Report on the Hoppy Trails (Douglas County) Show

We stayed up late Friday night figuring out who was going in which cage and seeing if we had enough troughs.  Early Saturday morning we woke up and started loading rabbits and went to the Douglas show.  However, the Douglas show was in Gardnerville, and we lived 1.5 hours away.  And we had a late start.  Consequently, we were late.  But we were able to find a good spot quickly anyway.

We set up by the back door so that we could blow and groom our rabbits outside.  After we had unloaded everything, we thought we would check when French angoras would be up.  We were the very last, as usual.  Finally, we were able to show in Show A, where we learned A LOT.  We learned from the judge, Nancy Richmond, that rabbit hindquarters need to be wide so that it is easier for the rabbit to kindle.  The male's hindquarters also need to be wide because 65% of the hindquarter genes come from the males.

We also learned that Honey, who is now almost 15 months old, might still be able to have a litter.  We had read that if a doe hasn't produced a litter by 15 months, that she probably won't ever produce a litter.  Nancy said she's had does have first litters as late three years old.  She recommended putting apple cider vinegar (one tablespoon per gallon) in the water.  She also recommended repeated breedings six hours apart because that is how long it takes for does to ovulate after mating.

Sage, Charlotte's chocolate steel doe, won best of breed again, and PB, my wonderful fawn buck, won best opposite.  

After Show A, we got Honey and Cookie registered as grand champions.  To become a grand champion, a rabbit must have received three legs from three different judges.  Honey has four legs.  She could have gotten two more yesterday, but no one wants to put her on the table if she isn't going to be able to have kits.  If you want to register a grand champion, you need the rabbit's pedigree and your ARBA card.  If you forget your ARBA card, you might talk a sibling into registering your rabbit in her name.  I now have three grand champions registered in my name.

Then we went up for Show B, with Uno Kivi as the judge.  He liked Sage best, again, and awarded Ninja best opposite.  That made Ninja a grand champion, so we registered him, too.  While the registrar was filling out the papers, we packed up the truck.  And then, we left.  It was a great day.