Little goats, big hearts
By Larry Meyer - Argus Observer
Monday, August 6, 2007 10:43 AM PDT
| |
| Dannette Hackman is shown behind her 4-H club members (from left) Zachary Hackman, Aleasha Hackman and Dakota Salisbury at the Malheur County Fair.
|
ONTARIO - Dannette Hackman did not start a 4-H club as soon as she started to raise dairy goats.
But the 36-year-old rural Ontario resident said she realized it was only be a matter of time before she started her own 4-H club.
Now, Hackman directs her own 4-H club and she said the chosen vocation continues to be an important part of her life.
Hackman’s 4-H club is called “Capering Capines.”
“It’s a dairy goat club,” Hackman said, “I’ve been in 4-H since I was a fourth-grader.”
She said she continued with 4-H in high school, when she was leader of a horse club.
Later, when she lived in central Oregon, Hackman and her husband continued to stay involved in 4-H by donating money to pay for ribbons and trophies and buying animals at the fair livestock auction.
Hackman said the goat club is an extension of her and her husband’s dairy goat business, which they’ve operated for about 13 years.
Hackman received her first goat as a joke from her father-in-law, she said.
“I tied it in the in the front yard. I always wanted them. They are so friendly,” she said.
The Hackmans’ do not just ride herd over ordinary goats. The couple’s vocation focuses on miniature daily goats, down-sized versions of regular goat breeds, Hackman said.
“It’s a breed in development,” she said.
The smaller goats do not provide as much milk as full-sized goats but are good for making cheese, since their milk as a higher percentage butter fat.
Actually there is only one real miniature goat breed, Hackman said, which is used to downsize the other breeds, which become mid-sized goats.
“For kids, they are really easy to handle,” Hackman said. “They have to show against the bigger goats.”
Hackman said club members learn not only how to feed and care for their goats, they also have to learn genetics and about breeding their animals.
4-H club members also have to learn to milk the goats and do other chores and learn to do things like pasteurizing the milk. Hackman said her son has been doing his own milking since he was age 5. He is now 9.
“It’s a commitment,” Hackman said.
She also encourages the members to get involved in other clubs and other types of projects.
While the club is still just starting to grow — this is only the third year it has existed — it consists of a variety of ages and they help each other.
“The older kids work with the younger kids,” Hackman said. “We’re a 4-H family. It give kids direction and maturity.”
What Tha wrote on Oct 22, 2009 8:20 PM:
Idaho Public Utilities Commission, in opposition to the proposed rate increase of 44% to farmers and
businesses
Idaho PUC? "