Ozaukee County Fair 4-H members beat the heat
OZAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. - When the weather has been as hot as it has, 4-H members who spend a lot of the time outside taking care of livestock say be like the pig.
The Ozaukee County Fair returned starting Wednesday, July 28, and people are in that summer mindset.
"All the kids here have worked really, really hard for this year, especially after COVID," said Leah Maciejewski, 4-H member. "We’ve all worked really hard to come back."
With fair season comes the summer heat, and for the 4-H club members tasked with taking care of show pigs…
"Heat is a really big factor with pigs because with any livestock, it’s really hard to keep them cool when it’s really hot, especially with the humidity being at a higher level," said Maciejewski.
"We try to stay cool," said Jack Maciejewski, 4-H member. "We try to stay in the shade. They’re putting shade cloth up right now, so when the pigs are in the holding area, before they go in the show ring, they’re going to be shaded off. Then we like to use ice and keep them cool, give them rinse downs."
Like some of your pets at home, these pigs don’t sweat.
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"Very different, pigs are very different than dogs," said Leah Maciejewski. "We have dogs at home, also, so we like to keep our dogs in a nice, shady area, plenty of water. If they need to come inside, get some fans on them, just let them lay around. Don’t really push them to do too much physical activity. Just like we wouldn’t want to run around a lot, we don’t want to force them to move around a lot."
So for all the animals, ourselves included, it's important to be sure to drink lots of water and do as the pig does, lay down in a shady spot and take it easy.
The Ozaukee County Fair runs through Sunday, Aug. 1.
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