Members of Cerro Alto 4-H were at the fair showing their animals despite the extreme weather impacts that affected them during the winter.
“Sheep numbers are kind of down because they couldn’t make it through the cold winter,” Adeline Vert, Cerro Alto 4-H president said.
The winter rain was a setback for those who participated in showing their animals at the California Mid-State Fair.
”My lambs were born during the storm, we had flooded barnes and it was cold. It really affected the lambing season this year and the number of lambs produced for the fair kind of dwindled,” Vert said.
“A lot of animals didn’t make it through because the extreme weather change from really cool to really hot really affected how people had to raise their animals,” Vert said.
Savannah Goss is vice president of Cerro Alto 4-H. She says this is her sixth year showing sheep and she feels very lucky to be in a ventilated barn.
When their animals do start to overheat, they are prepared.
“Some of the animals that overheat easier will pull them out of the pens and spray them down with hoses,” Goss said.
“Some people tire fans write on their pens just so it’s directly blowing onto their animals,” Goss said.
They also change water two to four times a day.
Goss tells me they have to keep a close eye on the animals so they do not drink too much water.
“The animals like to go and drink their entire bucket of water, which is 5 gallons. Lambs are not able to hold that in their stomach. It can cause bloating and some of the animals really do get sick from drinking that much water,” Goss said.
Both are passionate about what they can do for their community.
“Being able to just come into the barn with my animals is my passion for 4H,” Vert said.
“We show we do it we love and we have a good time and we make sure these animals are taken care of,” Vert said.
They tell me that they start prepping their animals for the Mid State Fair months in advance.
