4-H students working hard to keep animals cool

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. -- The Elkhart County 4-H Fair opened Friday night, one of the hottest days of the year. One 4-H student showed how they keep the animals at the fair cool in the intense heat.

“They’ve definitely started to drink a lot more water and try and lay down more and try and keep in front of the fans," student Troy Cutter said.

4-H is a positive youth development and mentoring organization. They teach kids responsibility and hard work.

Cutter says it's important to make sure the animals are hydrated.

“You definitely want to keep their water full. I use a 5 gallon bucket," Cutter said.

There are different ways to keep each animal cool. Sheep can be shaved to keep them cool.

“You definitely want to keep them shaved. Because it definitely cools them down," Cutter said.

Robert Kelly, the 4-H Youth Development Educator, says the buildings are made for the heat.

“If you look in our barns, we actually have a lots of very good open air ventilation systems in our barns, which helps keep the air flow through there. Keep that fresh air and keep it cool so our animals don’t stress out near as much, which is really important for us," Kelly said.

He says some of the shows can be rescheduled to a cooler time of day.