Porkers place at fair

Kyle Rickards shows his prize pig.

Even though it was the first year for most of the students to raise and show pigs, the newly-formed 4H pig club, Porky in the Pines, made an impressive start at the Deschutes County Fair earlier this month.

"The kids were great," said their 4-H leader, Julie Rickards. "They were so supportive of each other and worked so hard. They did really well for their first year."

Although Rickards had no previous pig experience, she decided to become a 4-H leader because there were no pig clubs in Sisters. Her son, Kyle, had been part of a pig club in Bend the year before, but it was difficult not having a more centrally located club.

"Kyle asked me to do it, and I agreed, thinking it would only be my two kids," said Rickards. "But we have eight kids -- six girls and two boys -- which is big for a first year group."

"Pigs are easy," said Kyle, who will be going into sixth grade next year. "You just throw food out to them and watch them grow. I liked reading to my pig, Squealer, although my Mom got mad at me when I didn't do my chores."

Kirsten Burke, who will be a sixth grader at Sisters Middle School next fall, took second place in the Showmanship division.

"Kirsten took second in Showmanship because she made such good eye contact with the judge," explained Rickards. "If you can make eye contact with the judge, it shows that you have control of your pig -- that you know it's every move and it knows yours.

"The kids use a cane to move and position their pigs, and Kirsten did a wonderful job."

Megan Crowder and Kyle Rickards both took third place in Showmanship.

"Pigs are an interesting 4-H project," said Rickards. "The kids buy the pigs when they are about 2-1/2 months old and weigh about 40 pounds. We didn't get our pigs until the end of March from a late litter which made it harder for our pigs to gain enough weight, but we did it."

According to Rickards, when the pigs go to Market class, they must weigh between 225 and 275 pounds in order to be sold. If pigs are too light, their owners must wake the animals up throughout the night, encouraging them to eat more grain.

Every pig in Porky in the Pines club made market weight.

Meeting market weight meant that all the kids were able to sell their pigs, bringing mixed emotions.

"From the beginning, the kids bond with their pigs," said Rickard. "They will go out in the pen and read to them, take naps with them, and spend time working them with the cane. It's pretty traumatic for most of the kids when it comes time to sell them to market -- even though that's what they raised them for in the first place.

"But 4-H teaches that sometimes saying good-bye is a part of life."

Porky in the Pines pigs sold from $2.75/pound up to $4/pound.

For more information about 4-H, or joining Porky in the Pines, contact Julie Rickards at 389-4994.

Sisters girl produces champion goats

Cami Sitsler with a prize Nigerian Dwarf Goat.

Cami Sitsler, a member of Goats Inc. 4-H club of Redmond, won a trophy for Champion of other breeds with her Nigerian Dwarf goats at the Deschutes County Fair.

Sitsler lives near Sisters. She also received eight blue ribbons, one Champion, one Reserve Champion, one Senior Reserve Best of Breed, one Jr. Reserve Best of Breed, and one Senior Best of Breed award.

The club was awarded the Herdsmanship award.