Kids raising 'kids'

MOSES LAKE - The first time Alyssa Bennett showed goats at the fair she was in sixth grade.

"When I was little, I always used to run away from my mom and she'd find me in a goat barn with all the goats around me," said 18-year-old Bennett.

She received her first three goats in sixth grade and now has close to 30.

This year she brought 2-year-old Sunkissed to compete. The goat won grand champion and best dairy doe last year.

"She's usually pretty nice," Bennett said. "She can have an attitude."

Other youth brought goats they hoped would do well in competition.

Moses Lake youth Kristian Myrick, 11, brought a 6-month-old goat into the fair for the goat's first showing.

Myrick started showing last year because he wanted to acquire more farm animals. He said he enjoys working with them.

Moses Lake youth Cody Wilson, 14, brought a pregnant pygmy to the fair named Smoky. Though he is showing sheep this year and showed chickens and rabbits in the past, it is his first time showing goats.

"I always sat on the bleachers and watched the goats, and it seems fun," Wilson said.

Cody Wilson's brother, Brennen Wilson, 12, brought a 9-day-old pygmy with his mother.

It is his first time showing, too.

The children can be asked some tough questions during competition, Judge Patti Gylling told the audience.

"The child who takes away the (award) today is the child that can be truly confident about the animal," Gylling said.