Judging sheep and goats: Callaway Youth Expo in full swing at Auxvasse

Luke Riecke, 9, hugs Tucker the sheep before the goat and sheep show Wednesday at the Callaway Youth Expo. According to Riecke, Tucker hates everyone except him.
Luke Riecke, 9, hugs Tucker the sheep before the goat and sheep show Wednesday at the Callaway Youth Expo. According to Riecke, Tucker hates everyone except him.

AUXVASSE - Living up to his name, Beast the boar goat fidgeted while getting scrubbed down.

"You can see where he got the name," Cassidy Murphy, 12, said while wielding a hose.

His handlers, sisters Cassidy and Kaitlynn Murphy, 12, remained patient. Beast needed to be absolutely sparkling - his big moment in the spotlight was coming up soon.

The Murphy sisters are two of many young people showing livestock at the Callaway Youth Expo, which began Tuesday at Auxvasse Lions Club Park, 600 E. Chestnut St., and continues until Saturday. During the event, youth participants in 4-H, Girl and Boy Scouts, and Future Farmers of America show several categories of animals to judges. There's also a pie competition, a Little Mr. and Little Miss contest, and more.

Participants work for many months to raise their animals, get them into show condition and train them to cooperate for judging.

"You just have to work with them a lot and get them used to you," Luke Riecke, 9, said.

He showed in the sheep category Wednesday, along with his brother. It's his second year showing livestock at the youth expo.

"My brother wanted to show sheep," Riecke said. "When we went to get the sheep, I fell in love with this one. Everyone else thinks he's mean and he bites everyone, but he's nice to me."

Riecke said he's learned a lot about sheep while caring for Tucker.

"It's important to keep their leg wool clean and healthy," he said. "If you don't, you have to shear it off, and that makes a bad impression with the judges."

FFA and 4-H participants learn a lot, said Haley Barnes, of Mexico. At 20, she's been showing goats for almost 10 years. Her family breeds them at Spring Hills Farm.

"Goats are like dogs," she said. "They're super friendly and they each have their own personality. They're like a big dog or a small cow, because you can talk to them like a dog and they'll respond, but they also move in herds."

Jonathon Hasty agreed about goats' personalities.

"They're smarter than sheep," he said. "This one, Vic, she's sassy. She likes to be the center of attention."

Barnes can rattle off each of the things the judges are likely to look for in her own animals. Barnes brought six, all Boer goats, a type of meat goat.

"While it depends on the judge, they typically want wethers (castrated males) to be stocky and muscular, because those are the ones you slaughter," Barnes said. "Does should be more feminine and elegant."

According to Stephanie Murphy, Kaitlynn and Cassidy's mother, participants learn more than just animal husbandry.

"You learn a lot of responsibility and hard work ethic," she said. "There's what you learn from the animals, but you also learn people skills, interview skills and other life skills."

Her daughters are fourth-generation livestock showers, she said.

"I'm sure my great-grandpa would have showed as well, if it was an option, but that was the Great Depression," Murphy added.

Each animal also teaches a final lesson about the circle of life. Many will be sold at 7 p.m. Saturday to wrap up the expo. Some may be bound for tables.

Barnes remembers the first time she ate one of her goats. Her family was enjoying a dinner of goat - a fairly common meal at their household - when her mother asked her how it tasted.

"I said, 'It's delicious,' and she put a name on it," Barnes recalled. "I started crying. Then she asked me again how he tasted and, still crying, I said it still tasted good."

She can laugh about the incident now, and said that it's valuable to understand where the meat on the table comes from.

While raising Beast and his brother Bruno, Kaitlynn Murphy also learned a little about veterinary work. Her mother acquired the two goats as kids, for free, because both were very sick. One had a broken leg after his mother, who rejected the two, stepped on him. Both had a disease.

According to her mom, Kaitlynn worked tirelessly to nurse the two back to health.

"I had to give them medicine and feed them," Kaitlynn said. "I'd walk them up and down the hill to strengthen them up."

Both goats are now healthy and feisty.

"They're bottle babies, so they're very naughty," Kaitlynn added.

Stephanie Murphy said she was proud of her daughters. The two are also getting into judging and expressed interest in continuing to work with livestock as adults.

For a full list of Callaway Youth Expo events, visit bit.ly/2L7ZFYi.