4-H youth 12 and older have the opportunity to show their animals at the next level at The Big E. Youth travel with the team from New Hampshire and compete against the other New England states in the show ring, knowledge, and judging contests.
To qualify, youth must have enrolled their animal by their specified date as noted on the 2024 NH 4-H Animal Requirements document. Additionally, they must meet the qualifications for their species, found in the 2024 NH 4-H Qualifying for ESE form. The last page of the packet needs to be completed and received by Hannah Majewski, NH 4-H Animal Science Field Specialist by August 19th for any youth wanting to show an animal at the Big E (with the exception of horses) (scanning digital copies of the form is preferred and can be emailed to hannah.majewski@unh.edu, but can be mailed to NH 4-H Office, c/o Hannah Majewski, 129 Main St, Kendall Hall UNH Rm 313, Durham, NH 03824).
Once your qualifications have been met, it is up to each youth to register for their show independently. All entry information can be found at https://www.thebige.com/p/competitions/4-h/packets. Most species have a form and online portion of their entry, so be sure to read all the directions thoroughly.
Deadlines for each of the species are below:
· Beef Cattle: March 1, 2024 (Market Steers), May 24, 2024 (heifers)
· Horse: August 10, 2024
· Dog: August 23, 2024 - A portion of the entries need to be mailed. Please see page 1 of the NE Dog Packet for details.
· Dairy Cattle: August 24, 2024 (quiz bowl and judging teams are submitted by the state 4-H office)
· Dairy Goat: August 24, 2024
· Sheep: August 24, 2024
· Working Steer: August 25, 2024
All animals must also abide by NH 4-H Health Regulations in addition to those set by the Big E.
Each species also has opportunities for youth 12 and older to attend as junior leaders without animals. Reach out to hannah.majewski@unh.edu for more information.
