Julie Vincent
Project Process Paper
By Julie Vincent
The first step in my senior project was figuring out what I wanted to do. I had always wanted to be in 4H, but never had enough drive to start. So I thought this year would be a good year to start 4H for my senior project. I knew a friend at my school who was in 4H and she got me put in her 4H group. I never knew that much about 4H. I just knew it involved raising animals. I had always wanted to join 4H so I could learn more about farm animals since I am thinking of becoming a large animal veterinarian. I felt that working with farm animals in 4H would be a great start to my career.
I started my senior project by interviewing a 4H member from my school. My 4H member got my involved in a Monticello 4H meeting, and gave me directions and a number to call to get involved in 4H. My meeting with a 4H member was the start of a new idea for my senior project. After going to a couple of 4H meetings and helping with some 4H projects, such as cooking and knitting I went to talk to my new 4H president. Our 4H president was a professional hog raiser and he had won many awards from his meat hogs at the fair.
Soon after deciding that I wanted to raise pigs I realized that I had to find a mentor. I was able to get help finding a mentor from my 4H group. The president of our 4H group was a great candidate for my mentor. I felt my mentor was a great mentor because he had been in 4H for over five years and had bred many championship hogs. My new mentor Doug helped me learn information about pigs and what it takes to raise them. He taught me about the different breeds of pigs, how to properly care for pigs, what to feed them, how to show them and how to breed pig. After the first month I had to find a place to raise my pigs and found a place at a farm with two of my other friends, it was perfect.
I first met with Doug in December and he walked me through what information I needed to know about pigs. Doug told me that there kinds of pig breeds. He identified the Yorkshire, Duroc, Berkshire and spotted, but the two most popular show pig breeds are Duroc and Yorkshire . The Duroc are all reddish brown, while the Yorkshire are mostly pink, while some can be spotted. Pigs have very big personalities and large appetites. I eventually decided after a couple of months of being in 4H that I wanted to get two of Doug's pigs. I knew I needed a place to raise my pigs in the next coming months. In one of our 4H meetings I came in contact with a friend of mine who had a place that could house her two pigs, and mine. Now a very big part of my senior project was finished and I waited eagerly to get my hogs.
While spending time with Doug I had to balance going to 4H meetings every other Monday, these 4H meeting where designed to get all the 4H members together. In January I watched my mentor breed his pigs, and visited Doug more frequently as the females started to show they were pregnant. My mentor Doug explained that pigs usually have their babies at around 114 days, and they are almost always right on time. The date the pigs were supposed to have their babies was on January 7.
To get the full experience for my senior project I decided to watch one of Doug's Yorkshire hogs go through child birth. At around 12:30pm Doug called me up and said that his pig had gone into labor. I rushed down to his house and help him deliver the piglets. After being with my mentor and his hog for five hours, the mother hog had a total of 13 healthy piglets. I learned that it is very common for pigs to stillborns and that sometime the mothers crush their babies. While being present for the birth Doug's pig had three stillborn piglets, it was very traumatic fro me seeing baby piglet being born dead. The piglets grew approximately a pound or two each day.
It was almost time for me to buy my hogs in early April when I got a call on my phone. The call was from one of my 4h members saying that she didn't have room anymore to house my hogs. She explained the ladies father had dies, and she felt it was an inconvenience having pigs on her property. This left me with no place to house my pigs. I was now in a bind. If I didn't find a place soon, I would not be able to finish senior project. I contacted Connelly Ranch, Monticello 4H leaders, Vintage Farm, New Technology High school Parents and the 4H leader in Napa . I really had to reflect on what I was going to do and starting looking for other 4H alternatives.
As I was researching my mom called me and said that Connelly ranch had openings for sheep. I immediately called the head leader of 4H and discussed changing my farm animal from pigs to sheep. This was a very stressful change for me considering I spent over five months learning about pigs. I wondered if anybody knew a sheep expert that could become my second mentor. I contacted my first mentor and he directed me to sheep expert named Madeline. Madeline and I started planning my new 4H assignment. I am currently in the process of getting my sheep. With my mentors help I found a place to raise my sheep.
Because pigs cost over 500 dollars to buy and feed the first year I decided to get a job. Sheep on the other hand cost about 300 dollars a year to pay for food. Luckily I saved about 2000 dollars from my part time job, and I plan to use that money to help pay for my senior project.
After attending 4H meetings over the year I eventually felt like I was part of a family. In 4H, I not only learned how to raise selected animals, but I also learned to work together as a team. If you have been in 4H for more than one years then you are given a record book to start. The record books incorporate what past animals you have raised, how much that animal sold and how much the animal weighed each week. These record books are a complete compilement of what you have done over the years in 4H. Because this is my first and last year in 4H I do not need to create a record book, even though I have been involved in numerous 4H activities this year.
In December our 4H group decided to have a Christmas cooking party for which every person was assigned to bring certain items. Later that week we also made gingerbread houses with frostings and a multitude of candy. In January I was involved in multiple hog meeting to which general hog training was the topic. I learned how to ear notch pigs which involved numbering pigs by ear piercing. This process consists of the pigs getting ear piercing on certain parts of each ear. This makes it easier for people to pick out which hog they want during selling times. I also learned how to castrate pigs, but that topic is better left unexplained. Most of the time just being with the pigs was enough experience for me. I had always been told but never really knew that pigs had personalities. Pigs wanted to be touched they love human contact and are naturally affectionate creatures. I have just recently gotten my sheep and found them at first very frightened of me at first. I never really knew how complicated it is to pick out your show sheep. When you look for a sheep you want to feel around its loin. I learned that If you don't like the way your sheep is shaped it is very easy to get it in shape. A sheep's body is fairly easy to sculpt into something you want to show.
I feel lucky because I learned more than I originally thought, I have gained more experience from switching from pigs to sheep. This project has been a great experience and I will us my knowledge of what I have learned in 4H to further my career as a veterinarian.