QuickTake:

4-H youngsters across Lane County gain skills in responsibility as they raise animals and prepare them for the fair. 

Thirteen-year-old Ozro Bartlett is learning responsibility and skills from Billy the Kid.

Don’t worry: Billy the Kid is a goat, not a b-a-a-a-a-d gangster from the Wild West.

Bartlett’s 4-H project, a 70-pound market goat on display at the Lane County Fair, was among the hundreds of animals present at the fair Saturday, July 25. The 4-H programs in Lane County, part of Oregon State University Extension Service, draw a mix of rural and urban youths who raise animals in preparation for competition, judging and auctioning.

For Bartlett, who lives in rural Lane County between Eugene and Junction City, raising goats made the most sense for his first year in 4-H. 

“Something sparks about goats that really sets my interests off,” Bartlett said in an interview.

Billy the Kid started out as a 45-pound creature with Bartlett, who has been responsible for his care and training for several months. The goat is one of three Bartlett brought to the fair.

To be sure, Bartlett considered other options before he set his sights on goats. 

For a moment, he considered swine, he said, “but that changed real quick when I went to the first 4-H meeting.” Bartlett said he finds that swine are “personally, smelly animals,” but quickly added: “I respect them.” 

Swine, turkeys, guinea pigs, chickens and rabbits and other critters were all on display at the Lane County Fair Saturday. In all, nearly 300 youth participated at the event, which includes 4-H youngsters and those who are part of FFA, the common acronym for Future Farmers of America, said Elizabeth Gangwer, 4-H program coordinator of the OSU Extension Service. 

Gangwer said the program teaches youth skills like responsibility, recordkeeping, financial management and leadership. 

And 4-H kids don’t need to live on a farm or work with larger animals, either. Small animals for city kids also are in the mix. 

As a result, Lane County geography – urban and rural settings – makes the program varied from community to community. 

“We have kids from the city here,” Gangwer said. “We have kids who live out in the country.”

At the East Lane Small Animals Club, animals are smaller than goats but equally beloved. 

Eleven-year-old Helen Nunes of Eugene showed off her modern game bantam, essentially a small chicken. With her mother, Katie Nunes, standing nearby, people admired the docile bird, which weighs about a pound or less. 

Many years ago, the chicken was sometimes used for cockfighting. But these days, the birds can be found not in battle but rather in the care of 4-H participants.

Nevertheless, the younger Nunes said her chicken, “Princess Tuna,” sometimes is “sassy.”

As for goats, Bartlett said he’s sticking with his choice and plans to continue his pursuit. His mother, Tara Bartlett, said the 4-H programs teach her son responsibility, noting that it’s the participants – not their parents – who do all the work. 

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Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.