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 - 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: