Mast siblings are dedicated to their backyard barnyard

When it comes to raising an animal for the Holmes County Junior Fair Livestock Show, 1 acre of homeland should provide plenty of room to raise a couple of rabbits or a pen of birds.

For Mackenzie and Lucas Mast, 1 acre is room for a huge host of animals, and together they have created their own little haven of animal solitude.

This year at the Holmes County Fair, the siblings continued their animal success story, bringing plenty of their cherished fair projects to the big show.

Lucas Mast brought two pens of ducks, one pen of fancy chickens, a turkey and a pair of goats to the fair while his sister Mackenzie brought three goats, two pens of ducks and 12 pens of rabbits to the show.

That’s a lot of mouths to feed on a farm, let alone a 1-acre homestead near Nashville, where the Mast family resides.

About three months prior to the fair, the Mast family ordered a large shed that it restructured and built into a chicken coop. Surrounding the chicken coop is an area they use as a pasture field for their goats.

In addition, Lucas has built individual pens for the fancy chickens he moves around the yard as areas get worn. Add in the ducks and the Mast homestead might start looking a lot like Noah’s Ark.

All those animals require constant daily care, with each variety requiring its own set of detailed care.

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun,” Mackenzie Mast said.

The two siblings ventured into raising animals when Mackenzie decided it was time to invest in rabbits.

Later, the younger sibling Lucas Mast decided he too wanted to raise animals through 4-H, but he wasn’t into rabbits. Instead, he gravitated toward the world of birds, but market chickens, which his father suggested, wasn’t exactly his idea of fun.

“I didn’t want to raise market chickens because I knew I’d get attached and wouldn’t want to see them leave and get processed,” he said.

Thus, he turned to fancy chickens, which aren’t sold at the sale, birds he knew he could raise and keep.

“The fancy chickens are my favorite,” Lucas Mast said. “I don’t really like selling my animals.”

It was a fine choice because this year his pair of fancy chickens earned grand champion poultry project status.

In addition to their smaller animals, each sibling raised goats for this year’s fair, something they’ve been doing for a couple of years, and Lucas Mast said he also has taken a pen of broilers, fancy ducks, a dairy and a pack goat, and turkeys.

He said raising and breeding fancy birds requires a very distinct and different process than what it takes for raising market birds, and he has enjoyed great success in rearing fancy birds of all kinds.

For sister Mackenzie Mast, it’s still all about the rabbits. “I always thought rabbits were so cute, so when I got old enough to show in 4-H, I told my dad I wanted to show rabbits,” she said.

It didn’t take long for that to pay off. In her first year, she took a pair of Holland Lop rabbits and took home the grand champion novice pet honors.

For seven years Mackenzie Mast has been bringing her rabbits to the fair, and she continues to have a passion for her furry friends.

How does she choose which ones to bring? Which ones measure up to championship standards?

That is all based on the American Rabbit Breeder’s Association guidelines, which prioritize a variety of features breeders should look for when choosing an animal.

After seven years Mackenzie Mast has gotten quite good at identifying the proper standards.

“It takes time, and it’s a learning process to figure out which rabbits have the best depth and balance,” she said. “I’m still learning. There’s always more to learn.”

She has taken that mentality into serving as a member of the Holmes County Junior Fair Board, where she and other 4-H veterans have a role in the fair each year.

As for the siblings, their 1-acre plot near Nashville may not be a farm spread, but it is just perfect for them to invest their time and talent into raising dozens of animals the right way, even investing in each other’s projects when asked to do so.

“We call it our backyard barnyard,” Mackenzie Mast said.

For two siblings who are quite passionate about their efforts in raising animals, that sounds very appropriate.