There were numerous chickens, several goats and family pets with names ranging from Freckles to Foxy paraded through the show arena during the Children's Small Animal Show at the Kingdom of Callaway Fair Thursday night, but 8-year-old Curtis Humphreys of Fulton gave one of the most crowd-pleasing answers to the question
"What is your chicken's name?"
"He doesn't have a name, I have 15 more chickens at home," Rohrbach promptly replied.
When judge Danene Beedle then asked why the other 15 were left at home, that answer was equally prompt.
"Mom only let me bring one," he said.
Eleven area youth ages 3-8 showed up for the fair's first-ever children's show, each of them excited to show off their favorite animal.
Stella Meloy, 3, of Tebbetts, brought her bucket calf, Freckles, whom she told Beedle she feeds "bottles and corn."
"It's fun to lead, and I like to brush him, and he kind of jumps and kicks," Meloy said when asked why she likes to work with Freckles.
Aaron Corey, 5, of Fulton, showed his chicken Copperhead. He said he likes Copperhead because she lays eggs.
"It's my Papa's chicken. I help feed it and get eggs," Corey said.
Seven-year-old Caleb Rohrbach of Fulton, who said he also showed a pig in the peewee show, said he brought a chicken to the children's show because "it was a very young chicken, and I just wanted to show it."
His little sister, Amelia, 5, showed a goat.
Humphrey also had a younger sibling in the show: His 6-year-old brother Colin.
Colin Humphreys brought two kittens to the show, Opie and Andy. He said he decided to bring the kittens instead of a chicken because, "They're easier than chickens to show."
Cole Blattner, 5, of Fulton, also brought his cat, Special.
"I wanted to show him because he's a good cat, and he's never been to the fair before," Blattner said.
Beedle, a former 4-H member who currently works in the Missouri Department of Agriculture, said she enjoyed judging the show.