TUF Youth Clubs & 4-H
Youth Ages 8+ Collectively raise and care for goats, sheep, poultry, and horses in TUF’s year long clubs. Participants will work collaboratively to learn hands-on about feeding, nutrition, record keeping, general animal care, breeding, maintaining shelters and more. Read on below for club descriptions, dates and times.
You can also learn more about how TUF 4-H & TUF Livestock clubs “work” below.
At TUF we facilitate a 4-H Club and Cloverbuds:
4H members ages 8+ interested in working with TUF’s livestock including goats, sheep, and poultry will be required to join a TUF Club & register through Adam’s County 4-H. 4-H membership is NOT required to participate in TUF’s youth clubs. In order to be in GUS and/or Poultry Club, families are required to hold a TUF Family Membership.
Families interested in participating in Cloverbuds (ages 5-8) are required to hold a TUF Family Membership and register through Adam’s County 4-H. TUF Cloverbuds are facilitated by TUF staff, and hosted the 2nd Saturday of the month. The time may vary with weather and time of year. Interested in joining Cloverbuds? Please email us at liam@theubanfarm.org for more info.
Goats & Sheep Livestock Club
AGES: 8+
DATES AND TIMES: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays Februrary-January
Why? To align and culminate with the National Western Stock Show held annually in January.
Our livestock clubs are growing! To ensure that we can provide a great experience, Goats and Sheep Club Members will be divided into two groups with associated meetings days & times. Note that meeting dates and times shift during the summer/winter to accommodate the changing weather and sunlight.
GROUP A: Wednesdays & Saturdays
WEDNESDAYS: Summer Hours: 5:00PM - 6:00PM / Winter Hours: 4:30PM - 5:30PM
SATURDAYS: Summer Hours: 9:00AM - 11:00 AM / Winter Hours 10:00AM - 12:00PM
GROUP B: Thursdays & Saturdays
THURSDAYS: Summer Hours: 5:00PM - 6:00PM / Winter Hours: 4:30PM - 5:30PM
SATURDAYS: Summer Hours: 9:00 AM- 11:00 AM / Winter Hours 10:00AM - 12:00PM
*Certain days/special activities will require longer meetings time, for example sheep sheering days and shows. This will be communicated in advance.
Regular Activities: Raise and care for goats and sheep in TUF’s year long livestock club. Participants will work collaboratively to learn hands-on about feeding, nutrition, record keeping, general animal care, breeding, maintaining shelters and more. Participants will learn the ins and outs of raising animal for multiple production purposes.
Groups will meet twice a week. This is when the majority of the husbandry is done by the participants- including cleaning pens and water tanks, checking hay and feeding grain and minerals, handling the sheep and goats, and exercising the sheep and goats. In addition, each week participants spend time learning about all aspects of nutrition, disease management, general animal care, breeding, costs, body conformation, meat production as well as showmanship and showing animals. On an as-needed basis, participants give vaccinations, shear sheep, trim hooves, bathe and groom the animals, band tails, perform weight checks, insert ear tags, perform parasite checks, and take care of any other animal needs. As restrictions allow, participants may interact with the visitors and volunteers who come to the farm on Saturdays for self-guided tours, farm events, birthday parties, etc.
Annual Events: Club members have the opportunity to participate in three events throughout the year, The National Western Stock Show in January, the Estes Wool Fest in June and the Adams County Fair in July. Each event has a different focus and gives participants opportunities to practice and demonstrate specific skills they learned at TUF. The National Western Stock Show focuses on breeding high-quality animals, the Estes Wool Fest focuses on wool production and the Adams County Fair focuses on meat production, showmanship and record keeping. Each event also provides the animals an opportunity to be shown by the participants and to compete against one another and other animals. During each event sheep and goat participants develop their public speaking skills as they interact with judges and be tested on their animal husbandry knowledge. A 4-H membership is required for Adams County Fair Participation, this is completed externally of TUF.
NOTE: Participants are only permitted to enroll in a Market Project (i.e. husbandry for meat production) after 1 year of Livestock Club participation. This is required so that the youth can observe and understand the process start-to-finish first. Market projects include purchasing, owning, and boarding an animal at TUF, along with additional farm chores without staff supervision but with parental supervision. Additional cost are associated with market projects (i.e. purchase of animal, additional feed, etc). First year participants are permitted to participate in other projects and showing animals for other purposes.
Poultry Livestock Club
AGES: 8+
LIVESTOCK CLUBS RUN FROM FEBRUARY-JANUARY
Meeting dates: ALTERNATING SATURDAYS*
Hours: 9:30AM-11AM (meetings may be extended around fair time)
*Dates may vary to accommodate Holidays that land on Saturdays throughout the year. Regular communications will be sent out to confirm dates as needed.
Regular Activities: Raise and care poultry in TUF’s year long livestock club. Participants will work collaboratively to learn hands-on about feeding, nutrition, record keeping, general animal care, breeding, maintaining shelters and more. Participants will learn the ins and outs of raising animal for multiple production purposes.
Groups will meet once every other week. This is when the majority of the husbandry is done by the participants- including cleaning coops, filling waters, mucking coops, and handing chickens. In addition, each week participants spend time learning about all aspects of nutrition, disease management, general animal care, reproduction, incubating and hatching eggs, costs, body conformation, egg and meat production as well as showmanship.. On an as-needed basis, participants bathe and groom the animals, perform health and parasite checks and management, and take care of any other animal needs. As restrictions allow, participants may interact with the visitors and volunteers who come to the farm on Saturdays for self-guided tours, farm events, birthday parties, etc.
Annual Events: Club members have the opportunity to participate in the Adams County Fair in July. This event gives participants opportunities to practice and demonstrate specific skills they learned at TUF. This event also provides the animals an opportunity to be shown by the participants and to compete against one another and other animals. During each event poultry participants develop their public speaking skills as they interact with judges and be tested on their animal husbandry knowledge. A 4-H membership is required for Adams County Fair Participation, this is completed externally of TUF.
NOTE: Participants are only permitted to enroll in a Market Project (i.e. husbandry for meat production) after 1 year of Livestock Club participation. This is required so that the youth can observe and understand the process start-to-finish first. Market projects include purchasing, owning, and boarding an animal at TUF, along with additional farm chores without staff supervision but with parental supervision. Additional cost are associated with market projects (i.e. purchase of animal, additional feed, etc).
GUS Crash Course 2024
Is your young farmer interested in learning more about goats and sheep? TUF’s Goats and Sheep Crash Course is a great place to start!
COST: $500.00
WHO: Ages 8+
WHEN: Thursdays and Saturdays in October and November
Thursdays 5:00PM-6:00PM
Oct 3, Oct 10, Oct 17, Oct 24, Nov 7, Nov 14, Nov 21
(October 31st, no meeting due to Halloween)
Saturdays 10:00AM - 11:00AM
Oct 5, Oct 12, Oct 19, Oct 26, Nov 2, Nov 9, Nov 16, Nov 23
Regular Activities: Participants will work collaboratively to learn hands-on about feeding, nutrition, general animal care, breeds, maintaining shelters and more. Participants will begin to learn about raising animals for multiple production purposes.
Groups will meet twice a week alongside TUF’s current livestock club members. Participants will be engaging in hands-on husbandry learning, including cleaning pens and water tanks, checking hay and feeding grain and minerals, handling the sheep and goats, and exercising the animals. In addition, each week participants spend time learning about all aspects of nutrition, disease management, general animal care, breeding, body conformation, meat production and animal showmanship. On an as-needed basis, participants may help with vaccinations, shearing sheep, trimming hooves, grooming, and performing weight checks.
Poultry Crash Course 2024
Is your young farmer interested in learning more about chickens and ducks? TUF’s Poultry Crash Course is a great place to start!
COST: $250.00
WHO: Ages 8+
WHEN: Saturdays in October and November
Every Saturday 9:30AM-11:00AM
October 5, October 12, October 19, and October 26
November 2, November 9, November 16, and November 23
Regular Activities: Participants will work collaboratively to learn hands-on about feeding, nutrition, general animal care, breeds, maintaining shelters and more. Participants will begin to learn about raising animals for multiple production purposes.
Groups will meet with a TUF Farm Educator on Saturday mornings. Participants will engage in feeding the flock, cleaning coops and water tanks, collecting eggs and handling the chickens. Additionally, participants will spend time learning about nutrition, health management, general animal care, egg production, and showmanship.
4-H CLOVERBUDS
Do you have a 5 - 7 year old who loves animals and the outdoors? 4-H Cloverbuds at TUF is a great way to introduce them to the farm. Young participants explore every faucet of TUF’s livestock, equine, horticulture and agricultural education programs through hands’ on activities, crafts, and animal interactions.
COST: $20 / Month (1 session per month)
WHO: Youth ages 5 - 7 years
WHEN: The second Saturday of every month. 11am - 12pm.
Contact Liam Wunder with enrollment information or with any other questions of interest at: liam@theurbanfarm.org
