The Franklin County Fair - Part 1

On the second day of my sister's visit, we took a drive to Malone, New York in order to see the Franklin County Fair. We began in the goat barn and with this friendly face:

I used to have dairy goats and still think they're one of the best animals there is. They're certainly about the friendliest:

  This sign was on a pen full of youngsters. It was clever and I got a chuckle out of it:

  Goats love people and they begged for attention:

We walked across the lane to visit the horse barn, stopping along the way to greet this friendly cat with giant feet and extra toes:

This warning caused me to be careful. I think this horse was like Remy - friendly, but inclined to explore with his mouth:

Next stop was the cow barn. It was all dairy cattle on that day. Beef cattle would be exhibited later in the week:

Lots of people stayed right there with their livestock:

And they kept them immaculately clean. I figured they must have to pick up manure every 15 minutes or so to keep them so clean. Cleaning up urine soaked bedding might be more difficult:

These cows are obviously well cared for and accustomed to much handling:

We walked over to the arena and saw what at first appeared to be children showing their goats in front of a judge. We watched for awhile and learned that the actual competition was the next day but the judge was giving pointers to the children, explaining what to do and what not to do. It was fun to watch:

Next was the poultry barn, where we found these Guinea Fowl:

And Buff Laced Polish chickens:

And quite a few Peacocks. But there was still much to see at the fair. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Franklin County Fair - Midway And Poultry

From the goat and cattle barns (see yesterday's post), I walked over to the midway. Alas, most people have a much later schedule than I do, and the rides and concession stands were just getting ready. Nonetheless, it was so colorful and fun to look at that I took photos anyway:

Funnel cakes and elephant ears:

Ribbon fries, Chicken tenders, Chili fries, Cheese Fries:

Cotton candy, cold drinks, Sno Kones, Popcorn, Caramel apple slices:

An old fashioned carousel:

And "The Tornado" for a wild ride:

Rock And Roll, a perennial favorite:

My next stop was the poultry barn, another favorite of mine as I've kept poultry for many years. The male peacocks were putting on quite a display:

There were ducks of all kinds and colors:

Royal Palm turkeys and many other varieties:

Golden Pheasants:

Guinea Fowl:

Polish chickens:

Old English Game Bantams:

Silkies:

And just a few cages of Tumbler Pigeons. It's a good thing they didn't have Fantail Pigeons or I might have been tempted to buy some:

Chapter 2, The Malone/Franklin County Fair

After exploring the horse and cattle barns, I began my walking tour of the goat barn. I was happy to see so many goats displayed. I had a small herd of Alpine dairy goats many years ago and few fairs made a place for them at all. These happy kids were clamoring for attention:

These does just wanted to eat their hay in peace:

More hay eaters:

I took one more walk through the cattle barn in order to get to the poultry barn. On my way, I took notice of this multi-breed collection, each with her own nameplate:

My tour of the poultry barn began with these Royal Palm turkeys:

But I mostly focused on the bantam chickens, beginning with the Barred Rocks, the breed I'm raising at home. I was surprised to find so many of them:

There were mottled Japanese:

And black tailed white Japanese:

There were lots of Peacocks in lots of fancy colors. I chuckled, wondering who was the first person to think, "You know, Peacocks are not colorful enough:"

And Mille Fleurs, another bantam breed I have owned in days of yore:

And Bourbon Red Turkeys:

And Golden Pheasants who, like Peacocks, had been bred to new color varieties as if the original color was too dull. This was a Yellow Golden:

I don't remember what color variety this was, but it sure was pretty. But I still had a lot to see at the Malone Fair and I'll post Part 3 tomorrow: