Seeing double times three
By Anessa Myers
Published in News on April 13, 2009 1:41 PM
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News-Argus/ANESSA MYERS
The 6-year-old Grady twins, Cole, left, and Gage, right, are ready to show their hogs at the Wayne County Junior Livestock Show this year. Their brother, Garrett, 8, center, will also show a hog.
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News-Argus/ANESSA MYERS
Hunter Barwick, left, and twin brother Cole, right, are one of the three sets of identical twin brothers who will show animals in this year's junior livestock show. The 11-year-olds will be showing hogs.
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News-Argus/ANESSA MYERS
Cody Craig, left, and twin brother Colby, right, will show their meat goats at the county Junior Livestock Show. The 10-year-old twins say they will save money for college if they win.
The Wayne County Junior Livestock Show and Sale will feature plenty of animals rounding the pen when it opens its doors Wednesday and Thursday.
But it also will have an abundance of brothers -- twin brothers.
Three sets of identical twin boys will be competing in the show festivities -- one set will show meat goats and the other two sets will show their hogs.
Ten-year-olds Colby and Cody Craig say they are ready to pull their goats into the circle -- although they admit the feat might be a hard one.
The goats have a mind of their own, the boys say.
It is tough for the boys to wrangle their goats from eating grass or walking away from them, but both say they will have them under control come show time.
"We have to hold them like this so the judges can see," Colby said, holding the goat under the chin.
And then the boys have to keep their animals still.
Colby says his goat, named Brownie Jr., is a good goat and will behave -- hopefully.
"I named it that because it has a big brown spot across its body," he said.
Cody didn't have a name for his goat. "It changes about every day," his grandma, Debbie, said.
This will be the Craig twins' second year in the show.
They showed two years ago but didn't have any goats to raise, feed and show last year, so they took a year off.
And they admit they have some help, like their dad, Jesse, whom they help with pigs in return, and their grandpa, Ron, who feeds the goats when the boys can't.
They say they will continue to participate in the show because they like meeting new people and working with the animals.
And if they win, they both said they will "save the money for college."
The twins aren't the only ones in the Craig family who participate in the junior livestock show.
Their stepbrother Braxton, 12, will take a cow.
Eleven-year-olds Hunter and Cole Barwick and 6-year-olds Cole and Gage Grady will also be showing animals at the show this year, but they will bring their hogs.
The Barwick twins used to show goats in the show but moved up to hogs.
"They are heavier and stronger," Cole said.
He and his brother love showing their animals and will likely continue on to show cows when they grow up, just like the Craig twins plan to do.
They like meeting with people at the show and working with their animals, they say.
"We learn how to take care of them," Cole said.
"We learn about their body parts and what they eat," Hunter said.
The boys really like to wash their pigs, their mom, Angie, said.
"They like to get all messy," she said.
Cole's hog, George, weighs about 250 pounds.
Hunter said he doesn't have a name for his hog, although his brother and mom say he really does, he does know that his hog weighs more than his brother's.
"Mine is about 275 pounds," he said.
Their older brother, Nathan, shows cows.
Cole and Gage Grady don't know exactly how much their hogs weigh.
They have to look at their dad, Kevin, for that answer.
"They weigh about 250 pounds," Kevin said.
But the two know exactly what they are supposed to do when they enter that judging pen.
"You have to keep eye contact with the judges," Cole said.
"And if the judges stop to talk with you, you can talk with them and let your animal go. And then when you are done talking, you can go get your animal," Gage said.
Cole said his hog likes to dig in the ground, a habit he is trying to break him of before the show.
"You have to just pat him so he will stop," he said. "Sometimes you have to pull him away from the dirt."
The two also like to take their hogs out for a walk when they can.
This is the twins' second year in the show.
They said they love to work with their animals and hang out with their friends at the show.
But they couldn't do it without their Grandpa DeWitt's help.
"He really helps us a lot," Gage said. "He feeds them for us when we can't."
Both of the Grady twins said they want to be cow farmers when they grow up and plan to continue participating in the show for as long as they can.
Their older brother Garrett, 8, also shows hogs.
Animals will be weighed in for the show Wednesday morning, and the meat goat show will begin at 6 p.m. with the feeder calf show following at 8 p.m. On Thursday, market hogs will be shown at 9 a.m., and the live sale auction will begin at 7:30 p.m.