Rabbit & Cavy News

The first show of 2008 for me, and the first time I’ve attended this specialty show for Polish rabbits. 

Held in the Richfield Fire Station, which is between West Bend and Sussex, I began the drive worried about the forcasted snow flurries.  The snow did come during the show day, but melted as it hit the ground so my hour-and-a-half drive was not treacherous as I thought it might be.

The building was heated, and had a nice kitchen and showroom area - everyone brings their own batch of chili which is all combined in one large cooker and sold by the bowl at lunchtime, along with other goodies.   There was a nice raffle which the kids always like, and Roger Moeller’s rabbit equipment was there to offer just about anything you needed for your rabbitry.

I only brought 5 Polish rabbits to show - I have more, but since I am only in week 7 of recovery from my surgery, I didn’t want to carry and handle a whole lot just yet.  

There were a lot of Polish there!  Many of the senior classes had more than 10-12 rabbits in each, which is plenty for Polish!  My black senior buck didn’t do well in his huge class, being out of condition compared to the other nice rabbits there.  My broken does only had each other to  compete against in their class - and the judge did not pick the one I thought would do well at this show!

My chocolate doe who just turned senior, won her large class and then won Best of Breed!  I was surprised by this one - she’s got a very nice body and nice coat to her, but to me, her head is not as nice as my pretty little brokens’ heads.  But I am not a judge……and I am fairly new to this breed.

Funny thing about this doe is that twice she was not going to be shown:  I originally planned to take my black senior doe to this show, but she seemed a little ‘off’ in the morning, so I grabbed this chocolate doe instead, and the second time was when I became so tired around 1 pm, that I came close to scratching my chocolate doe so I could leave for home……… but I stayed and this is the doe that won!

The Polish breeders here in Wisconsin are the best I’ve met.  Every single one has been so nice and helpful - and I noticed so many of them offering assistance, advice and encouragement to the youth that participated in yesterday’s show.  This in itself is very refreshing to me- everyone works as a true team to better the Polish in our area!  

If you are pondering what breed to begin with, you can’t go wrong with the Polish - this small breed is delightful to handle and breed, and in Wisconsin you can get quality stock readily and plenty of good advice to go along with!  You will only encounter encouragement showing against the other Polish breeders around here - the Polish are just a very nice breed of rabbit!

Cathy

I am hoping to go to the Misty Hill’s Fall Frolic rabbit show tomorrow.  Everything will depend upon whether or not I get all my other chores done today or not - you know…the fun stuff like laundry, cleaning and food shopping…aaarrgghhh.

My small show string of only one Holland and three Polish are all molting, of course, so I can’t expect to be there for any reason other than to increase class sizes so others can win legs. 

It will be good for my Holland doe - she acted so crazy at her first show despite me working with her a lot at home.  I am hoping she gets used to the show routine so I can send her to convention this October. 

This show is held in Dodgeville, WI at the Harris Pavilion (name?); the drive is less than an hour long, making it one of the closest rabbit shows for me.  At less than 5 years old, this building is very large and offers exhibitors a lot of room to spread out and get comfy- I don’t have to rush there just to get a spot, like at some croweded shows. 

What crazy weather around here!  Frost warnings last night, very windy and chilly - reminicent of late fall, and the weather forcast for next week jumps us back into the +80’s.  Only in Wisconsin - heat and air conditioning within a day’s span!  Impossible to expect good rabbit fur right now.

Hope to see you there, signing off to start all the fun stuff……

Cathy

Since I still can’t update or change my website, I guess I’ll post a little bit about convention here at my blog:

What a fun time!  This was the first time I’d ever been to the Eau Claire County Fairgrounds - what a great place - large buildings and lots of green space surrounded by woods. 

The open building was large enough to easily house us all plus two vendors, and the youth building seemed roomy enough also. 

Because I had procrastinated early in the week, getting ready on Friday afternoon was a rushed event, filled with frustration, but I did manage to leave home around 3:30 pm, only a little later than I originally planned on leaving.

The interstate drive was easy and I had no problems finding the fairgrounds when I arrived in Eau Claire around 6:30 pm.

Nice fairgrounds!  Newer, roomy buildings, nice grounds, and best of all, wonderful cooler weather and no mosquitos!

After I set up my few rabbits, I spent some time visiting with other breeders and checking out the facilities.  How nice to see everyone again, but I have to mention how strange it felt to be in the OPEN building, when for the past several years I had been with the YOUTH group! 

Despite all my efforts to become a proficient camper, I always fail miserably………  Again, as at previous rabbit shows, I slept in my van.  I was grateful that my air mattress stayed inflated this time; but Mother Nature still got me good when she dropped the thermostat close to the 50 degree mark.  I woke up around 1:30 that night shivering and remained frozen until about 5 am when I decided to scrap the crazy idea of getting any meaningful sleep. 

Saturday 4-class showing in Open was exciting - first I showed my Polish.  I only had three to show and I was pleased when one of my bucks placed 2nd out of the five black junior bucks.  My other buck placed 4/5, and my black junior doe placed 4/8.  I learned a lot from watching the other rabbits get judged and from talking to all the nice Polish breeders!

With intentions of buying a new Holland Lop breeding doe or two, I looked at several from the Open breeders.  I saw many nice does of which any/all would of probably worked well for me, but I settled on one from Laini’s Lovables - a nice brood doe with Swandt’s, Sarah’s, Swade’s and others in the background.  I really like this doe - she’s got a nice body and bone, and a good crown with should help with my herd.  I forgot to look at some breeders’ rabbits because I was kind of a zombie from lack of sleep……

I felt kind of strange bringing only one Holland Lop of my own to show but this spring I just didn’t breed much - then when my daughter decided to sell out of her French Lops in June, that threw a wrench of uncertainty into my rabbitry plans so I didn’t breed for summer litters either.  This one solid junior doe is out of a litter of two - and her brother turned out to be a normal sized rabbit.

I was pretty happy to hear that Allan Ormond was going to judge Hollands - he’s an excellent, high quality Holland judge and you can take to the bank any comments he makes about your Holland Lops………

Despite my doe acting like a psycho on the show table, judge Ormond did get some good poses from her and she showed off a bit.  She won her large class, then Best of Variety- and with some awesome comments from the judge!   I guess she’ll go to ARBA Convention even if I don’t go.

Patrick Reilly won BOB with his broken black buck, and I didn’t see who won BOS - but it was one of the broken does.  Congrats!!  Really nice Hollands everyone has! 

After the Holland judging was over, I left for home - I debated on whether or not to stick around and visit longer, but knew I had so much to still do at home so I ended up leaving at about 3:30.     

Of course I went home and bred some does…….   next show is Dodgeville  - one of my favorites because of the short drive, large building and homemade pie! 

Cathy

This may be the last post I can make for a few weeks or so - the computer I have some of my website stuff on is on the fritz and I need to replace it, or at least replace my hard drive.  I am in the process of transfering all my files over the the newer computer we have…I should of finished doing that when I got the newer computer this past winter, but never had the time.

During July, Reilly’s loaned me a broken chocolate Polish buck to breed to two of my does - so I could get some brokens.  Last week my chocolate doe had a litter of 5; four are broken chocolate, plus one solid chocolate!  She is an attentive mom too - I keep pulling fur off her litter (it is still quite hot around these parts!) and she covers them back up with more pulled fur! 

My black Polish doe finally had her litter - she had only two kits on the 33 day.  One kit is quite large and had more fur than a newborn normally has, so I suspect this was delaying the birth-luckily both came out ok.  The other kit is a normal sized solid chocolate. 

One young Holland from our last litter is looking pretty nice - she poses quite naturally and her timidness actually causes her to ‘freeze’ into a pose when manipulated gently.  Her head is just starting to pop out too - so we’ll have to wait to see how she developes. 

Her brother is appearing to be a ‘normal’ Hollands, but does he have a nice body, nice bone and his head is going to be huge!  Jody named him ‘Big Friendly Guy’, of all things, because he pulls a lot of antics to get attention!  Actually…….if his ears were not so large (they are shaped nicely, just simply large) he’d probably show well given that the standard took out the smaller ideal Holland weight……..

This thick, humid weather has everyone suffering lately - usually our Wisconsin summers don’t get this brutal until August, but this heat spell started at the beginning of July without a let up, and I don’t see any relief anytime soon either. 

All my rabbits are beginning to molt now - so I am constantly battling flying fur in my rabbitry - what a challenge to keep all the fans cleaned and running smootly!  I am sick and tired of inhaling fur, pulling it out of my eye sockets and, by gosh, I can’t even bring a soda out in the rabbitry (unless it is in a capped bottle) or I’d be drinking fur also!

I have to admit, I am getting more and more excited about the start of the fall rabbit show season!  I can’t wait to get back into it all - and see rabbit people again!  I am hoping to not have too many weekend conflicts so I can attend several area rabbit shows, and since Jody and Kelly will not be showing, I will be able to count on them to take care of my bunnies at home while I am gone! 

Off to rabbit chores, stay cool!

Cathy

We were planning to attend the Sunday Tri-County Rabbit Show held in Jefferson, Wisconsin tomorrow, but it looks like I’ll be in Illinois again instead.

Jody is in a huge soccer tournament this weekend in Rockford - in fact we just got home after a long day in brutal freezing weather! 

He plays again early Sunday morning then possibly in playoffs, we’ll have to see.  Either way, we can’t be at two places at once, so the soccer tournament wins this time.

Kelly has some nice juniors to show - hopefully we will hit a show or two in May.  I also have a few Polish and a Holland due within the next few days and I can’t wait, especially for the Polish babies!

Well, goodnight all.  I can’t wait to climb into my nice warm bed and sleep away any thoughts of today’s bone-chilling wintery winds.

Cathy

Well it seems that it was so long ago that we finished up with our huge Badger Rabbit Breeder’s show, but in reality it was only a few short weeks ago!

During March and April of each year, my personal (or family) appointment books seems to just explode - all of the sudden spring high schools sports take off with a flurry of activities, rabbit shows heat up and just general chaos.  This year I have one graduating and getting ready for college, and one right behind him too, so I’ve been really busy!

Finally, we just got our  juniors tattooed today - a task I never look forward to even though it never turns out badly.  I just don’t like the idea of it so I tend to procrastinate as long as I can.  

Kelly’s last two litters of French Lops are looking nice - all finally getting their adult coats in.  A few are already nearing the top junior weight and still have a few more months to go in junior age.   Kelly thinks every single rabbit from both litters are all does! 

I have two Polish and one Holland bred - all due around mid-month.  I should of bred a few more Hollands along with this group, but wanted to treat everyone for coccidia so I decided to hold off till April.

Looks like we’ll miss all the rabbit shows in April; Jody has two out-of-town soccer tournaments in April, and the other two weekends are, well, Easter and then airsoft games.

May looks brutal also - I am hoping to make at least one show during May, or rather, I am determined to make at least one show!

Enjoy the weather while you can!  

I already posted some details in another post, about our 50th anniversary rabbit show coming up this Sunday, March 11 at Jefferson, Wisconsin…but….I thought I’d also throw in some good reasons for joining our rabbit club, or a local rabbit club near you.

All the rabbit shows that us rabbit breeders enjoy and faithfully attend are put on by local rabbit clubs.  These clubs vary from small, loosely-knit organizations, to large, highly-organized clubs that operate under parliamentary procedure, and of course there are clubs that fall in-between these two extremes. 

Any way you slice it - it is by the hard work of these rabbit club members that rabbit shows are successfully carried out. 

A wonderful by-product of this hard work is the social aspect; through meetings, group discussion and planning, and working together at a show, rabbit breeders have the opportunity to come together for a common cause.  Actual fun has been known to occasionally break out amidst all the work being done.  Many life-long friendships have evolved from working together through rabbit clubs.

These clubs ensure our hobby’s future!

Consider donating your time or expertise to your local rabbit club today - almost any contribution will be highly appreciated; arranging or running group meetings, providing refreshments for meetings, making or sending a club newsletter, tracking expenses, even making or maintaining a club website just to name a few things that can be done with minimal time commitments. 

For those who like the physical end of rabbit shows, the jobs are plentiful; setting up and tearing down at a rabbit show, clean up, handing out ribbons, organizing a raffle, taking or sorting entries and ramrodding classes at busy shows, and not to forget; writing for judges!  All these tasks, and more, are important for a rabbit show to run smoothly and each takes people-power!

The cost to join is usually minimal or non-existent.  If you are a rabbit breeder, there is no good excuse why you could not donate just a little time to help out your local rabbit club!

Badger RBA has been around for 50 years!  This is due to the focus of our founding members and the commitment of those who’ve joined since.  If you are in southern Wisconsin, join us today and plan to be part of our 75 year celebration!  I might be crawling in the door by then, but I’ll be there, hopefully with a nice show string of Polish by then………

And, if you are not in southern Wisconsin, look for a local rabbit club near you - if there isn’t one, start your own club!

Make a difference and help keep our hobby alive!

Hope to see you at the show this coming weekend - feel free to talk to any of our members for more info on how you can help our rabbit breeding hobby! 

Cathy

I recently heard that those rabbit breeders attending the 2007 ARBA Convention in Michigan, will need to have interstate health certificates for rabbits entering the state for exhibition. 

Here is the link to read more:

Michigan Rabbit Regulations

Now, after hearing this, I naturally though the cost of getting these was going to prevent our family from attending the convention, but my vet, here in southern Wisconsin, said it isn’t too expensive - one certificate costs about $8.75 and lists 5 rabbits.  My vet said he’d charge either an hourly rate to come to my barn to inspect all our convention-bound rabbits for their certificates, or I could save $$$ by bringing them into his office for a total office ‘exam’ charge of approximately $35-$45. 

This breaks down into a couple of bucks per rabbit, so it won’t be as bad as I thought. 

I have heard from other breeders in other states that they won’t have it as easy as I do - some will cost upwards of $15 per rabbit, and some vets that are willing to issue these certificates are not located close enough to easily obtain certificates.

Not sure how all this will play into our upcoming ARBA Convention.  I’ve heard it is really nothing to worry about.  I just think that having the knowledge ahead of time help with planning…….

Join us this year on March 11 at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds (503 N Jackson Ave, Jefferson, WI) for our rabbit club’s 50th anniversary show!

Yes - the Badger Rabbit Breeders Association is celebrating it’s 50th consecutive all-breed rabbit show here in southern Wisconsin.  Special Best of Breed awards, a huge raffle and some other surprises are planned for this big event!

On Saturday March 10th, be sure to attend the specialty shows for the following breeds; Netherland Dwarfs, American Fuzzy Lops, Dutch, Holland Lops, Mini Rex, Angoras, Checkered Giants, Rex, Havanas, Mini lops, New Zealands, Satins, and Silver Martens. 

Cooping is available for Friday and Saturday nights at 50 cents per hole, but you must email to Tom to reserve your coops:  tachrist @ wisc.edu   (remove the spaces in the email address)

The Sunday all-breed show starts promptly at 9:00 am and the open starting breeds are: Checkered Giant, Britannia Petite, American Sable, Creme d’Argent, Jersey Wooly, Dutch and Belgian Hare.   The youth starting breeds are: Palomino, Flemish Giants, Mini Satins, French Angoras, and Havanas.

All breed classes are still only $2.50/ea and fur classes are $1.50/ea. 

Now this being a very popular show, we tend to really get crowded so don’t bring your chairs and grooming tables because there is no where for you to use them! The showroom opens at 6:30 am on Saturday and Sunday.

If you are coming from out of town and need ‘people cooping’, here are phone numbers for some of the local motels and inns:  

Days Inn (Johnson Creek) 920-699-8000
Rodeway Inn (Jefferson) 920-674-4404
Comfort Suites (Johnson Creek) 920-699-2800
Best Western Courtyard Inn (Ft. Atkinson) 920-563-6444

If you need additional places to try, email me at racefan24@verizon.net  for more info!

DON’T FORGET!!!  Saturday night is daylight savings time - set your clock AHEAD one hour!  Oh good, we’ll all be tired……..

If you are looking for a rabbit club to join and help out with, we will certainly welcome you!  We could use more people to help set up and tear down our show each year, work at the show, help organize community or educational seminars for adults and youth alike, and we can always use new ideas! 

Contact me for more info racefan24@verizon.net  We meet sporadically throughout the year, usually on Saturday evenings at the Culvers near Newville. 

If you have questions about the show, just email me and if I can’t answer your questions, I’ll surely put you in touch with someone who can!

Cathy   : )

This, being the first rabbit show of the year for us hardy Wisconsinites, is always an exciting one!  Bitter cold, as usual, how could we expect anything different? 

We got to the show about 6:45 so we could get a decent spot in the ‘cold room’  (the attached cattle stall barn that is unheated), somewhat near the warmth of the main showroom. 

Only Kelly and I went today - Jody stayed home nursing a cold.  Turns out this was a great decision anyways - Kelly’s French Lops were all finished by 11:30 today and we didn’t have to wait around to show Jody’s Hollands as it usually turns out.  I think this is the earliest we’ve ever gotten home from a rabbit show.

This show is held in a fairly small building and is always tremendously crowded, but I think there were fewer people this year than in the past.  Navigating through the crowds just seemed a lot easier for some reason. 

Kelly only brought 6 French Lops to show, and one was coming because her new owner was picking her up at this show.  This group of French Lops just turned senior so they were at a bit of a disadvantage competing against more mature seniors, but Kelly’s rabbits did well anyways.  Her senior broken buck, LaReau’s Bacon, won his class, best opposite of variety and went on to win Best Opposite Sex, so this was exciting and I thought unexpected (well at least according to me, if you ask Kelly, she’ll tell you he’s a really nice rabbit….and who am I to know this?)

It is always wonderful to see all our rabbit friends and rabbit people again after the long winter and holiday season - my gosh how the youth breeders change from year-to-year!  I am starting to feel old or something.

Well I am off to get caught up on some rabbit chores here.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

 Cathy