SIDNEY – What’s its name?

At the Shelby County Fair, that’s a hard question to answer half the time.

When stepping into the animal barns at the fair, it’s obvious which ones are treasured as members of the family, and which are just there for show, then are to be sold, but, Bo, Rusty, Jesse, Tutu, Sapphire, Piper, and Jazzy, all are names of animals at the Shelby County Fair.

A group of boys in the pig barn all said that they don’t name their pigs, and when asked why, none of them really had a reason. But you can find Lilo and Stitch, and Buzz and Woody at the fair. Only a few of the goats and sheep were named as well.

The cows that are at the fair for visitors to milk all have names and are displayed proudly. The other cows at the fair, not so much.

The alternative for the poultry projects at the fair were displayed proudly in the Youth Building. Quite a few of the posters featured photos of the children and their birds, some labeled with the poultry’s name.

A few of the rabbits were named. Oreo and Spot were common among the rows and rows of rabbit cages at the fair. One of the girls cleaning the rabbit area said she and her sister used to name them when they were younger, but then lost interest.

The alpacas all have names and come from a Sidney farm called Count Your Blessings. Jenna Allen, 13, of Sidney, shows the alpacas at the fair and said they are named really biblical things like Josiah, to really silly things like Call Me Maybe and Cinderella.

Wondering around the fair, you will find all the horses have names and all are displayed in big letters on the front of their stalls. There are actually really strict rules about naming Thoroughbreds and a few rules for naming American Quarter Horses as well. A list of horse-naming rules can be found on americashorsedaily.com. Just to name a few: Miss Peggy, Hickory, Joy and Butter were all horses at the Shelby County Fair.