Gridley Show--11 October 2014

There were a lot less people than we expected at a double triple show (triple youth show and triple open show).  It was a smaller building, so we were all very cozy.  Strangely enough, this triple show went faster than any double show we’ve ever been to.  We were done by 3:00.  It was indoors, unlike the last Stockton show, and probably the nicest place we’ve shown—the AC was going for the rabbits, there was a large grassy parking area for letting rabbits out (and parking), and it was right outside the building.  All the angora judging tables were right next to each other, making it so much easier for us to find them.  We were so used to long shows and always being last that we didn’t have all our rabbits groomed when it was time to go to table.  That did cost Duchess a leg, but it was ok since Becky’s other doe, Honey, got the leg.  They switched up the order, which we had never seen done before, so the youth French angora went up sooner.  

 

If we had to choose between going to Gridley or Stockton, we would choose Gridley any day. 

We had our best friends who are also raising some nice French angoras with us, so it was lots of fun.  At the show, we met some other French angora youth.  They had a beautifully colored buck—a self-chocolate, but he had a lot of reddish tint.  My mom is still drooling over him.  It was really fun to meet them, and we hope to see them at other shows.

Tootsie was way overweight, and Muddy just turned senior and was underweight.  I didn’t want to spend money to enter them—even though they both had nice coats—and risk getting DQ’d.  So I took Ninja who had very uneven coat, just so we’d have the numbers for getting two legs per show.  Two significant things I learned this time—1.  If rabbits are DQ’d for weight, it doesn’t take away from the count for legs, so I should have taken Muddy and Tootsie, because the judges sometimes don’t even notice the weight;  2.  Senior does usually win best of breed.

Judges and How They Look at Rabbits Differently

I was planning on writing about this after the Gridley show, but I have an English assignment on developing paragraphs by giving examples.

 

As you may recall, we were at the West Coast Classic in May 2014.  That was our first ARBA show and our first experience with multiple shows in a single day.  There we had an eye-opening experience.  

At all our 4-H shows, Snowball was always in the best condition, meaning she always got Best of Breed.  No matter what I did with Ninja or Indy, Snowball always won.  She always had the density and texture.  So I thought that most judges were the same and all was lost for Ninja and Indy.

When we went to the West Coast Classic in May, we all thought Cookie was in the best condition and thought he would win the leg in the youth show.  And indeed, Cookie was favored over Indy in the first show.  The judge detested Indy.  (Indy was a little stressed and it showed, if you know what I mean.)  The next three shows that day, Indy was highly favored over Cookie, to the point where he got the leg in the youth show.  That day I learned that I shouldn’t take only the rabbits I thought were best, but all of them, so I can see what the judges have to say.  The judges all look at rabbits so differently.

At the Truckee Meadows show in July, Snowball won Best of Breed in the first show, beating out her brother Ninja, who still got a leg for Best of Variety.  But surprisingly, in the second show, Ninja trumped and won a second leg for Best of Breed and Snowball got nothing.  

At the Stockton show last month, Muddy was favored in the first show.  He had great wool but lacked a little in density.  He has a great body.  So he got the leg.  However, in the second youth show, Honey got the leg.  The judged was almost drooling over her wool and density.  He was ready to whip out his spinning wheel right then and there.  

So in conclusion, don’t lose heart if your bunny isn’t favored.  He could win a leg in the next show. 

Fattening Up Rabbits, Part 2

As you read in the first post of this three-part series, I need to fatten Muddy Buddy up to meet the minimum show weight for senior French angora rabbits.  I have been weighing him every day to make sure he is eating enough.  In addition to his normal feed, I have also been giving him strawberry leaves and a slice of homemade molasses oat bread every day.  He loves the sweeter bread, so he will eat more. 

Last Wednesday Muddy weighed 5.15.5.  Today he weighs 6.6.5.  I think the bread is working!

Here is the recipe for Molasses Oat Bread, in case you would like to give it a try.


Molasses Oat Bread

Yield:  3 loaves

4 cups boiling water

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup molasses

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 package yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

9-10 cups flour

In a mixing bowl, combine the first six ingredients.  Cool to 110-115 degrees.  Add yeast; mix well.  Add enough flour to form a soft dough.  Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down and divide into thirds; shape into loaves.  Place in three greased 9x5 inch loaf pans.  Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.  Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Fattening Up Rabbits

This will be the first of a three-part weekly series.

Muddy Buddy needs to weigh more to meet the minimum senior weight standards for the next ARBA show because he will be over six months old.  In an effort to boost his weight, I will be feeding him a half-slice of whole wheat bread and strawberry leaves along with other little treats.  

I will be weighing him every day to make sure he is steadily gaining weight. 

Today’s weigh in results:   Muddy Buddy—5.14.5. 

His target weight is 7.8 pounds (that’s 7 lbs 8 ounces in rabbit lingo) by the October 11 Gridley show.

Muddy Buddy, apparently a little embarrassed to be such a lightweight.

Stockton Show Report

My mom, Becky, Lydia, and I left at 7AM the day of the show with Muddy Buddy, Honey, Duchess, Stanley, Bubbles, Maple, and a friend’s rabbit.  We couldn’t have them in the bed of the truck.  It would be too windy and it would stress them.  So we put them in the cab with us.  We arrived at 8AM and looked for the other angora breeders.  We were right in the middle of all the angora commotion—blowers, grooming tables, yarns and hats and mittens for sale, and some beautiful angoras. 

Judging for Show B

There were over 70 angora rabbits there, six entered in the youth class.  We entered five.  None of ours had any disqualifications, and we asked one of the judges about Bubbles.  He said she would not be DQ’d for color, her color was just fine.  Unfortunately, we did not ask about Stanley, who is a little different on the back, but otherwise identical to Bubbles.  Muddy Buddy won best of breed in show A, and Honey took best opposite.  In show B Honey took best of breed, and Muddy Buddy took best opposite.  Unfortunately, Muddy Buddy could not compete in best of show for show A, because the judging for show B was going on at the exact same time!   

Honey, Best of Breed in Show B, and Becky

Breeding Fun with a REW (Ruby-Eyed White)

Because you never know what you are going to get

By Lydia

Well, last time we bred Snowball and Cookie, we thought we’d get some brokens and some self chocolates.  Well, if you read some of our early posts, you know how that turned out.  We had a few surprises.  More about that later.

Here are a couple thoughts that might help you in your breedings.

Actually, there are ways to figure out what you might get.  You need to determine your rabbits genotype as best as possible.  But with REWs, this can be hard, because you never know what they might be hiding.  You might a wrong guess, like we did with Snowball.  Actually, it wasn’t us.  The pedigree we got from the breeder indicated she was aa instead of Aa, which she obviously is.  

One way of finding out what colors you may get is using Punnett squares.  It is easy to do, but it can take a long time if your rabbits are very genetically diverse.  

Snowball:  Phenotype--REW; genotype--AaBbccDdE_

The other way is by breeding.  It takes longer to know what your rabbit has, but it’s easier on the brain.  We found out that we should not breed Cookie with Snowball anymore.  Half of their offspring will be unshowable colors, like agouti steels.  Cookie is an absolutely gorgeous broken chocolate.  His parents were both steels.  Cookie is a double steel, but we didn’t realize this--often a double steel cancels out the steel appearance.  It is only by breeding that you can learn whether a rabbit whose parents were both steel is in actuality a double steel. 

Cookie:  Phenotype--broken chocolate; genotype--aabbCCDdEsEs

In this breeding, we also learned that Snowball hides agouti. Since she hides agouti and agouti is dominant, and Cookie is a double steel and steel is dominant, they made steel agouti. Two of their six surviving kits were chocolate steel agouti.  Unshowable.  

Bubbles:  Phenotype--chocolate agouti steel; genotype--AabbCcD_Es_

This go around we are going to identify whether Buddy carries REW.  If he does, half the litter will be REW.  The other colors we are most likely to get are:  agouti, self black, blue agouti, self blue, chocolate agouti, and self chocolate.  The kits are due October 1.