Eight-year-old Tucker Kresge proudly leads his bull calf Albert through the livestock area at the West End Fair.

Tucker was there when Albert was born, just 3½ months ago, and he was there to see the 450-pound calf win several ribbons at the fair, both in open class and 4-H.

Tucker and his cousin Braelyn Lukashewski, 11, stopped to talk about their love for farm animals and their goals.

With their siblings, they are the fourth generation on the Kresge farm in McMichaels. Albert is named for his great-grandfather who started the farm.

Braelyn’s 1,000 pound heifer, Demi Divine, won several ribbons, including reserve grand champion.

“I’ve been interested in animals my whole life,” Braelyn, a sixth grader at Pleasant Valley, said.

She is especially fond of horses.

“A horse is on my itinerary for sometime in my life,” she said.

Their parents and grandparents do most of the work on the farm, which has about 50 cows, with several in competition at the fair.

But the four children on the farm pitch in.

“We have to feed them every day and they always have to have water,” Tucker said.

He’d rather be outside playing ball or with the animals than anywhere else, he said.

Both say they want to be veterinarians when they grow up so they can come back and work on the farm.

They help to take care of the animals daily at the fair and work in some fun and food.

Tucker says his favorite food is the roasted corn served up by Borger Farms, who also had a lot of entries at the fair.

Braelyn said they take the cows to other fairs, including Sussex County Fair in New Jersey. There are more cows in competition there, which makes her a bit nervous.

“Some cows win, some don’t,” Braelyn said. “It’s all a part of owning them.”