County 4-H Members Participate in State 4-H Small Animal Show

COURT HOUSE – Five members of the Cape May County 4-H Youth Development Program joined 4-H members from throughout the state at the New Jersey State 4-H Rabbit, Cavy, Small Animal, Herpetology & Poultry Show Sept. 9 at the Hunterdon County 4-H and Agricultural Fairgrounds in Lambertville. 
Trinity Hamann, Kelly Hunter, Lizzie Hunter and Cadence Golley all won their respective Best of Breed classes with their project rabbits. Allison Hamann won the Junior Rabbit Breed Identification Class. Trinity Hamann earned second place for Senior Rabbit Judging and Allison Hamann won 4th place in Junior Rabbit Judging. All of the girls are members of the Pitchforks & Buckets 4-H Livestock Club in Cape May County.
“We are very proud of these 4-H members for representing our 4-H livestock program at a state-level competition,” says Linda Horner, 4-H Program Coordinator in Cape May County. “They put in a lot of work throughout the year taking care of their project animals, attending club meetings, completing project record books and performing public presentations in order to get to the state level,” she continued.
Nearly 70 4-H members representing 12 counties (Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem, Somerset and Warren) gathered to compete in judging, showmanship, breed identification as well as standard, breed and conformation classes in rabbit, cavy, small animal, poultry and herpetology divisions.
This event offers 4-H’ers an opportunity to compete at an advanced level and meet other 4-H small animal project members from around the state.  “The 4-H members attending this event are the best from each county because they have earned the right to participate by receiving excellent ratings for their animals at county level shows.” says Jeannette Rea Keywood, Rutgers Cooperative Extension 4-H Agent and State 4-H Small Animal Program Liaison. 
The NJ State 4-H Rabbit, Cavy, Small Animal, Herpetology & Poultry Show is coordinated by the State 4-H Small Animal Project Advisory Council and sponsored by businesses and individuals from throughout the state.
The 4-H Youth Development Program is part of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and the Rutgers Cooperative Extension. 4-H educational programs are offered to all youth grades K – 13 on an age-appropriate basis, without regard to race, religion, color, natural origin, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
Learn more about the Cape May County 4-H Youth Development Program at the 4-H Foundation website cmc4h.com or call 609-465-5115 ext. 3605.