Exhibiting 18 chickens and three goats at a county fair sounds like a lot of responsibility for a 10-year-old.
Tanner Banike was up for the challenge at this year’s Oconto County Youth Fair, which wrapped up its 84th year Aug. 24 in Gillett.
Banike, who will soon start fifth grade at Abrams Elementary School, took in the sights and sounds of this year’s fair Aug. 21 with his mom, Ann, and 8-year-old sister, Tegan.
The Banikes live on a farm near Abrams, and Tanner and Tegan are members of the Morgan Badgers 4-H Club.
“She’s a Cloverbud, so she can’t show animals yet,” Ann Banike said. “That’s next year.”
Tanner, on the other hand, had his hands full with exhibiting his chickens and goats.
“It got to be a lot with the chickens this year,” Ann Banike said. “You bring them out of the cage and bring them to a table, so you’re not walking them around. It’s fun to watch him learn what makes a good goat or what makes a good chicken.”
The Banikes moved to Oconto County four years ago from the Kenosha area.
“It was an adjustment, but we love it,” Ann Banike said. “They get to do farm work and everything. It’s great to show kids that there is payoff in farm work and what they’re doing. A lot of these kids will pay for college or their car with the sale of their animals.
“He still has more at home that he has to take care of. She has rabbits at home, too, and they’re responsible for their animals. Mom always checks to make sure it’s up to my standards, and if it’s not, they get called right back out.”
Tanner and Tegan help take care of more than 100 chickens at their farm. Tanner exhibited animals at the fair for the first time last year.
“I have to give them food and water, and we also have cages so we can put them outside and they can have some fresh grass,” he said. “Once it’s their bedtime, we put them back in their cages so they’re tucked away. It’s fun to hang out with them. It’s a blast. It’s a lot of hard work, and it teaches you a lot about responsibility, that’s for sure.”
Tanner already has a plan for next year’s fair.
“Less chickens and more goats,” he said.
He didn’t have to think too hard when asked about his favorite part of preparing for the fair.
“Giving chickens a bath,” he said. “You have to give them a bath a week before the fair. It’s fun putting them in the water and also trying to catch them.”
While the Banikes concentrated on Tanner’s chickens and goats, 9-year-old Cullen Arndt, of Suring, exhibited his market hogs: Messi, a 343-pound barrow, and Antonella, a 224-pound gilt.
A gilt is a young, female pig that has not yet given birth to a litter, while a barrow is a castrated male pig.
Messi is named after famous soccer player Lionel Messi, and Antonella is named after his wife.
“We don’t raise pigs, we get them from my dad’s friend,” said Cullen, a member of the Northern Riders 4-H Club.
He showed his pigs in front of a judge and a large crowd Aug. 21 in the show ring.
“I had to trust the pigs and get them used to me,” Cullen said. “I had to give them lots of treats.”
He said he enjoyed showing his animals in front of a judge for the first time.
“We usually get the pigs in March and we raise them for five or six months,” he said. “When we got them, (Antonella) was 60 pounds and (Messi) was 40 pounds. He got a lot bigger than her, because she doesn’t eat that much. He eats a lot. I don’t really know why that is.”
Cullen said he didn’t know a lot about raising hogs before he started the project.
“I went to a clinic, and they told me a lot about things,” he said. “I learned so much, like you have to brush them every day. I have to walk them twice a day.
“I have to feed them twice a day at 6 in the morning and at night, usually at 7. I feed them corn and oats and stuff like that. They stay at my house and we built this pen for them. They live in a calf hutch. It works pretty good.”
Cullen plans to come back to show pigs again next year.
“Last year, I had a friend and I showed one of her pigs in Kiddie Showmanship,” he said. “That was fun, and I was hooked.”
Cullen’s grandmother, Cindy Arndt, is the fair’s secretary.
“He’s learning so much, like, ‘I have to get up in the morning, I have animals I have to take care of, if I can’t be there, I have to make sure somebody else can come and feed them, water them and take care of them,’” she said.
Exhibitors learn valuable lessons by showing off their projects at a fair, Cindy. Arndt said.
“They learn to work well with others and pay attention to what the judge is telling them,” she said. “There’s the responsibility of being at the right place at the right time and following the schedule.”
“I think the fair is great,” Ann Banike said. “It shows them that their hard work can pay off. It’s a chance to show their projects, whether it’s an animal in the barn or woodworking. It teaches them responsibility, which is our big thing. It doesn’t matter if it’s 96 degrees or freezing cold, you still have to go take care of everything. It is year-round.”
