TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Walking his pig around, Dominic Williams, 13, guided it with a stick. He’s one of the people competing in 4H, an auction for livestock at the Pima County Fair.
“You learn new responsibilities and taking care of an animal,” Williams said.
Some of the responsibilities he has to take care of his pigs are feeding and bathing them, and cleaning their pen.
“Feeding them is nice when they’re all round up and heavy,” Williams said.
As far as how big they can get, Williams said they usually have a max weight of about 285 pounds. When he starts to raise them they’re about two months old and then he typically has them in the 4H auction at about six months old.
He competes in showmanship where he walks his pig around in between him and a judge.
“Making your pig look good and working your pig in the showroom, and having good eye contact, and having your pigs head up the whole time,” he described it.
He also competes by having them slaughtered and then having people buy the meat.
“Doing the carcass show and getting the meat after and then selling the pigs,” Williams said.
He then gets money through an auction based on how much the pig weighs and then it goes per pound. He said he can usually make about 14 to 17 dollars a pound.
Next Saturday the fair is having a large stock auction on Saturday and a small stock auction on Sunday. People who win the livestock with the highest bid can keep them for their personal use or have them processed by a third party.
“Listen and pay attention,” Williams advised other people who want to participate in 4H.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
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