Show Teams Provide Animal Experience

Jolene Berg shows California Sweetpea to Percentage Boer Doe Championship

The Department of Animal Science is proud of its science-based curriculum for undergraduates but also provides opportunities for experiential learning and extracurricular activities. Departmental show teams allow students to gain animal experience, sometimes with extraordinary results.

The 2004 State Fair Grand Champion Percentage Boer Doe, California Sweet Pea, was bred and raised at the campus Goat Barn. Sweetpea’s sire, a purebred South African Boer, was donated by Smith Boer Goats of Talpa, Texas. Her dam was a purebred Nubian donated by Sandy Hunter of Roseville, California. Halfbred does like Sweetpea form the foundation of the Animal Science herd. The department sponsors student show teams for goats as well as  dairy cattle, beef cattle and pigs.

Sweetpea and student Jolene Berg graced the program cover for Goat Day 2005, an annual departmentally-sponsored field day for goat enthusiasts. This year’s Goat Day was held January 15 and attended by 350 people.