Work underway to keep the animals at the fair cool

State Fair visitors aren’t the only ones that need to stay cool this weekend — work is also underway to ensure the farm animals don’t get overheated.

“They’re pretty used to it,” said Bailey Hunter, horse handler. “Every horse has a fan in their stalls, we have fans in the aisles, always have water in their stalls. We keep them as comfortable as we can. They get electrolytes every day, morning and night.”

In total, nearly 2,900 Minnesota 4H kids packed the barns at the fairgrounds with their animals for the first few days of the fair. They packed up an hour earlier than normal on Sunday to beat the heat.

While there weren’t any serious incidents inside the barns, there was a cow from Dodge County that had her handlers raising eyebrows overnight.

“She was panting really hard and not wanting to do anything, she was just laying there,” said Layla Schley, the cow’s handler. “So we called the vet. She checked her out, and we gave her a fan, and she was good.”

Of course, sizzling heat is always expected to hit at some point during the fair, and 4H-ers say these hot temps could be — and have been — much worse.

“We spent five days here last year that was just ugly,” said Sharon Davis, MN 4H Animal Science Director. “And so this year it’s just been a blessing with weather.”