A Walk Thru the Erie County Fair Barns

One of my favorite things to do at the Erie County Fair each year is to stroll thru the livestock barns and visit with the kids who work so hard during the year to raise their animals and sell them at auction at the fair.  It's almost like these kids are running their own business and these are kids as young as 8 years old.

I grew up in the suburbs, so I'm always amazed at the size of these animals.  I was looking at one dairy cow in one of the barns and a sign overhead said it was born in December, 2010.  I couldn't believe the size of this animal and it wasn't even a year old.  I asked one of the kids if the sign was correct and he said it sure was - that cow was 9 months old.

But of all the things that impress me the most is how confident these young kids are around these very large animals.  Some of the animals can weigh more than 10 times what these little kids weigh, but the kids know how to handle them.  The animals know the kids are boss.

Check out the photos of some of the kids I met at the fair and their animals.