It's Important that your goat has a balanced diet. Their stomachs need certain foods to help the digestive tract. Yes, you are selling your animal and entering it into a competition but, that doesn't mean you don't have to take care of your animal. The whole 4-H program was made to help children with their education. It's all about the win. The win is kind of the golden ticket, like in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The chocolate is what you want, the golden ticket is something to try for. The chocolate is the money for your education and it is also for the experience, and the golden ticket is the win.

In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory everyone got caught up with the golden ticket. They would buy tons of chocolate, and when they opened it up they would not have a ticket and they would just throw away the chocolate. People get caught up in winning and forgot what the real goal is. When they don't win they just get mad and don't think about their great experience and the money people are giving them so they can get an education. I have always loved animals, and I have also wanted to get an education. I know this program is an amazing one! It helps kids get an education and it gives them the great experience of raising animals. We get to learn how to take care of animals. We should try and do the best we can for these wonderful people who care about us enough to buy our animals!

Part of taking care of your animal is feeding them right. Goats have four parts in their stomach. It is important to feed them the right things so their stomachs will do its thing correctly. The four parts of the stomach are called: Rumen, Function, Omusun Function and Abomasum Function. The Rumen is where the food starts its process. The Function serves as a pump that causes the liquid to flow in and out of the Rumen. In the Rumen, the food ferments. When it gets to the third compartment called Omasum Function, fermentation continues and excess moisture  is removed from the food. The food also grinds up finer. Finally Abomasum Function occurs. That function is the “true stomach” which is where the same thing happens that happens in a single-stomached animal’s stomach.

The stomach is really small and not fully developed when the kids are born. The stomach is not developed until the animal starts eating hay and other nutritious foods. Foods to help you achieve the balanced diet for your animal are: Hay, grain, other healthy foods. When feeding hay you need to remember that hay is the main source of nutrients for your animal. Each animal needs two to four pounds per day. Grain is a good way to get protein for your animal. You don't want to feed too much grain. If you feed too much, your animal could get sick and possibly die. A grain feed or pellet mix are good options. You only need to supplement your goats diet with grain. Loose minerals are also an excellent choice to keep your animals as healthy as possible. Raisins, corn chips, and bread are excellent “treats”. Don't forget to have clean and fresh water accessible to your animals.
A goat's digestive tract needs hay, grain and minerals to work correctly. If an animal doesn't get enough or gets too much, their system will malfunction. If that does occur, your animal could potentially become ill and/or die. We are selling our animals but that definitely doesn't mean we don't have to take care of them. We need to care for them as if we would be slaughtering them. We don't need someone who cares about us enough to pay a great deal of money for our project, and in return get something that was sick and could not digest or function the way the animal should. We need to give them 100%. If they are overpaying for our animals, we need to at least be a faithful and honest seller.

I hope that everyone can and will do everything in their power to keep their animals healthy and taken care of. I hope that no one will get caught up with the ticket. I want everyone to try and understand the chocolate. No buyer should leave without being thanked. We need to appreciate everything they do for us. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be here showing and selling our animals. They are one of the most important things in this whole program. I want an education. I want a good job. I am privileged to be a part of this amazing program. Not everyone is going to win, and that's okay. I would much rather walk away with the experience and the money so I can go get an education than walk away with an award and not have tried for the chocolate. It’s okay not to win. It is not okay to have poorly fed and made your animal unhealthy just so you can get that award.