Sheep & Wool Skillathon at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

The Maryland Sheep & Wool Skillathon is held annually at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. The Festival is always held the first full weekend of May at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, Maryland. The skillathon is held on the Sunday of the Festival from 8 a.m. to 12 noon. Preliminary results are announced at approximately 2 p.m.

Kaitlyn Fuss examines a sheep during the 2007 skillathon

A skillathon provides youth with the opportunity to blend knowledge and skills acquired in livestock judging, demonstrations, and care and exhibition of animals into a single activity. A skillathon competition consists of a series of stations where youth are tested on their knowledge and abilities related to livestock.

The Maryland Sheep and Wool Skillathon is open to any youth between the ages of 8 and 18. Individuals and teams (of 3 or 4) from any county, state, or province may compete. Youth ages 8 to 10 compete as juniors; youth ages 11 to 13 compete as intermediates; and youth 14 to 18 compete as seniors.

The Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival provides ribbons and premiums to the top ten individuals in each age division and Festival t-shirts to the members of the top three teams in each age division. The Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival is a committee of the Maryland Sheep Breeders Association.

Registration information for the 2009 Sheep & Wool Skillathon will be available in the Sheep & Wool Festival Catalog. For more information or to register, contact Susan Schoenian at (301) 432-2767 x343 or sschoen@umd.edu.

The 2008 skillathon included the following stations:

• Equipment Identification
• Animal Health
• Forage and Feed Identification
• Breed Identification (half by pictures, half by wool)
• Meat Identification
• Fleece judging (Targhee fleeces) and wool evaluation
• Sheep judging (Karakul yearling ewes)
• Hay evaluation and judging
• Written tests (10 Qs for juniors, 15 Qs for intermediates, and 20 Qs for seniors).
• Senior team problem (balancing a ration for a ewe nursing twin lambs)

2008 skillathon stations were sponsored by The Delmarva Farmer (Fleece judging) ; Sheep! Magazine (breed ID); Premier Sheep Supplies Ltd. (equipment ID); Shepherd Magazine (written test); Sheepman Supply Company (Animal Health), Kate's Koop: Farm Fresh Eggs (Feed and Forage ID), Talking Hooves Educated Hoof Care (hay judging); George G. Ruppersberger & Sons, Inc. (meat ID), and the Frederick County Sheep Breeders Association (sheep judging).

City Grafx donated table numbers.

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2008 Intermediate winner Savannah Cook from Montgomery County.

2008 contest winners

Ninety-five (95) youth from six states and thirteen Maryland counties competed for recognition in the 2008 Sheep & Wool Skillathon held on May 4.

Juniors (8-10)
Calvert County (Maryland) had the first place junior and senior teams. Members of the winning junior team were Jocelyn and Ethan Abbott, Katie Burroughs, and Becky Jones. Katie Burroughs was the first place junior individual. Jocelyn Abbott was the second place junior. The second place junior team was the Howard County team composed of Jackie Bauer, Jacob Carroll, Rachel King, and Jason Vanisko.

Intermediates (11-13)
Members of the winning intermediate team included William Jones and Sarah and Josiah Manning. Savannah Cook from Montgomery county was the top placing intermediate individual. Gabrielle Corey from St. Mary's County won second place. The second place intermediate team was the Montgomery County team composed of Savannah Cook and Caroline and Suzanne Kimble.

Seniors (14-18)
Rachel Manning from Calvert County was the winner in the senior division. Jamie Snider from Allegany County placed second. The winning team was a multi-county team composed of Rachel Manning, Jamie Snider, Logan Charles (Charles County), and Molly Hancock (Charles County). The seond place team was the Loudon County (Virginia) team composed of Jessica Carr, Marcus Phillips, and Megan Virts.

Congratulations to all the winners and everyone else who participated in the contest. The contest is very challenging.

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Study Resources for Skillathon Teams

Lamb Quiz Bowl Study Guide Livestock E-Quiz Oklahoma State University Sheep Breeds Sheep Breeds A-Z Equipment ID Purdue Forage Identification Pages Evaluating hay quality Calculating Adjusted Weaning Weights Sheep Evaluation, Selection and Judging learning module Scorecard for wool judging A Glossary of Wool Terms Grades and Lengths of Grease Wool Wool Grading Wool Judging for Beginners Judging wool and mohair Sheep Diseases A-Z Lamb cutting diagram Lamb cuts and what to do with them Lamb cuts and how to cook them [PDF]

Sheep Learning Laboratory Kit [Purchase] Sheep Resource Handbook [Purchase] 2006 Junior written test 2006 Senior written test 2007 Senior written test 2008 Test 2008 Test Bank [online quiz] | Word file 2006 Senior team problem 2008 Senior team problem

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Thank you

Thanks to everyone who helped with the 2008 Skillathon: Dee Dee Allen, Chris Anderson, Bruce, Claire, and Kate Bennett, Sheryl Burdette, Melanie Canfield, Anne DeMarsay, Kathy Gordon, David Gordon, Martin Hamilton, Dahlia Jackson, Dwayne Murphy, Jennifer Reynolds, Shannon and Rhonda Uzelak, Les Vough, and Niki Whitley.

Thanks to the Maryand Sheep & Wool Festival for hosting the event and providing premiums and t-shirts.
Thanks to Dr. Les Vough for providing hay for the contest.
Thanks to Greene's Lamb and Many Rocks Farm Domestic Chevon for providing meal discount coupons.
Thanks to George Ruppersberger & Sons for providing lamb cuts for the contest.

The Sheep & Wool Skillathon is sponsored by University of Maryland Cooperative Extension and hosted by the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival and Maryland Sheep Breeders Association.

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This page was last updated 15-May-2008 by Susan Schoenian.           Return to Maryland Small Ruminant Page.