ountry C cres A
A Supplement to the Star Shopper
Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
Friday, September 21, 2018 • Edition 13
Horse power By KATELYN ASFELD B Staff Writer
PHOTOS BY KATELYN ASFELD
A broodmare walks through a pasture Sept. 6 at Carter Acres near Starbuck. Carter Acres, operated by Nada and Dale Carter, specializes in training and selling quarter horse foals for a variety of clientele throughout the United States.
Carter family sells, trains foals
STARBUCK – Quarter horse broodmares, along with their foals, line up along the fence for the one-day 59th annual horse production sale held at Carter Acres ranch in Starbuck Aug. 11. The production sale gives interested buyers an opportunity to look through the stock of foals and examine conformation, disposition and structural correctness off each one before buying. The ranch, operated by Nada and Dale Carter, specializes in training and selling quarter horse foals for clientele throughout the United States. The foals sold are used in a variety of disciplines, such as ranch work, trail riding, shows and competition. “My father started the quarter horse production sale in 1959 and my family and I, including my brother, Logan, and his family, continued the tradition,” Nada said. “Our annual sale brings together our family and friends for a week of fellowship. It also gives us the opportunity to network with other horse owners.”
The Carters and their children – Quincy, 25, Levi, 23, Brady, 20, Kyerra, 17, and Zach, 14 – each find purpose in the family business. “We are a family-owned operation with everyone pitching in to make things work,” Nada said. Dale’s main duties are in the nutrition, health and care of the horses, where Nada’s focus is on training, registration and paper transfer work. Their five children assist, or have assisted, with the daily chores of feeding, bedding, watering and grooming the horses. Both Dale and Nada work to find the best breeding pairs. To determine the best anatomical crossing and a mare’s full productivity, Nada places photos of foals that are offspring of a mare under a photo of the mare. “We are working to continually improve the
CARTER ACRES continued on page 3
Perfect poultry pastime Arvig four-time state chicken champ By CAROL MOORMAN Staff Writer GREY EAGLE – Ask Myra Arvig a question about chickens and chances are, she will know the answer. That knowledge has led this 15-yearold daughter of Sara and Scott Arvig to become a four-time state 4-H champion, earning this honor again this year at the Minnesota State Fair. Arvig, an Upsala High School sophomore, is the oldest sister to Silas, 13, Claire, 12, Lynn, 9, and Scott, Jr., 14 months. The family lives in rural Grey Eagle. Arvig was about one year old and living in Fargo, N.D. with her parents when the family got their first chicken. “It was a chick that, apparently, one of my mom’s friends found outside of a science room when she was in college,” said Arvig. “Who knows how it got there, but we kept it in our basement.” They named the chick Cheep Cheep, eventually giving it to Arvig’s grandparents, Steve and Cheryl Wiechman of St. Rosa, when they moved but they kept chickens for eggs. Even as a child, Arvig liked chickens, but the thought of showing them never crossed her mind. In fact, when she was
6, all she wanted was her own horse, but her parents were not too keen on that idea, so her mom came up with an alternative. “She asked me if I wanted to show chickens. I thought, ‘sure, why not,’” said Arvig. “With my mom’s help, I picked out what breed I wanted (Cochin bantams) and tried my hand at raising them.” After one year, Arvig was hooked and now she has been showing chickens for eight years. “But, I am not the only one in my family that likes this,” she said. “Claire shows chickens, ducks and pigeons with me and Lynn shows ducks. Silas is content with leasing a dairy cow every year from our grandpa.” Poultry pastime Arvig figures they have around 50 chickens, 40 pigeons, 11 turkeys, 15 ducks and six doves on their hobby farm. Raising poultry involves daily chores, which, depending on the time of the year, can take a little or a lot of time. “In the spring, when we get our chicks, there’s chaos because we have to set up brooders, set up feeders, water dishes and heat bulbs for the new chicks,” said Arvig. There is a reason Arvig does not mind the work. “The chicks are so adorable and small when they first come, but they grow fast,” she said. Chores involve giving the chickens food and water, sweeping aisles and bedding pens. “We try to clean out our pens every
PHOTO BY CAROL MOORMAN
Myra Arvig (left) holds up state championship showmanship chickens for her baby brother, Scott, who is held by their mother, Sara, Sept. 11 in their barn near Grey Eagle.
couple of weeks in the summer,” she said. Occasionally, birds need to have their nails or beaks trimmed or need to be treated for lice. “In the winter, chores are pretty easy because we sell or eat all of our extra birds, so we are down to a small winter flock,” said Arvig. There are many things Arvig likes about working with chickens.
“First of all, if you work with them every day, they get really tame and will follow you around the yard,” Arvig said. “It’s also cool to see them go from an egg, to a chick, to a full grown chicken. Then there is the aspect that it’s something my sisters and I do together, and I have gotten
ARVIG continued on page 6