While many kids are out playing, relaxing and enjoying their summer vacations, Oxford residents Isabelle and Oscar Vartanian are busy getting their livestock ready for auction at the Oakland County Fair, which runs from July 5-14 at Springfield Oaks County Park in Davisburg.

For the last four years, the siblings have been members of the Oakland County 4-H Livestock Club, a group that teaches youth how to raise, fit and show a variety of animals, including cows, swine, chickens, sheep, goats and rabbits.

“I enjoy everything about it,” said Oscar, 13. “I never really imagined myself doing this before.”

Their father Scott Vartanian, a 1989 graduate of Oxford High School, who leads the club with his wife Katy, said the kids are required “to do 80 percent of the work” when it comes to caring for the animals.

“We really hold them to that,” he said. “It can’t be our project. It has to be theirs . . . They get up at 5 in the morning. They feed and walk their animals. They’re doing chores at dark.”

During the school year, the Vartanian siblings, who live on 14 acres along Thornhill Lane, just east of Baldwin Rd. and north of Oakwood Rd., devote about 10 hours per week to their animals. That increases to 14 to 18 hours in the summer, especially during the period leading up to the fair.

“It’s a lot of hard work,” said Scott, but “they do it because they love these animals” and the experience teaches them that their dedication “can pay off in the end.”

Isabelle, 15, and Oscar will participate in the fair’s small animal auction on July 12 and the large animal auction on July 13.

Both have been raising chickens, turkeys and rabbits for the small animal auction. Each will bring three broiler chickens, three roaster chickens, five rabbits and one turkey.

For the large animal auction, Isabelle will bring two lambs, while Oscar will attempt to sell two goats and two pigs.

At auction, the animals are sold for meat and, according to Scott, club members typically invest the proceeds into next year’s livestock projects or tuck them away for college.

The kids do become attached to the animals and it is a difficult experience when they have to say good-bye, fully aware of their fate.

“Everyone cries when they all go off,” Isabelle said. “It’s sad because you build a bond with the animal from working with it every day.”

While it is emotionally tough, Scott said they “understand” that these animals serve a purpose. “It’s reality . . . It’s where food comes from,” he said.

Isabelle said the idea behind the Livestock Club is to “raise the animals more ethically and humanely” than they would be otherwise on a large-scale factory farm, for example.

“I try to focus on that,” she said.

Oscar said even after the animals are sold, he can carry with him the memory of that “extremely close bond” and be comforted by the knowledge that he gave them “a better life than what they could have had” elsewhere.

Unlike livestock at industrial farms, 4-H animals are not treated like they’re just a number. Isabelle and Oscar said they give their animals extra attention by hanging out, playing and walking with them.

According to Scott, the meat these animals produce is “exceptional” because they’re raised “naturally,” meaning no hormones are used and the feed they consume has been carefully selected.

“It tastes completely different than something you’d pick up off the shelf at a grocery store,” he said. “It’s fresher. It has a different texture. It’s really good.”

Being members of the Oakland County 4-H Livestock Club has taught Isabelle and Oscar a variety of lessons.

Responsibility is at the top of this list. These animals are 100 percent dependent on the Vartanians to keep them alive and healthy by feeding them the proper amount of food, cleaning their living areas, monitoring their growth and making sure they’re not exposed to diseases, parasites, etc.

Isabelle and Oscar said raising and selling livestock also teaches them about marketing/advertising, finances and how to save money for the future.

The siblings have attended events hosted by the Oxford, Holly and Birmingham Bloomfield chambers of commerce. At each one, they delivered speeches promoting the county fair and encouraging people to visit and check out the animal auctions.

“(Promoting the fair) gets them outside their comfort zone (and) teaches them how to network (with) and talk to people,” Scott said.

Oscar noted he “used to be extremely scared of speaking in front of other people,” but making these pitches has helped him deal with that and boost his self-confidence.

Scott noted folks who win animals at the auctions are not obligated to bring the meat home. He said they can donate the animals back to the fair and have them auctioned a second time with the proceeds going the fair. Or they can have the meat sent to a local food bank.

There are currently 46 youths active in the Oakland County 4-H Livestock Club, which meets twice a month. They range in age from 5 to 19. Most members live in Oakland County, but there are some from Lapeer, according to Scott.

Anyone who is interested in learning about livestock is welcome to join. “You don’t have to own livestock (or participate in the fair) to be part of this club,” Scott said.

For more information about the club, please visit the group’s Facebook page.