A number of Yelm High School FFA members took to the Thurston County Fairgrounds in Lacey from Tuesday, July 30 through Sunday, Aug. 4, for the annual fair and animal market. Members of the program raised select types of animals and showed or auctioned them at the event.
The students, some with goals of selling their animals at the market and some with goals of strictly showing them, began preparing for their journey months before stepping foot in the fairgrounds.
Goats
Two incoming seniors at YHS, Emmy Huttmann and Aurora Cooper, each raised Boer goats to show at the Thurston County Fairground. Huttmann, a fifth-year FFA member, brought two goats and a sheep to the event.
“I got them in March when they were pretty young,” Huttmann said. “Throughout that time I’ve been spending a lot of time with them, practicing for show, shaving them down, washing them. It’s a long process.”
She added that it’s been a rough year trying to find goats. She said her two animals at the fairgrounds are “pretty nice looking,” however she’s claimed to have “had better” before.
“Being in the FFA has been awesome. I love it. I really love the experience of raising animals,” Huttmann said. “It sucks having to sell them for the market, but it’s worth it for the experience, and you get good money out of it.”
Cooper, a fourth-year FFA member, said, Friday, Aug. 2, she attended the fair to show her animals and “hopefully” place pretty well. She also intended to sell her market Boer at the auction.
“The process for raising him, like Emmy said, it was pretty hard to find a goat this year. We went out to Yakima to get him, and he was pretty skittish at first,” Cooper said. “I’m hoping to place at least third in fit, show or type. I would be honestly happy with any place, whether it was first or last. I’m really hoping to break even for the auction.”
She said at first, it was tough adjusting for her goat to adjust to its new diet, which included protein and fatty-based foods. After two weeks on the new diet, her animal began to gain weight for the market.
“I’ve always really liked animals. I wasn’t really sure where I wanted to go with that. I wasn’t sure that Yelm had an FFA Chapter until I was talking to my cousin, and she told me to ask the school board if there was one,” Cooper said. “I’ve made sure to take as many agriculture classes as I could to be as involved in FFA as I could.”
Sheep
Trinity Short, a third-year FFA member and incoming junior, and Audrey Hyder, fourth-year FFA member and incoming senior, each brought lambs to the Thurston County Fair. Short, a youth representative on the Thurston County Fair Board, has attended the event for seven years and felt inspired to become a board member.
“I feel like it’s important to have a voice for my community to voice our wants, our needs, and give back to the fair for everything they’ve done for me,” she said.
Short said she exhibited her market lamb, a Suffolk Hampshire cross — an exotic cross of show breeds — as well as her market hog, at the fair.
Short added that the process of raising two different animals was a lot to handle at first, but the task eventually became easier over time.
“You learn things from sheep that you don’t learn from pigs, and you learn things from pigs that you don’t learn from sheep,” she said. “The main thing is there’s a lot of learning involved.”
Hyder, who sold her lamb at the Thurston County Fair, said that she hoped to place highly in her class and to finish as a champion.
“We breed our own lambs, and so I had to take care of the mom. He was actually stuck, so I had to help pull him out and everything. I’ve been raising him ever since,” she said. “FFA has definitely been a great experience. If anyone can try and do it, I definitely would. You learn so much and grow close to people that are also going through the same struggle with raising animals.”
Rabbits
JayCee Rehse and Joelle Standley, both first-year FFA members and incoming sophomores, showed New Zealand rabbits at the Thurston County Fair. Rehse said she’ll sell her rabbits after the fair.
“New Zealands are generally really good for meat because they have more tender meat due to how muscular they are. Females are usually the bigger rabbits, too,” she said. “I plan on keeping my albino rabbit, Snow.”
Rehse added that she intends to stay in Yelm’s FFA program and wants to continue working with rabbits.
“So far, being in the FFA has been awesome,” she said. “I get to play with a bunch of bunnies and hangout with people that have the same interests as me.”
Standley added that New Zealand rabbits typically have a “double chin” and come in different supported colors, including black, albino and red.
“Hunter and Caleb are 3 months old. Me and JayCee had our projects together, so we bred mom and dad, and ended up with six survivors. I feed them pellets in the morning, and I always make sure that they have a supply of water,” Standley said of raising the rabbits. “So far, FFA has been really welcoming. They’re always so nice and helpful and always so willing to answer my questions.”
Standley said she was just showing her rabbits at the fair and did not plan to sell them. She said they were each judged in their cage and inspected for good health.
