Register for the current 4-H Year.  

• Choose Your Club
• Choose Your Project Areas (you think you may complete)
• Attend Your First Club Meeting
• Your Club Should Vote on their Leadership 

                    President

                    Vice President

                      Secretary 

                    Treasurer

                    Photographer

                    Reporter

• Your Club Should Decide Club Goals
• You Should Decide Your Personal Goals
• Fill Out Your 4-H Journal 
• Poultry - Take a Look for Birds if you plan to show them.  Breeders will fill incubators late fall early winter and you will want to have a order in for those first birds out the incubator.  I talk to people at the South Dakota State Fair or check the South Dakota Poultry Fanciers Associationo on Facebook.  Always feel free to contact me if you have any questions. 

• Community Service - Plan Some Community Service Projects to Complete                                        throughout the Year 
• 4-H Promotion - Plan a Couple 4-H Promotion Events throughout the Year
•     Look for Chili Cook Offs or Harvest Festivals 
  
• Attend Your Club Meeting
• Youth -In-Action - Find out when you Youth-In-Action Events Take Place 

        Fashion Revue

        Special Foods

        Public Speaking 

• Community Service - This is a great time to visit a nursing home or assisted             living. 
• 4-H Promotion - Participate in a Parade
• Attend Club Meeting OR Christmas Party
• Our County has Special Foods in late winter or early spring - so we start preparing for Special Foods by finding recipes for the girls and deciding how they would like their place setting to look.  We will start keeping our eyes open at thrifts stores or sales throughout the winter. 
• Our county has 4-H Shooting Sports Sign Up during December and starts in January with a safety night that must be completed to participate. 

Community Service - We prepare Valentines for February if our meeting is after Valentine's Day so they can be deliviered to shut ins. 

    We have also sat in Runnings and raised money for a certain organization                        such as pet shelters or dog parks. 

4-H Promotion - We do not do a 4-H promotion this month. 

Project Areas - Take a look at your project areas and make a plan to complete them if you haven't yet done so. 

Check with your local office if they would need help with summer workshops.   They always enjoy people willing to host a workshop or help out with one. 

Poultry - We will be picking up birds this months or scavenging for what the girls have decided they want to show since we ordered.  We have neighbors who have had success having eggs shipped to incubate and chicks delivered from breeders (not necessarily large hatcheries).  I had some bad a luck a while back and usually try to get birds locally for now.  There are some amazing people that will help you get birds if you are looking for the them.  We had a gentleman that knew Lydia had some Sebrights and had some he had received from Georgia and was willing to part with them for her.  

Rabbits - Breeding season has begun.  We will breed one or two rabbits so the girls will have junior rabbits for the spring South Dakota Rabbit Breeders Association show circuit.  I let the girls do this circuit because I can load a car and we can go.  It does not require a trailer.  Now that Elizabeth is getting older she does want to go with her heifers a little more often.  

Market Livestock

You will want to choose your livestock now if you are in South Dakota and are only showing 4-H.  Market Swine, Sheep, and Goat animals usually MUST be born after January 1.  Market Beef usually MUST be born after January 1 the year before. PLEASE check the new 4-H State Fair Book each year as these rules change almost every year.  - Our girls will show Prospect Calves so they will start watching the pastures.  

Breeding Livestock

You will probobly already have an idea of what breeding livestock you want to show as they are probably older, for example - beef will be born the year before.  Also most breeding livestock will have had one young or be bred accordingly.  You would not want to take an animal to the fair close to having their young. Or you would want your dairy animals in milk, however,  you can show them dry. 

Dogs & Cats

Make sure your dogs and cats have their rabies and other vaccinations up to date before fair or before practices start. 

Community Service-  Deliver Valentines to Shut-Ins

Check Your Project Areas - Make a plan for complete each Project Area

Update Your 4-H Journal

Start watching your chosen livestock and make sure they are not injured and are getting enough feed.  

Attend Your Club Journal 

Beef Weigh-In -This happens in our county this time of the year for Rate-of-Gain at the County Fair 

Retinal Scans - This will happen places in the state of South Dakota if you want to be eligible to win the Grand Champion Steer at the South Dakota State Fair. 

Ownership Affidavit - You will want to start getting your tags and registration papers lined up at this time and know what is required.

Goat, Swine, and Sheep Sales  - There will be many livestock sales specifically for show stock this time of the year. 

Attend Your Club Metting 

Check Your Community Service Time and Projects you intended to complete

Check Your 4-H Promotion you intended to complete

Check Your Goals for the year. 

We are starting our beef projects and watching the pastures for possibilities.

Know the requirements for Animal identification.

Find the South Dakota State Fair Handbook.  It will be released in March along with several other handbook updates.  

Attend a club meeting

Complete a Community Service Project

Complete a 4-H Promotion 

Conitunue to Work on Your Achievement Days projects

Continue to update your Record Book

Small Aminal Weigh-In

Make sure all animals have the proper identification. 

Find all of the handbooks you will need for fair. 

Continue to work on all of your projects

Walking, feeding, watering, working hair daily on livestock projects. 

Update your Record Book. 

Start gathering all of the information for you Achievement Days projects

May 31 - South Dakota Deadline: Project Areas Finalized 

June 1 - South Dakota Hard Deadline: All Animals must be entered at v2.4honline.com for proof of ownership/control.  This means all of your animals should be in your barn and the members should be doing the work on this animal at this time.  These entries are NOT FOR FAIR.  Just ownership. 

Work on Your Projects

Update Record Book

Finish Achievement Days Projects

Achievement  Days my be at the end of July.

Complete Achievement Days projects

Update Your Record book

Finish your goals for the year

Have a Great End to Summer!   This is the time to push hard. 

AUGUST 1 - South Dakota Hard Deadline - Entries are due for South Dakota State Fair

Achievement Days - may be at the beginning of the month.  

Finish your goals for the year

Update you Record Book - especially from Achievement Days.

Prepare our Projecst for State Fair. 

Turn in Your Record book

Wrap up you 4-H Year.