sure you have a photo of you and your project, your financial record sheet, and hogs need their vet papers. You should schedule the vet a week before the fair to look at your swine.

21. Final Thoughts • Have fun with your market animal project. • Work hard, provide proper and responsible care for your market animal project. • Make sure you go to as many project meetings as you can. You can always learn something. • Don’t be afraid to ask questions. • Be helpful to the public. Fairgoers often have questions about Exhibits, and all they may know about the animals and 4-H is what you tell them. • BE A GOOD EXAMPLE!!!!!!!