PORT ANGELES — Curious children lined up and listened carefully as 14-year-old April Surgeon showed each how to milk a goat during a demonstration Thursday at the Clallam County Fair’s goat barn.
April lifts the goat’s left rear leg and places the metal bucket underneath the animal.
She instructs the children to wrap their thumb around the goat’s teat, seal it off and then use their other three fingers to squeeze out the milk into the metal bucket.
“She has a lot of grain to eat, so she doesn’t mind,” April says as she pets her 4-year-old goat, Meadowbrook.
The goat stood contentedly munching away while April held its leg and each child took turns milking the animal.
The goat-milking demonstration was one of the many events that kicked off the first day of the Clallam County Fair.
Activities continue today through Sunday at the fairgrounds, 1608 W. 16th St.
For a complete schedule of fair activities, see Page 4 of today’s “Peninsula Spotlight,” included in this issue.
‘One-person goat’
In the goat barn Thursday, youngsters lined up to try their hand at milking Meadowbrook.
Although Meadowbrook is definitely a “one-person goat,” her owner says, this is her fourth trip to the fair.
So she has become accustomed to the extra attention from the amateur milkers.
April, daughter of John and Valerie Surgeon, has participated in 4-H for nine years and has brought dairy goats to the fair the past four.
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The rest of this story appears in the Friday/Saturday Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.
