Spring Valley HeatersA Navajo County 4-H club
📗 Club Handbook

The Spring Valley 4-H Handbook

Everything you need for a great 4-H year, from joining and picking an animal to the auction, record books, and your demonstration. Start at the top or jump straight to your species.

Getting Started

New to 4-H or to livestock? Start here.

  1. Who's who: Fair Board, NCJLC, and 4-HThree different groups run different parts of your fair year. Here's who does what, so you know who to ask.
  2. Joining 4-H and enrolling in ZSuiteWho can join, how to enroll online, what it costs, and the certificates you need before you can show.
  3. Choosing a speciesPigs, goats, lambs, steers, or turkeys? How they compare on cost, space, time, and temperament, so you can pick the right project.
  4. Helpful links and resourcesThe official sites you'll use all year, plus guides from local families that are worth reading.

The County Fair

Paperwork, deadlines, fair week, and the auction.

  1. Your fair year at a glanceA month-by-month timeline from enrolling in the fall to cashing your auction check, with every deadline that matters.
  2. Paperwork and legal stuffSeason Pass, NCJL tags, ShoWorks entries, YQCA, ownership deadlines, weights, and the rules that can get you disqualified.
  3. Fair week, day by dayThe 2027 schedule, check-in and weigh-in details, unloading, stall rules, wristbands, camping, dress code, and Sunday load-out.
  4. Superintendents: who they areWhat a species superintendent does and how to reach ours.
  5. The auctionHow the Friday sale works, why you can sell only one animal per species, what happens to your animal, and how to act in the ring.
  6. Finding buyers and talking to businessesHow to invite businesses and family friends to the sale, with a timeline, a script for kids, and a letter template.
  7. Fair week packing listEverything to load in the truck for check-in Tuesday, from paperwork to pen panels to buyer gifts.

Your Animal

Picking, buying, raising, and showing each species.

  1. Where to buy your animalLocal breeders, sales, and how to find a good one.
  2. Pigs: picking a good oneHow to choose a market hog that will make weight, look good in the ring, and be fun to work with all summer.
  3. Pigs: raising and housingDaily care, feeding to hit weight, staying healthy in the high desert, and building a pen and shade that actually hold a pig.
  4. Pigs: learning to showTraining your pig to drive, what to do in the ring, the questions judges ask, and how fair week in the pig barn actually runs.
  5. Pigs: feed plannerEnter weigh-ins and a target; get today's feed amount and a day-by-day plan to the fair.
  6. Goats: picking a good oneHow to pick a market goat that will make weight, look good in the ring, and pass the rules at check-in.
  7. Goats: raising and housingDaily care, feeding, health basics, and how to build a goat pen and shelter that works in Navajo County.
  8. Goats: learning to showTraining, equipment, ring technique, showmanship questions, and a fair-week game plan for market goat exhibitors.
  9. Lambs: picking a good oneHow to spot a market lamb with the muscle, frame, and structure to do well at the Navajo County Fair.
  10. Lambs: raising and housingFeeding, daily care, health basics, and how to build a lamb pen that works in Navajo County's high desert.
  11. Lambs: learning to showTraining your lamb, working the show ring without a halter, answering the judge, and getting through fair week like a pro.
  12. Steers: picking a good oneHow to choose a market steer that will finish on time, make weight, and be safe for you to handle.
  13. Steers: raising and housingDaily care, feeding, health basics, and how to build a pen and shade shed for a steer in Navajo County.
  14. Steers: learning to showTraining your steer, what to bring, how to work the ring, and what to expect at weigh-in and fair week.

Record Books

Tracking your project in ZSuite.

  1. Record books: what, why, and how (all in ZSuite)Your record book is the story of your project. Do it all online in ZSuite, submit by the county deadline, and pick up the judged copy at the fair.
  2. Record book tips and a monthly routineA month-by-month checklist, how to record feed and expenses right, photo ideas, and prompts for writing your 4-H story.

Demonstrations

Planning and giving your required demonstration.

  1. Demonstrations: what's required and how to do one wellEvery member gives a demonstration. It can be about anything you love, doesn't need to be fancy, and should look professional. Here's how.
  2. Demonstration ideas and planning worksheetSixty-plus topic ideas from cooking to robotics to livestock, plus a one-page worksheet and a packing checklist.

People & Contacts

Who to call, and what they do.

  1. Contact directoryClub leaders, the Extension office, NCJLC, and superintendents.