Franklin County Fair - Goats And Cattle

It had been several years since I attended the Franklin County Fair in Malone, New York, so one morning I drove there to take a look. I began in the Goat Barn, which pleased me greatly because when I used to raise goats, few fairs showed them at all. Now they've become so popular that there is a designated Goat Barn:

Alpine goats, the kind I used to raise:

Nubian goats, with the floppy ears. Goats are so friendly that it was difficult to snap photos. They were quickly up in my face, begging for attention and I had to take my pictures quickly, before they got to me:

I was a little late snapping this photo of the friendly Nubians:

Happy youngsters:

Next I went into the cattle barns. I had read that the barns had been emptied on Wednesday and they'd begun showing "Colored Breeds" on Thursday. Since there were no Holsteins in sight, I decided that "colored breeds" meant any dairy cattle but Holsteins. Apparently beef cattle were shown previously, at the same time as the Holsteins:

There were lots of heifers:

Beautiful animals, which at first I thought were smallish Brown Swiss. Later I decided they were more likely dark colored Jerseys:

And an army of young people was busy keeping everything spotless:

A cow pie scarcely hit the floor before someone forked it up:

Outside, people were bathing their cows. The animals seemed to enjoy it:

This was such a nice scene that I asked if I could take her picture: a girl and the Jersey she had raised:

This girl heard me talking to the other girl and ran over to her special cow so I could take her picture too. But we were just getting started, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Franklin County Fair - Part 2

I'd already passed through the horse barn and the dairy barn, and was currently touring the poultry barn (see yesterday's post). There were Peacocks and ducks of various kinds:

Quail:

This big fellow was a Buff Orpington rooster and he resided near the door because he'd won a blue ribbon. I congratulated him on his success as I left the poultry barn to see what was next:

I entered the goat barn. I used to raise dairy goats, so I had a special interest in them. These big eared ladies were Nubian goats:

Another Nubian, friendly and curious:

This Toggenburg goat was being groomed on a milk stand. I used to have a stand just like this, which I kept in my kitchen and on which I milked my goats:

Once I'd seen the livestock, I headed to the midway:

It was early and the rides were just starting up, but they presented a glorious array of shapes and colors to photograph:

It was lunch time and I was hungry, but deep fried Kool-Aid didn't sound very healthy to me:

Candy Land likewise didn't look as if it offered much in the way of healthy eating. I eventually got a sausage sub which, by comparison, didn't seem as bad as it might otherwise:

I loved the inflatable lemonade stand, just in front of the Ferris Wheel:

I remembered the fun house, Crystal Lil's, from last year. I enjoy the lights, colors and people watching of the midway, so I continued my walking tour. I'll post Part 3 tomorrow: