Hours before he competed in swine events Tuesday, Chris Greazel napped with his hogs and gave little thought to the moment they would go to market.

Chris Greazel, 11, takes a nap with his pigs Monday during the first day of the Johnson County Fair. Press-Citizen/Matthew Holst

"They don't have names, because you don't want to get attached and feel really bad when they go to the locker," he said.

The 11-year-old from Solon is one of more than 500 youth showing more than 3,000 projects at the Johnson County Fair. The weeklong fair started Monday and ends Friday with a livestock auction - an emotional day for many 4-H youth. Animals that received Grand Champion or Reserve Grand Champion ribbons are brought to auction.

Between 75 and 100 buyers will show up at the auction Friday, said Gene Mohling, county extension education director. Youth typically make a profit of $150 a calf, break even for hog projects and make $10 to $15 profit for lamb projects, he said.

Chris spent countless hours taking care of his hogs, but all the work and money spent on feed was worth it to see them grow from 30 pounds to more than 200 pounds each.

"After they get big, they sleep a lot and you get used to them," Chris said. "Showing is a lot of fun, and just being with them is fun. You learn a lot, and I learned it takes a lot of work to raise an animal."

A few pens away, Ashley Holubar, 10, poured water into a bowl for her hogs, "Oreo" and "Rosco." Together the hogs weigh 425 pounds. Ashley said she has no problem with naming her hogs because she grew up watching her father raise swine and knows that parting with the animals is part of the process.

"It is sad, because it's my favorite animal, but that's the way life is," Ashley said. "You just get more pigs next year."

Monica Smith, 13, received Reserve Grand Champion for Derby Pair and Champion for Light Derby Gilt Pair. She said her parents invested a lot in helping her fund her swine projects and so the auction is important for her to be able to pay them back.

"They buy our hogs for us at the beginning, and when we get our checks we pay them back," Monica said.

Those lessons in responsibility, values learned from hard work and citizenship are what the Johnson County Fair is all about, Mohling said.

"The auction is important because it shows community support," Mohling said. "Businesses and local residents take ownership for the fair... . A lot of times people talk about how much an animal is sold for. What's really important is raising kids, teaching kids value in responsibility and taking ownership in a project that takes a great deal of time on their part."