Competing in the Collin County Jr. Livestock Show, Future Farmers of America students will be heading to Myers Park and Event Center from January 6-12, to step into the world of livestock showing and judging. 

“This is my first show so I am very excited because I get to see all of my friends that also show,” junior Rachel Wilson said. “I absolutely love my rabbit, he’s a senior buck named Junior. I’m so excited about being able to show him for the first time.” 

Each day of the event will highlight different animals, including pigs, chickens, cows, sheep, goats, and rabbits, and students will get first hand experience understanding what the judges are looking for. 

“Today for the show it is just rabbits and chickens, I put my rabbit in a cage and they judge him based on little attributes like weight, eyes and ears,” Wilson said. “I think this is a great experience because I’m learning so much more about a different side of the world by showing livestock. It’s so much more interesting than you think it would be and I love it.” 

FFA members have groomed and raised these animals for months, and for junior Kirin Parikh, the path leading up to competition has been the most beneficial for her learning process. 

“I’m hoping to learn more about how to properly handle and care for animals, since I got into FFA and livestock showing from my vet classes,” Parikh said. “I think it’s a good experience because it teaches people to be more responsible since you’re taking care of another living thing that depends on you.”

The whole experience lets the students dive into caring for the animals, and the competition shows all of their hard work paying off. 

“During the show we typically last minute groom and health check the rabbits before our breed is called to show, we then put them in cages,” Parikh said. “The judge goes down the line and looks at their appearance, health, and body structures and then they rank the rabbits from best to worst.”