Nicholson 4-H girls exhibit pigs
Published: August 19, 2009
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Rachel and Brianna Smarkusky of Nicholson Township are showing their pigs at the Harford Fair this week. STAFF PHOTO/MIKE RUDOLF
NICHOLSON TWP. – Although Rachel and Brianna Smarkusky live in Wyoming County, they have spent much of the past week at the Harford Fair in Susquehanna County.
The sisters raise pigs as a 4-H project. Because the Kiwanis Wyoming County Fair doesn’t have a pig category, they choose to go exhibit at the fair to the north.
Raising pigs is a family tradition, said Mary Smarkusky, the girls’ mother.
“I grew up in a 4-H household, and I just passed it on to my kids,” she said.
While getting the pigs ready for show takes some time, the girls noted that raising them is a lot simpler than many would believe.
“They’re actually easy to care for,” said Rachel, 16, and a junior at Lackawanna Trail High School.
All it takes is daily feeding and watering, and on warm days spraying them with a hose, she noted.
“That’s because they have no sweat glands,” explained Brianna, 14, a Trail freshman.
At one time, the family used to breed pigs and raise them from birth.
Rachel said now they buy pigs just after they have been weaned, at eight weeks old.
Currently, the Smarkuskys have fewer than a dozen pigs, of which four are ready to be shown, Rachel said last week before the Hraford Fair opened. However, at one time they had as many as 60.
“They have to raise them until they are six months old, or weigh 220-280 pounds,” Mary Smarkusky explained.
Even though raising pigs doesn’t take a lot of effort, they aren’t very popular as a 4-H project in Susquehanna or Wyoming counties, Brianna noted. She said that may because of the perception that the pigs smell too much.
Asked if that perception was true, Brianna said, “It is pretty smelly.”
The Smarkusky girls also raise beef cattle, which they show at both the Harford and Wyoming County fairs. They said the technique for showing the animals is very different.
Foe example, Brianna said with dairy and beef animals, there is a lot of significance given to the way the animals are handled in the show ring. Pigs, however, have minds of their own, and don’t take commands well.
“With pigs, you just look at the pig and pet the pig a little so the judge can look at it,” she said.
Showing cattle requires more skill on the part of the exhibitor, Rachel added.
“Cows are more fun. You get to work with them,” she said.
Preparing the pigs for the show does take a little effort, the girls acknowledged. Rachel said the hair must be trimmed, and the pigs’ ears and tail need to be clipped.
The girls have to be at the fair for at least an hour and a half twice a day to care for the pigs. In addition to the usual watering and feeding, the pigs must be kept clean because they are on display whenever the fair is open.
“All of the animals have to be washed every day before 8 a.m.,” Brianna said.
The family typically spends the whole week at the Harford Fair, however, Mary Smarkusky explained, because her husband Bill is co-superintendent of the fair’s pig barn.
Mary, who is treasurer of the Kiwanis Wyoming County Fair’s livestock committee, said it’s possible the fair in Meshoppen Township could have a pig exhibit someday, but it’s not likely in the near future.
“We just don’t have the facilities to do it,” she said. But anything is possible, especially since the fair adds exhibits every year.
“I think it would be a big hit down there,” ‘she said.
Raising pigs and cattle isn’t all that keep the Smarkusky girls busy during the summer.
Rachel is a Wyoming/Lackawanna County Dairy Ambassador this year, and hopes to be a Dairy Princess in the future. Her mother explained that even though the family does not raise dairy cows, Rachel is eligible by virtue of the fact that her grandfather was a dairy farmer.
Meanwhile, Brianna is a skilled softball player, spending a lot of time with a travelling ASA softball team participating in tournaments throughout the area.
