This is the second of an occasional story leading up to the 74th Annual Chelsea Community Fair, Aug. 23-27. Read the first story here.

Andrew Milkey of Dexter was the first to arrive with his lambs at the Chelsea fairgrounds early Saturday morning for the animals' official weigh-in and ear tagging before he shows his sheep at the Chelsea Community Fair in August. The tags help identify the sheep so judges know it's the same animal when it arrives for competition.

Milkey, 16, plans to show his lambs in showmanship and in their weight class.

The weigh-in takes place about 100 days before the fair (sheep can’t weigh more than 80 pounds under fair rules).

Recording the weights helps determine which entrant will win the prize for rate-of-gain, which refers to the amount of weight that the sheep gain from the time they are officially weighed in until they arrive at the fair, when they will be weighed again. The animals are also classified and judged by weight.

Jerry Kuhl, one of the two sheep superintendents, said the youth must be at least 6 years old to enter and they can show until their senior year in high school.

In addition to showmanship, which is divided up by age, the sheep are also judged according to their weight. There are four classes: lightweight, light middleweight, middle heavyweight and heavyweight.

First-place winners in each weight class are lined up on one side of the ring, and second-place winners are lined up on the other side of the ring. The judge then chooses an individual grand champion and a reserve champion, he said.

The youth win trophies for grand champion and reserve grand champion as well as premiums, or small amounts of money, for placing first through fourth in their classes. The premiums range from $7 for first place to $3 for fourth place. “I don’t name them,” Milkey said. “They are just livestock.”

However, Samantha Bies and Emily Trinkle did plan to name their lambs. In fact, Emily, 6, named her two lambs Cup and Cake.

“We’ll keep feeding them and when school gets out, we’ll get them out and walk them two times per day,” Bies said.

Anna Vinahermosillo, 6, named her white sheep Sir Jumps-A-Lot.

“I thought it would be fun to show sheep,” she said, adding that “We raise them, too.”

About 17 youths and somewhere between 30 and 35 lambs are expected to show at the fair this year. Some of the exhibitors will show two sheep, but it’s not a requirement, said Greg McKenzie, one of the two sheep superintendents.

To show a lamb in fair, youth must live in either the Chelsea or Dexter school districts and be a member of the Chelsea-Dexter School District Lamb Club.

Alex Quinn, 12, said he plans to walk his sheep around, and will probably name it. Lambs at the Chelsea Community Fair date back to 1960 when Dean Schairer’s grand champion lamb was sold at auction to Farmer’s Supply for .36 cents per pound.

Patrick Quinn, 10, said he, too, will work with his lamb, train it and walk it around so it gets used to him.

Michael Staebler, 14, said it was his second year showing lambs at the fair. He shows pigs as well, but likes showing sheep because “You use your hands instead of a stick to guide it.”

He said he enjoys feeding and watering the animals as well. Lisa Allmendinger is a reporter with AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Dexter stories, visit our Dexter page. For more Chelsea stories, visit our Chelsea page.