Dairy Heifer Program Participants Get to Know Their Heifers
Rain or shine, our 2021 4-H Dairy Heifer Program participants have been busy!
In the last two months, the participants have been learning about their animals’ personalities and nutritional needs, as well as training them for show season. The heifers must be able to lead and set up with their feet positioned correctly, comfortable around people, and enjoy grooming.
This month, the 4-Hers and their heifers had the first of many program check-ins. Our Threemile team of vets, Dr. Jeff Wendler, Dr. Adlai Schuler, and Dr. Ryan Wedam, met with the kids to ensure each heifer is gaining the appropriate amount of weight, administer necessary vaccinations and check on progress between the kids and their animals.
Dr. Ehrin Dawson, Threemile’s PhD Dairy Nutritionist, works with each participant to carefully formulate rations so the heifer is getting a properly balanced meal. Along with Dr. Brittany Casperson, they teach the kids about general animal health and nutrition.
Once the check-ins were complete, the participants were able to ask questions or discuss concerns, as well as mingle with each other and the other heifers. All the kids were excited about the progress they had made and the Threemile team was very impressed with the growth and tameness changes in all the heifers.
We asked participants about their favorite part of the program so far:
Kathryn said, “I love to walk my heifer Dairy Queen. Over the last few months, I’ve noticed how big she has gotten and it's fun to see her grow up and get tamer so I can work with her.”
Sierra said, “My favorite part so far is getting to watch her grow and develop. I’ve seen how much time you have to spend with them to get them tame so you can walk them on a halter.”
Erin Heidman, Morrow County 4H Educator, said, “Every year, the program gets better and better. The relationship with Threemile is so special; they treat the kids great, and they step up to the plate and do what is needed. I love to see how supportive everyone is!”
We are proud to partner with these amazing kids who are so willing and eager to learn and work with the animals. Thanks for taking good care of the Threemile heifers, Morrow County 4-Hers!
