By Mike Donahue
Moapa Valley Progress
The Agriculture/Small Animal pavilion at this year’s Clark County Fair and Rodeo was filled with educational, entertaining and enlightening exhibits and activities designed for the whole family.
As always, there were display cages filled with a host of different varieties of chickens, rabbits, turkeys, ducks and game birds. Additionally, Kaluna Aki, small animal exhibit building director, set up display areas for the Overton-based Quail Hollow Farm, the Nevada Farm Bureau, Nevada Beef Council, a goat pen and a couple of pens for pigs, including a huge mommy sow with seven hungry piglets from RC Farms in North Las Vegas
One exhibit in the building that got a lot of attention this year was a tiny herd of miniature cattle owned by Corkey and LuAnn Rasco of Overton.
These little cattle stand about three feet or so at the shoulder when mature, LuAnn said and a full-grown steer weighs about 600 pounds. In contrast, a mature Black Angus steer can easily surpass 2,000 pounds.
“Our herd came from the Crossroads Dairy in Delta, Utah,” she said. “These little guys can be used the same way any beef cattle are used including food. The meat is a little leaner than regular beef, more like buffalo meat.”
The herd was a hit with small children who reached into the corrals to pet the cattle.
“We want visitors to be able to interact with the animals,” Aki said.
Another unique exhibit was run by Aki’s wife Jennifer.
Using an incubator borrowed from Moapa Valley High School’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter, Jennifer maintained a flock of tiny newborn chickens and ducks that hatched out right in front of visitors.
“We’re processing about 200 eggs over the four days of the fair, so we have eggs hatching every day,” Jennifer said. “Using actual eggs and chickens in the demonstration has been a great opportunity to show people — kids and adults – the lifecycle of poultry.”
There were several 4-H projects on display in the building including the first Clark County fair-connected attempt by Southern Nevadan kids to raise “meat chickens,” which is poultry raised exclusively for market.
Some of the winning market chickens grew from chick-size to an astonishing eight pounds in the eight weeks the kids were caring for the birds.
“The agriculture/small animal building is all about showing people the agriculture that’s in Southern Nevada,” Aki said. “We want them to know what’s here now as well as the potential for the future.”
In addition to the displays and exhibits, a small arena was used by younger 4-H members to show goats and other animals.
