The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of suitcases and shows! On November 20 I left for Corvallis, Oregon. This is always a fun trip for me since I get to see my Oregon Dutch breeder friends. I judged a Dwarf specialty on Friday night with around 113 rabbits, and got to start with Dutch on Saturday in the double all-breed show. I was impressed to see the quality across the varieties! In the three shows, every variety except chocolate (none shown) won either a BOB or BOS award!
Friday night’s BOB went to Gene Knieling with a Steel JD and BOS to Katie Kimmel (sp?) with a Black JB. For the Saturday A show, I picked a Gray SD of Gene’s BOB and his Blue JB BOS. Gene swept the B show as well, taking BOB with a Steel SD and BOS with a Tort JB. Needless to say, he won the Triple Crown award for the weekend.
I stayed an extra day and got to spend some time with my good friend Jill Pfaff. I was on house arrest (not allowed in the barn) before the show, but it was fun to go out and look through bunnies afterwards. I brought home a super typey new black buck from Gene, his name is Knieling’s Kibuzi. He’s out of a blue doe of Gene’s named “Kinky,” who accidentally (or so he claims) got a rather racy tattoo. So I named the buck “Kibuzi” after my student worker told me it was the Swahili version of his mother’s name.
I got home (with Kibuzi in tow) in the wee hours of Tuesday morning and was grateful that I only had one day of work standing between me and Thanksgiving break! But there was no rest for the weary, since I had to do some barn cleaning and get ready for the Stephens County RBA show, aka “The Duncan Show.” This was the last show of the year for me, and a couple of my favorite Dutch (Midnight and Dandelion) were days away from a full-blown molt.
In the Friday night show, BOB Dutch went to Chasing Shadows and Midnight Rambler took BOS. The Mini Rex were up next, and after much back-and-forth deliberation, Amante won his broken junior buck class! Winning any broken class against the breeders in that area is an accomplishment, but to do it with a broken chin is extra special!
Saturday morning came early, and Dutch were the first on the table in the A show. A couple more breeders had shown up so there was more competition. Youth breeder Jessie from Oklahoma showed in open against her dad and the rest of us, and did very well, picking up BOSV Black with her buck Briony’s Jet. BOB went to Chasing Shadows and a Steel JB took BOS. On the Mini Rex table, Amante won his class for the second time! I’m really excited to see how this little guy will do when he gets his senior coat!
I couldn’t stay for the B show, since I had to leave for a wedding reception, but was happy to hear that Jessie and Jet took BOB!
So I’ll be off the next few weekends, but litters will keep me plenty busy. My first round is about 2 1/2 weeks old now, and I had a couple more born yesterday. Factory Girl had her first early in the morning, and unfortunately tried a little too hard to clean them up since a couple are missing ear tips. Including, of course, a beautifully marked Blue. For some reason I was not winding down to go to bed last night, and when I strolled out to the barn to turn the lights off, saw that K05 had just kindled, a bit earlier than expected.
She hadn’t pulled enough fur and the babies were cold but not dangerously so. I brought them in and warmed them up, first by putting them in Baggies and floating them in a bowl of lukewarm water, which I gradually heated up; and then by putting them on a heating pad. They came around quickly so I rebuilt their nest. Fortunately I had some extra fur on hand…for once, the weather this summer was stable and all of my seniors molted at once, so I saved the fur each time I brushed them out. It has come in quite handy this fall and the does don’t seem to mind fur from other rabbits.
I’m sad that show season is over, but excited about the new prospects in the nestboxes and juniors to put on the table this spring!
