Page 8A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
ANIMALS: Cows are high risk because they are expensive
Continued from 1A
14 goats, fi ve turkeys, two
rabbits and one chicken
that will be up for auction
Saturday, according to Marie
Linnel, the livestock sales
superintendent.
The reasons for why a
youth chooses to raise one
animal over another vary
as widely as the species on
exhibit.
Claire Sponseller is the
4-H agent with the OSU
Extension offi ce out of
Pendleton. She said kids use
a variety of factors when
choosing the animal that’s
right for them.
“For some, it’s personal
taste, for others it’s the ease
of the animal,” she said.
Hogs take less preparation
to get ready for fair, Spon-
seller explained, but because
of their size many can’t keep
them at home. Lambs take
more work, she said, but take
up less space. Theoretically
they, along with goats, can
be kept in a back yard. Some
people love the personality
of hogs, but they take longer
to grow to size. Sheep and
goats are easier to fi nd in the
Umatilla County area, as are
cows.
Hermiston 4-H member
Landon Vandehey, 14, is
showing his black Australorp
hen for the second year in
a row. He chose a chicken
because it is smaller and
easier to raise. Landon said
he makes sure she has feed
and water every day, along
with an occasional strawberry
treat.
Inquiring minds might
wonder how a chicken is
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Mekayla Loper, 18, of Hermiston cleans one of the hooves of her Nubian dairy goat,
Nickers, on Tuesday at the Umatilla County Fairgrounds in Hermiston.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Rachel Dynes, left, and Jimena Puerta, both members
of the Hermiston Herders 4-H group, feed their market
hogs Tuesday at the Umatilla County Fair.
actually shown at the fair.
Vandehey said the judges
do a “vet check,” looking
for mites or signs of disease.
Then the judge may ask
the exhibitor to extend the
bird’s legs or spread one of
its wings. The judge assesses
each part of the chicken from
its wattle — the red “beard”
that hangs from a chicken’s
neck — to its eyes and claws.
Dalton Harris, 16, is a
member of the Pendleton
FFA and is showing a hog for
his second year at the fair. He
said that raising a hog is “just
fun” and good money. He
takes his Hampshire cross,
Oinkers, on a daily walk
so the hog will be easier to
control at show time. He uses
a cane to help guide Oinkers
where he wants him to go.
Hogs eat a lot of food.
Oinkers plows through a
50-pound bag of feed almost
every day. Harris is looking
forward to the auction — he
just bought a truck and is
anxious to pay it off.
Jayda Hoston, 14, a Herm-
iston 4-H member, is showing
goats this year and has been
doing so for almost 10 years.
The choice to raise goats was
an easy one; her grandma
has had goats since before
Hoston was born. Jayda’s
favorite part of raising goats
is the showmanship part.
“I like just getting out
there in the ring,” she said.
“Showing ’em what you’ve
got.”
She brought three Nubian
goats to this year’s show.
Aside from feeding and
watering, Hoston also checks
the goats’ udders to make sure
they’re balanced, stretching
them when needed.
Brady Linnel is fi nishing
up his last year with the
Hermiston FFA. He brought
three cows to this year’s fair,
all of them Red Angus. He
chose cows in part because
his family members are “beef
people.” Linnel takes tedious
care of his cows, combing,
washing and blow drying
their hair every day of the
year, not just during fair, to
give them a fi ne coat.
In Linnel’s opinion, cows
are the highest risk animals
because they are expensive,
and raising a cow for fair is
a year-long process where
anything can happen. But, he
also said that cows have the
highest reward, because they
are the heaviest animals and
can bring in the most money
— money that will come
in handy as he heads off to
Colorado State University to
study animal science.
———
Contact Alexa Lougee at
alougee@eastoregonian.com
or 541-564-4534.
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Trump: Gun
backers might
stop Clinton
WILMINGTON, N.C.
(AP) — Donald Trump
ignited a fresh political
fi restorm Tuesday by
declaring gun rights
supporters might still
fi nd a way to stop Hillary
Clinton, even if she should
defeat him and then name
anti-gun Supreme Court
justices.
Democrats
pounced, accusing him
of openly encouraging
violence against his
opponent.
First,
he
falsely
claimed that Clinton, his
Democratic
opponent,
wants to “essentially
abolish
the
Second
Amendment.” She has said
repeatedly that she supports
the Second Amendment
right to own guns, though
she does back some stricter
gun control measures.
Trump then noted the
power Clinton would have
to nominate justices to the
high court.
“By the way, if she gets
to pick her judges, nothing
you can do, folks. Although
the Second Amendment
people — maybe there
is, I don’t know,” Trump
told supporters at a rally
in Wilmington, North
Carolina. “But I’ll tell
you what. That will be a
horrible day.”
The reaction from
Democrats was immediate.
Said
her
campaign
manager, Robby Mook:
“This is simple — what
Trump is saying is
dangerous.”