Name: Abby Sanders
Parents: Sondy and Gerald Sanders
4-H Group: Little Mulberry 4-H Club, Ozark, Ark.
How are you involved in agriculture?
“I started out when I was real young, Carley and I started together, because our mothers were active in 4-H club. We are cousins but we do everything together, so we’re more like sisters. I got involved when other 4-H’ers would give me animals, but I have always loved animals. Now I show Boer goats and rabbits, and I have a Charolais cow, I also have a pig called Petunia, that Carley and I, and my folks along with the extension officer AI’d. She is due on the second of May.”
Why did you choose these animals?
“Well I have always had goats, and I wanted to have rabbits because my friends had them. Red and Petunia, my pigs, were also given to me. They were small and a lot of fun. I really liked them. We butchered Red and that was good for me because I learned you sometimes have to cut back on your crop. And I wanted to breed Petunia because I wanted more pigs, but I didn’t want to have to mess with a boar, so we looked into AI’ing Petunia.”
Who taught you to A.I.?
“I talked to a lot of people, and the extension officer, Jeanie Zerr, then I looked it up on the Internet, and when I called to order the kit, the man that sold it to me was very helpful. So, Carley and I, with the help of others, got it done.”
What do you do daily?
“I water, and feed mornings before school, and I check everybody out to make sure they are okay. Then I do the same thing of an evening after school. I also see them a lot right before I show them, because I trim them with the clippers, and trim their hooves, getting ready for the next day.”
What is in your future?
“I would like to continue in the 4-H and showing the animals, and hopefully earn a scholarship in the agriculture field. My advice for the younger ones is start small, practice makes perfect, if you handle your animals a lot and train them and basically become their best friends, they are a lot easier to train.”
By Donna Parker
