Show rabbits

[kbhear80]

Thought it would be nice to connect the "rabbit people". my name is karey and i am originally from michigan and we raise mini rex. I love taking my kids to shows and meeting new people, "rabbit" people are always so nice and fun to be around! I have raised

mini rex since i was a kid and now my kids show them in both 4h and ARBA. Im am looking to add a breed or two to the barn for me to show. Up in the running are mini satins (though they are a new breed that is still workingout the kinks), Checkard Giants and hares. With so many nice breeds to choose from its hard to decided. In the past I have had american fuzzy lops, a checkard giants, a few dutch, a few polish, Rhinelanders and silver fox. I may have had a few other breeds but with my age now its hard to remember that far back lol. If a rabbit needed a home I would take it in till I could find a new home for it so I have had the chance to work with a few breeds. I also have allot of friends who show in ARBA so if you are looking for certain breed or variety let me know and I will see what i can do to help you out. Im fairly new to BYC so once i figure out how to add pictures i will add some of my stock. But on my BYC page I have a photo of my son with his Bkn. Black Sr Buck that has been shown at two shows and has taken BOB both times (once in youth and once in open class). Very proud of my son..he works very hard with his animals and takes good care of them!

 

[vicki2x2]

Hi Karey!!

Karey just left us all behind and moved to the middle of NOWHERE!!

Just kidding

Got to go where the jobs are and they certainly aren't in Michigan!

Hey Karey, did you figure out how to subscribe to a subject so it lets you know when someone else posted to it? Good one to know, it is at the bottom.

You know I have always like Hollands for my kids, they are cute and sweet. Himi's are nice too, but get smutty easily. For bigger buns, I love English, Flemish, French Lops, hmmm, lots more, that is just what comes to mind.

 

[kbhear80]

lol you crack me up vicki. I love it out here. But the ARBA shows dont start back up till October. We do have people waiting for babies already. Mom is trin to track down my pedigree book for me. I also am hoping that mom and jeff can bring down some rabbits to me when they come to visit! And some turkeys!!!! Cause for the price of turkeys down here im ganna start a turkey farm lol.

They are working on a new variety in mini rex and I am initested in learning more about and possibly picking some up. They have started the tan variety. Know of any info on that? And vicki there are some nice lops here in kansas! Let me know if you want any sent home.

 

[kbhear80]

Oh and my cousin has some palimino's upstate if you know of anyone interested. She has one buck and one doe left. hey and vicki how do i add pictures to my post??

 

[RabbitMage]

Between the three breeds you listed, my preferences would be the Hares, followed by the Mini Satins, and then Checkered Giants. Each breed has its own challenges, though.

The Hares are a long time favorite of mine. The ones I've met have been graceful, curious, and surprisingly docile. The downsides are that they are uncommon, so competition might be hard to find. They are large and fine boned, so you have to be careful in how you handle and house them. Lastly I've heard they can be difficult to breed, but I know a few friend out here who are working with them and are getting some litters.

Mini Satins would probably be an easy leap if you're used to Mini Rex, since you're after the same body type. But they are new, there's only a few colors currently, and in my limited experience they tend to act like Satins-they don't like being handled or touched AT ALL.

My primary experience with Checkered Giants is remembering one of them getting out at Convention and the poor guy who caught it having to go to the hospital to get his hand stitched back up. They are beautiful, but have earned a reputation for being aggressive.

Of course, I have to plug my own breed. Have you considered Tans?

Chillin by rabbit_mage, on Flickr

 

[vicki2x2]

If she goes with Hares, we have a mutual friends that has beautiful Hares, including some BIS winning ones, so she has an in there. I am not into rabbits that bite me.

Had a doe nab the inside of my wrist last night, that was her second nip, very unusual for Hollands and her last. She will be sold asap. Nice doe, but not in my barn. I have small kids and its not happening. How about Thrianta's? New breed, very pretty. I do love the giant breeds though, just don't have room for them right now. Flemish are so cool!

Karey, for adding pics, you can upload them here at the top, click on uploads in the blue bar, or I use photobucket, then when I want to add a pic, I just copy and paste the img code.

 

[kbhear80]

im pretty lucky that one of my BF has them back in Michigan and they are VERY nice looking! Part of my thought on getting some is to get them more wide spread. Checkered Giants i love and have had before. Issue with them is the "tude" and having three small kids. But from my years of having rabbits I have learned that it all depends on the rabbit itself and how it is handled. The mini satins i hear have a hard time making weight because they only are a few generations away from being pure satins. Going back to Rhinelanders has crossed my mind also. There "tude" is a little better.

I lvoe your tan..very pretty. Im excited that they have a tan variety in the works for mini rex. Looking to pick some up after i do some research on the genetics and when i can find some with some nice body types. Im also hunting down some sables from my daughter.

We have shown in such large class's for so long it might be nice to get into a different breed and make it more widespread.


Not sure if i did this right...trin to add some pics

This is JB. He is older now...and MUCH nicer believe it or not...cant wait to but him on the show table.

kyler 2nd show in kansas..took Best of Breed with his bkn black buck. his second show was at the fair and had to show in open class...got BOB out of 30 and out of top4 and 6 class he was in the top 4! his first show down here was an ARBA show he showed in the youth class one won BOB.

 

[kbhear80]

ok I have decided to go with a challenge of finding astrex rabbits (curly rex coated rabbits). I was pretty excited to stumble across this and email the breeder to see about getting more infor and also posted a topic about it to see what all i could learn about them.
http://astrexrabbits.com/astrexhistory.html

 

[RabbitMage]

They're cute, but show rabbits they are not. I've heard other people talking about them before, and they said they've had difficulty getting anyone to sell them some.

 

[kbhear80]

i found a group on them on the yahoo groups. i seen a pic of a NZ white with the gene and it was adorable! ill try to find a pic of it again and post it....im thinkin it was love at first sight