2009 Sheep & Wool Skillathon
The 2009 Sheep & Wool Skillathon will be held Sunday, May 3rd at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. The Festival is held at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, Maryland. The skillathon will be held in the old rabbit building, near the entrance to the Festival grounds. Registration starts at 8 a.m. The skillathon will start at 9 a.m. Preliminary results will be announced at approximately 2 p.m.
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Kaitlyn Fuss
examines a sheep during the 2007 skillathon |
A skillathon provides youth with the opportunity to blend knowledge and skills acquired in livestock judging, demonstrations, and care and exhibition of animals into a single activity. It consists of a series of stations where youth are tested on their knowledge and abilities related to livestock.
The Maryland Sheep and Wool Skillathon is open to any youth between the ages of 8 and 18. Individuals and teams (of 3 or 4) from any county, state, or province may compete. Youth ages 8 to 10 compete as juniors; youth ages 11 to 13 compete as intermediates; and youth 14 to 18 compete as seniors. Youth compete according to the 4-H age (age as of January 1 of the current year).
The Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival provides ribbons and premiums to the top ten individuals in each age division and Festival t-shirts to the members of the top three teams in each age division. The Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival is a committee of the Maryland Sheep Breeders Association.
For more information or to register, contact Susan Schoenian at (301) 432-2767 x343 or sschoen@umd.edu.
The 2008 skillathon included the following stations:
- Equipment Identification
- Animal Health
- Forage and Feed Identification
- Breed Identification (half by pictures, half by wool)
- Meat Identification
- Fleece judging (Targhee fleeces) and wool evaluation
- Sheep judging (Karakul yearling ewes)
- Hay evaluation and judging
- Written tests (10 Qs for juniors, 15 Qs for intermediates, and 20 Qs for seniors).
- Senior team problem (balancing a ration for
a ewe nursing twin lambs)
2008 skillathon stations were sponsored by The Delmarva Farmer (Fleece judging) ; Sheep! Magazine (breed ID); Premier Sheep Supplies Ltd. (equipment ID); Shepherd Magazine (written test); Sheepman Supply Company (Animal Health), Kate's Koop: Farm Fresh Eggs (Feed and Forage ID), Talking Hooves Educated Hoof Care (hay judging); George G. Ruppersberger & Sons, Inc. (meat ID), and the Frederick County Sheep Breeders Association (sheep judging). City Grafx donated table numbers.
Study Resources for Skillathons
Created or last updated
by Susan Schoenian on
23-Dec-2009
.