4-H abounds in the Rainy River District with both 4-H fun days and many 4-H clubs being active with meetings and educating 4-H members on the importance of keeping up to date on herd health for beef cattle.
Beef clubs from Emo and Devlin were hosted by Ray and Kayla Chartier for a very successful 4-H fun day Both Ray and Kayla enjoyed the great kids and were impressed with some nice looking animals.
A potluck topped off the day with parents joining in. This was a great day to for all attending.
The Dawson Beef Club held its second meeting on July 20. The meeting started by reciting the 4-H pledge. Minutes were read and approved. This year’s project topic is Herd Health. During the meeting members and leaders learned about parasites that affect cattle, including rabies, ringworm roundworms, coccidiosis, lungworm, liver flukes, eye worm, lice mange warble flies, and horn flies. The club discussed each parasites, life cycle, how to identify signs of infections methods of prevention and available treatment options, and then members participated in several hands-on activities to reinforce what they learned.
First, the club worked through scenarios cards that described different situations. Members identified which parasites were being described and whether it was an internal or external parasite. Next, the club worked together to arrange the stages of different parasite life cycles in the correct order. Finally the 4-H members compared a variety of livestock tools and discussed which ones would be the easiest to properly clean and sterile emphasizing the importance of good bio security practices.
The meeting was adjourned at 8p.m.
