We breed more than a few rabbits here, and in the process the girls have learned a lot about differentiating between showable and unshowable rabbits. About a third of the rabbits here are unshowable, usually because of color but sometimes also because of a poor body type. But we can't house unshowable rabbits for the rest of their lives, and the girls aren't really ready to start checking out hasenpfeffer recipes.
Anyway, back to the groups of people who want a good rabbit without necessarily needing a (more expensive) show quality rabbit.
So what becomes of our unshowable rabbits?
Some, a very few, become pets. However, most people who want merely a pet rabbit are not going to get an angora.
The majority of people who buy the unshowables are spinners who want the bunnies for their fiber. Pretty self-explanatory.
Then there are the homesteaders/sustainable living/prepper-types who want good stock without the concern for showing. They can keep just what they want for spinning and eat the rest. They don't have to be concerned about whether the color is just right, whether the rabbit is overweight, or whether the shoulders are too long. They have it easy. But they still need a rabbit with a good body. You don't want a doe with pinched hindquarters and the potential problem of difficulties in kindling a litter.
The last group of people who buy unshowable rabbits is 4-H youth, especially the young ones. (Well, in the case of the young ones, it's the parents doing the buying.) Sometimes the mothers are spinners and want the fiber while their children have the experience of caring for and showing a rabbit. In fact, if I were a parent of a young 4-H member, I would say that getting an unshowable/pet quality/DQ rabbit would be the only way to go.
And why is this, you ask?
Number one, 4-H shows can get really long. The shows generally begin around 8:00AM and you have to check in at that time. You have to be there all day, because French angoras don't go to the table till late in the day. But what if you are showing a DQ rabbit? Well, then, at our 4-H shows in Nevada, DQs and crossbreeds are the first ones on the table. And you get your awards right away. Your younger child doesn't have to wait until the end of the day. You can have a life outside of the 4-H show that day. At the recent Placerville show, the pet class show was later in the day, but that may have been more a function of being absolutely overwhelmed with the number of entries they had (they were anticipating 600, and got 2,300). However, the awards were still given right away.
Now it is important to remember that the rabbit has to have a true disqualification, or else it is considered cheating. Ideally, you get a rabbit with a really nice body that is disqualified for color or weight or some kind of congenital birth defect. This way you can get a less expensive rabbit and you get to go home early. It is a really good way to go for younger kids. In the DQ/pet class, the youth are judged on how well the rabbit is cared for rather than whether the rabbit conforms to the ARBA ideals. It's how all young kids should begin, IMO.
At the Placerville show, Lydia entered Silver, who is DQ'd for being the wrong color.
She was absolutely thrilled with her first place win.
