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SUBLETTE, MO -- 17-year-old Kaitlin Fitzgerald, a senior at Kirksville High School is this week's KTVO Ag Kid.

Kaitlin has raised animals since she was seven years old, everything from cattle to sheep to chicken. But her favorite animals are pigs.

"Two years ago I started working with hogs. My brother-in-law came into our family and he was really interested in them when he was a kid and showed them. I started showing them as well and really liked it."

Kaitlin works with her pigs and even showed them at last months NEMO Fair. All four of her pigs won blue ribbons. One even won the Reserved Grand Champion for Yorkshire in Adair County. But its not always easy.

"My brother-in-law really helps out a lot. I feed them a lot of scrap. In the morning they get fed. A lot of them are still on unlimited feed. We water them down two or three times a day because pigs don't sweat. You have to make sure they're cool."

She said managing pigs is not as difficult as other animals.

"They're pretty silly. You get in there with them and they're oinking at you, biting on your boots, all sorts of stuff. They like to play and are really friendly all the time. They're a lot smaller than the other show animals."

Although Kaitlin enjoys showing pigs, she has decided this will be her final year of doing it.

"It's a really big time commitment. I love working with them but there's so much other stuff that I'm interested in too. It's hard to balance out things."

Kaitlin is also involved in other activities at school and also has a part time job.

"I'd really like to go to Truman State for a music education degree. Music is one of the things that has overtaken my life in the past couple of years. I'm in band, choir, and high school drama."

In the meantime, she'll still continue to raise animals as a hobby. Kaitlin Fitzgerald, this weeks KTVO Ag Kid.