Keiki learn valuable skills through working hands-on with farm animals

For Isabella Hughes the 4-H program is not only fun, it inspired her to one day become a farmer.

Last month Hughes, 13, of Laie, participated in the Oahu County 4-H Livestock Show for the fifth time, where she showcased a Boer Cross goat that she named Stella.

“Four-H teaches you pretty much everything,” she said. “You get to raise an animal, and raise it responsibly for four months.”

She did not have the space to raise Stella at home, so she kept her at Gunstock Ranch in Laie and visited every afternoon to feed and walk her. “She loves to run, so you had to be fast,” she said.

Stella was 25 pounds when Hughes first purchased her and after four months weighed a good 48 pounds. The biggest lesson Hughes learned was patience.

Monica Porter, a multiple grand-champion winner, is now 17 but has been participating in 4-H livestock programs since she was 5. Having grown up on a North Shore ranch, she loves being around animals.

“You get to raise it, watch it grow, and when you sell it all your hard work pays off,” said Porter, who exhibited a hog, a lamb and a steer at the county livestock show. “It’s such a great program. It teaches kids respect and responsibility.”

The county show was a good practice run for the annual Hawaii State Farm Fair at Kualoa Ranch on Saturday and Sunday, where keiki will showcase steer, goats, chickens and lambs at the 4-H Livestock Tent.

In Hawaii, 4-H was launched in 1918 with a 31-member pig club on Maui. Today it’s run by the Hawaii Cooperative Extension of the University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources.

Nowadays 4-H Hawaii offers many different programs for youth from ages 5 to 19, including a healthy-living initiative, a food show and a new junior master gardener program, according to Becky Settlage, a county extension agent overseeing 4-H youth development and livestock programs. Statewide it has 200 to 300 club members.

It has evolved with the times, adding an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math skills. For instance, every October, 4-H offers a national youth science day program. This year’s challenge, called Drone Discovery, calls for an exploration of how drones can be designed and used to solve real-world problems.

The livestock program, however, continues to be the most popular, said Settlage. Nowadays more kids are shifting from larger animals like beef steers to smaller ones, like chickens and rabbits, which are easier to keep in small spaces, including urban Honolulu. Chickens, in particular, have become popular in recent years.

Jill Phillips, assistant leader of the 4-H Clover J’s Livestock Club, said while plenty of virtual farm games are available, it does not compare to the real, hands-on deal.

“The 4-H program will teach a child where that egg came from and where that milk comes from,” she said. “And where our meat comes from.”

In Clover Buds, geared towards keiki ages 5 to 8, keiki work mostly with smaller animals, such as chickens and rabbits. At the end of the program, they can keep their animals. Children ages 9 to 19 work with farm animals for three to nine months, then the animals are auctioned off at the end of the program. To participate, they must purchase their own animals, $7 to $8 for a chick to more than $1,000 for a steer calf.

Phillips, a second-generation 4-H-er, said besides animal husbandry, children learn leadership skills, time management, goal-setting and patience. Some take out a loan to purchase their animals and then hope to break even after selling them at auction. They learn showmanship and public speaking when they present their animals in the ring to the judge.

More than that, she said, 4-H is also about community service, which is encouraged with the club’s pledge: “I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, and my health to better living, for my club, my community, my country and my world.” Those are the four H’s: head, heart, hands and health.

Phillips’ 10-year-old son, Ikaika, is the third generation of the family to be involved with 4-H.

“They build a bond with the animals,” she said. “Part of it is letting go at the end. … It’s the whole circle of life you get to learn about — birth and death.”