Farm Fact Friday: Bunny Business

Kari – “Hello everyone and welcome back to another Farm Fact Friday we are live at the fair Hancock County that is it has been wonderful temperature wise nice and cool for all of the animals, the exhibitors and people visiting. So if you hear some announcing in the background I know the goat show is going on as well as a horse show in a nearby arena so if you have a chance and you enjoy coming out to see what our youth have done maybe enjoy the fair food it’s going on through the weekend and then of course we have that livestock sale on Friday or I’m sorry on Monday labor day where you can support our youth and if you aren’t able to be here but want to be a part of that stay tuned and I’ll remind you how you can do that as well. But with me today I have a 4-h exhibitor and she is going to share with us a little bit of bunny business. This is Emma Nash, Hi Emma and she is taking a pet rabbit project here at the fair this year I’ve never shown rabbits I’ve seen them in their cages and I’ve seen exhibitors handling them but this is new to me as well. So Emma prior to bringing your bunny to the fair there are things that you have to do can you share a little bit about what those things are.” Emma – “You have to complete a 4-h book project and then you have to show your rabbit like your book through judges and then you have to know how to identify a feed tag and then you have to be able to show your rabbit like flip them and then know their gender and trim their nails as well. Kari – “So there’s lots of things that go into bringing an animal to the fair as we indicated last week we talked to two exhibitors that were bringing feeder calves much larger than our animal today but the same principles align you don’t just feed and water the animal there’s also additional things that they learn in the process which is a great thing. So Emma tell us what type of bunny you have. “Emma – “I have a Holland lop.” Kari – “And the options are exhibitors can either purchase their rabbit or they can breed their own rabbits so Emma how do you get your rabbits?” Emma – “I breed my rabbits.” Kari – “So she has males and females and breeds them to bring the bunnies here to the fair. So right beside us we have the area where they keep the bunnies. As she’s bringing the bunny from its cage out here can you show people how you carry them to give them comfort.” Emma – “You want to have their head tucked in beneath your elbow and then you’re gonna have your other hand on their paws their back paws so they can’t squirm in so they can’t see because they’re afraid of heights.” Kari – “All right so just some little techniques that are important to keep that bunny secure I kind of think about it like you’re carrying a baby kind of feels like it just keeping them secure so good. So Emma has already had her showmanship judging earlier in the week and she goes in for another judging tomorrow. So she’s gonna take us through a little bit of of what she would do when the judge comes around. So I’m gonna let her take it away from here.” Emma – “So you’re gonna want to flip your rabbits you can either do it on a table or hold them in your arms and you’re going to want to check their eyes to make sure they’re not watering and then check their nose and their teeth to make sure they’re not bugged and then you’re going to want to check and count how many fingernails they have one two three four five then you’re going to stretch it to make sure it’s not broke do that to the other side and then check his stomach and then you’re going to want to check his back paws and they have four so you’ll count one two three four pull that make sure they’re not broke do it to the other side and then check its tail to make sure it’s not curved or screwed to make sure it’s straight.” Kari – “Very good so if you would sit in on a rabbit judging and you would see the judge go from exhibitor to exhibitor this is what they’re doing checking the eyes checking the nose checking each of the feet pulling on those legs and checking the tail and tummy. So um the judging’s are all a little bit different and I think it helps to understand what you’re watching if you’re in that show arena in the area as viewers to see what exactly those exhibitors are doing and maybe what the judges is looking for. So with the bunny as Emma mentioned you know you gotta have to make sure they have all their all their fingers their nails are clipped make sure they don’t have any broken legs and those sort of things. So as with any project there’s a lot of time and effort that goes into this so thank you Emma for sharing with us what bunny exhibitors do rabbit exhibitors and hopefully you guys found this educational as well. So with that have a great rest of your Friday a wonderful labor day weekend we’ll check you back next week for another Farm Fact Friday take care.”