Upcoming Events

All, hope this post finds you doing well. There are a couple of upcoming events I wanted to tell you about!

Tonight, we have our first Horse Elluminate Session at the Craven County Cooperative Extension Office from 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM. It is not too late to sign up! We will be discussing disaster planning for your horse farm. This is a free event and you do not have to own a horse to participate.

Next Wednesday, September 28, we will have Skill-A-Thon Practice from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM at the Jones County Cooperative Extension Office. The first competition is October 4 at 4:00 PM at the Wayne County Fairgrounds in conjunction with the Wayne County Fair. The next competition is Sunday, October 30 in Raleigh at the NC State University Beef Educational Unit.

The Coastal Carolina Agricultural Fair will run from October 13 - 22, 2011 at the Craven County Fairgrounds located off of Hwy. 70 headed towards Havelock from New Bern. If you would like to exhibit any livestock (poultry, cattle, sheep, goats) please email me at margaret_bell@ncsu.edu and I will send you an entry form.

If you have any questions please email me at margaret_bell@ncsu.edu. Have a great week! : )

2011 Horse Elluminate Series

Hope this post finds you all doing well! Cooperative Extension has a GREAT opportunity coming up for those of you who are interested in learning more about horses.

Please help me spread the word:

We will have the first Horse Elluminate Series this coming Tuesday night, September 20, 2011, at the Craven County Cooperative Extension Office from 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM. Elluminate is a computer-based learning module that will be taught by NC State University horse specialists. This is a great opportunity to learn more about various horse topics whether you are a horse owner or not. Elluminate is beneficial for horse 4-H clubs, horse enthusiasts, new horse owners and old alike. Please help me spread the word about this series so we can have a great turnout. The event is free. Please call the Craven County Cooperative Extension Office to pre-register for the series at (252) 633.1477.

Hope to see you all there! Please let me know if you have any questions. There will be more of this series as well.

Skill-A-Thon & Livestock Judging Practice

All, hope everyone is getting back into the swing of things this school year. We will be starting back practicing for Skill-A-Thon & Livestock Judging this week. We will meet at Karen Pike's house in Trenton tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 15 from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM. If you need directions, please email me at margaret_bell@ncsu.edu and I will provide you with them.

Competition will be held in October and we will discuss details of this at practice. We will start practicing every week starting this week. Once we meet this week, we will decide what times and days are best for everyone and go from there.

Hope to see all of you there and good luck this school year! : )

Emergency Management

See the right-hand side of the blog for links about how to prepare for disasters. If you have questions or concerns about how to prepare for Hurricane Irene, feel free to contact the Craven office at (252) 633.1477 or the Jones office at (252) 448.9621. We can help you formulate a plan and make sure you are prepared as well as your livestock and pets. Stay safe everyone! : )

Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis Alert

North Carolina’s Office of the State Veterinarian and the Center for Disease Control were notified August 18^th that one horse in eastern North Carolina had tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis (EEE).  Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis is a viral disease that affects the central nervous system of all members of the equine species.  EEE is classified as a zoonotic disease, meaning humans may also contract the disease.  Healthy adults who contract EEE may show flu-like symptoms including high fever and headaches, while older adults and children may become severely ill.  Death may result in cases involving both equine and humans.  The equine mortality rate due to EEE ranges from 75 to 90 percent.

Equine infected with EEE may show signs that include fever, depression, loss of appetite, irritability, weakness, excitability,  central nervous system disorders (ie. circling, lack of coordination, head pressing, the tell-tale “saw horse” stance, sensitivity to light, and blindness).  In rare instances, horses have been known to show no signs of the disease prior to death.

Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis is spread when a mosquito feeds on an infected horse, then moves on to a healthy horse.  Dr. Ray, Director of Livestock Health Programs for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services Veterinary Division noted that in many years we would have had one or more cases of the disease prior to early August and, that recent rains following drought conditions in eastern North Carolina may be partially responsible for the presence of the disease.

The best way to protect your equine against EEE is to keep their vaccinations up-to-date.  Work with your veterinarian to be sure your horses are vaccinated annually.  In addition, measures to limit mosquito populations will help decrease spread of the disease.  It is also important that horse owners report to a veterinarian, any cases in which signs of EEE are observed.  While a few cases of the disease are reported in North Carolina annually, it is thought that many more cases go unreported.  Reporting any suspicious signs to your veterinarian may save other equine and possibly human lives.

Hope Ya'll Had a Great Summer!

Unfortunately, summer is coming to an abrupt close. But, on a happy note...that means we can start practicing for Skill-A-Thon again soon! Yay! I love Skill-A-Thon. Keep in touch for up-to-date information about when practices will start back. The 2011 State Fair Skill-A-Thon competition will be held at the end of October in Raleigh in conjunction with the 2011 State Fair.

I will also be posting our articles from our next Fencelines newsletter. If you are not receiving Fencelines and would like to, just send me an email at margaret_bell@ncsu.edu with your name and mailing address.

Check out our new NC Horse Blog where you can learn more about horses below. Enjoy! : )

http://nchorse.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to our Skill-A-Thon and Livestock Judging Team!!

To those who participated in the 2011 State Skill-A-Thon and Livestock Judging Competitions, way to go!! You all really put on your game face and gave it your all. I would like to recognize those who placed at the competition and won awards!

The Skill-A-Thon participants were:
Savannah Kuhn
Ashley Kuhn
Cheyenne Pike
Ashley Murphy
Jonathan Murphy
Megan Downs

Ashley Murphy placed 10th in overall individual high score!

The Livestock Judging participants were:
Megan Downs
Jonathan Murphy
Ashley Murphy
Cheyenne Pike
Cassidy Sutton
Holly Sutton

The team placed 4th high team in meat goats and 3rd high team in sheep! Also, Ashley Murphy placed 10th overall in individual high score - swine! Cassidy Sutton placed 9th in overall combined individual score! Holly Sutton placed 5th individual high score - sheep!

I would like to personally thank all of the parents, youth, and supporters of the youth livestock program in Craven and Jones Counties. You all are the reason that the youth were so successful!

Again, congrats! I am so proud of each of you and look forward to working with you again for the next competition in October during the State Fair.

Also! Check us out in the Jones Post this week! : )