Ella Dick (back) and Willow Munsch encourage the animals to move forward into the chute.--NEWS PHOTO SAMANTHA JOHNSON
reporter@medicinehatnews.com
The Irvine 4-H Beef Club were able to take part in a weigh-in of their animals this week.
Leader Mandy Hyland explained, “Each November the kids come in and weigh their steers, heifers and companions. We are checking tag numbers, CCIA tags and brands.”
Some kids pick a second animal as a companion as insurance against death, injury or illness of the one they initially select.
Additionally, the animals are vaccinated and are checked to ensure the sex is correct. Most of the kids have steers but a few have heifers, two-year-olds or three-year-olds, and a couple have a herd, which consists of one of each of those listed.
The weighing-in this year took place Monday at the Medicine Hat Feed Company, which has an official scale. The kids were active getting the animals unloaded and sorted through the pens to where they needed to go. The weighing-in took place in one building and then animals were moved over to another area for check-ups and vaccinations.
Brody Marshall, 13, is in his fifth year of 4-H and picked out this year’s steer a couple of weeks ago from the family ranch. He says he knew which one he wanted right away. Last year, his steer sold for a good price and he came third in his class. That steer weighed in at about 1,600 lbs when he sold it, gaining almost double his weight from when it was weighed in last November.
Willow Munsch is 10 years old and has been in 4-H for two years. This year she has a steer, a heifer and a cow/calf pair. Her job at the weighing in encouraging the animals to keep moving forward into the chute, and she said she had loads of fun despite the chill.
