Planning for your 4-H swine project animal: Preparations - MSU Extension

2022-08-13 05:18:50 By : Mr. Alvin Wu

Julie Thelen, Michigan State University Extension - February 6, 2017

First article in series featuring tips and tricks as you prepare for and select your 4-H market hog.

Even with winter weather sticking around, many youth across the state begin looking for their 4-H hog project animal. Caring for a hog requires forward thinking and creating a plan of how to see your project through to the end. In addition to the requirement of selecting the animal, there is also a financial burden of caring for an animal through the duration of your project.

This three-part series from Michigan State University Extension will review important swine project content and address three main topics: preparations for your market hog, estimating costs of care and hog selection. These tips and tricks will help you be more prepared for your 4-H swine project experience.

This first article starts at the beginning: preparations. As you make plans to raise and care for a hog, think through all of the needs of your project. These details will help make the process of caring for swine easier. Here are a few examples of needs for your project.

Although there are many challenges to raising and caring for animals, it is also very rewarding to raise pigs. Resources like the 4-H Swine Project Snapshot can help provide recommendations for content learning and discovery of new opportunities. Additionally, the newly revised “Your 4-H Market Hog Project” book, available through the MSU Extension Bookstore, is a great resource for 4-H youth.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

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