State Fair 2019 (Second Visit) - Swine Barn

Friday, August 30, 2019

Next stop - the swine barn. The piglets were nursing. We noticed one came around to the other side to rest near mama pig's head. We figured that one must have started nursing first and was well sated. 

The next pen over held the largest boar. 

Yep, at almost 12 hundred pounds I'd say he's pretty large. 

State Fair 2018 (Second Visit) - Swine Barn

Sunday, September 2, 2018

The Swine Barn. We saw the cute little piggies with their mother and the prize winning boar.

They were all either sleeping or nursing. They sure were cute.

Then there was this guy. I wouldn't say he was cute but he certainly was impressive - all 1,040 pounds of him.

Johnny

State Fair 2018 (Second Visit) - A Comparison

Sunday, September 2, 2018

One task suggested in the walking tour brochure is to compare the largest prize winning pumpkin in the Ag/Hort building to the largest prize winning boar over at the Swine Barn. As it turns out the largest pumpkin weighs 674.5 pounds and the largest boar, Johnny, weighs 1,040 pounds.

State Fair 2018 (First Visit) - Swine Barn (with Sheep)

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Half of the Swine Barn was filled with sheep.

There were a couple of sheep judging contests going on while I made my way through.

State Fair 2018 (First Visit) - Swine Barn

Saturday, August 25, 2018

The following is from the State Fair walking tour brochure:

"Swine Barn"

"Built 1936"

"Then: The large red-brick Swine Barn was completed in 1936. It was one of more than a dozen structures on the fairgrounds built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal program that created jobs for people during the Great Depression. During the WWII years, exhibitions of livestock and poultry were suspended as the government converted all of the animal barns, including the Swine Barn, into a military aircraft propeller plant."

"Now: Through the years, judging standards for swine have changed; in the 1940s, livestock judging handbooks described the ideal hog as 'excessively fat.' Today, judges look for muscle, not fat. One of the Swine Barn highlights is seeing the winner of the Largest boar category; in 2010, crossbred swine 'Reggie' weighed in at 1,450 pounds. Grab a pig ear headband at the Oink Booth, and go on a quest to discover what weights the most this year - the largest boar or the giant pumpkin in the Agriculture Horticulture Building."