Get your goat at the Prince William County Fair

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Livestock goes hand in hand with county fair.

Farmers from around the region bring their animals to the Prince William County Fair to be judged. Everything from beef and dairy cattle, chickens, hogs, and dairy goats just to name a few are a part of the open agriculture contest at the fair.

The animals are housed in the stables, which allow fairgoers to walk up and view them. Some come to the fair to look at these animals for the first time.

“Their pupils are like rectangles,” said Darius, 13.

Standing at the goat stables, he was admiring the calm animals.

“Do they bite?” he asked. “I thought they would be more aggressive.

Alongside him was his 17-year-old friend Aqui.

“I’ve never been around animals like these before. I”m also going to see some pigs while I’m here, and that will be my first time doing that,” said the Manassas Park teenager.

There are several kinds of goats at this year’s fair. Nubian goats with their large ears and noses. There are also goats with no ears, and Nigerian-breed goats that are as about as tall as an adult’s knee cap.

“I’m around goats all the time,” said Amanda Lohr, of Rhodesville, Va.

Lohr and her husband have about 70 goats at this year’s fair. The feed them twice a day with a mixture of grains, corn, and proteins.
Milk from these goats is used in everything from soaps to foods.

“I have eczema really bad, but I use soap made from goat’s milk and it clears right up,” said Lohr.

Goat milk is also a popular alternative for people who cannot drink milk from cows.

“A lot of people cannot digest cow milk,” said Lohr. “Sure [goat milk] has got a lot of butter fat in it, but it is easier for some people to digest.”