Three Little Ladies Rabbitry Blog

Breeding rabbits that win at the show table is very exciting. Getting to that point is not easy, especially if you are trying to build a herd for the long term. So we have some tips that will help you along the journey.

1. Do everything for the long term. I remember one of our first ARBA rabbit shows. We saw Heather Washburn with this awesome Holland Lop. If there ever was a cover boy/girl for Hollands this was the one. I was talking with Larry and Nancy at the show about the rabbit. Larry mentioned how it had taken years to get a good herd, and a rabbit like that. He gave the advice to be in rabbits for the long term. We understood what he was saying, but I think we’ve gained a greater appreciation for that as we’ve continued to show rabbits.

This means with every purchase you make you must be thinking long term. I’ve heard the phrase instant gratification on many occasions. We get to McDonalds and we have our food in 60 seconds. Many people think of their rabbits in the same way. How will this rabbit help me on the show table at the next show? The question you need to ask is how will this rabbit help my herd in the long term. We are often asked of our sale rabbits, how many legs does it have. Although this “may” give some incite into that rabbit, I’m not convinced that it really matters. What matters is what that rabbit is going to do for your herd.

I will also see exhibitors interested in a rabbit and they take it from judge to judge to get multiple opinions. We also like to periodically ask about rabbits we may purchase. The reality is, if the judge is not familiar with your herd they may not be able to give you an entire answer. I think we all want rabbits that win on the table, but not all our rabbits do. In fact, some of the strangest  show rabbits can make some of the best brood does.

2. Remember the three “c”s of showing rabbits. They are cull, cull, cull. I say that to emphasize the importance of culling and its effect on your overall herd. All of us have some sort of limitation in the number of rabbits we can keep in our barn. Whether that total is 5 or 500 culling still matters. Why hold on to a rabbit that is not helping your herd?

I want to clarify when I say cull, that everyone’s method of culling is different. We generally sell ours. Other breeders may give them away and some even euthanize. Regardless of the method the important thing is that you cull.

If you’re going to cull, cull hard. By that I mean, be very critical of your own herd. Most breeders that aren’t good at culling have the fear that the rabbit in question may turn out to be their next grand champion. All of us have that fear, but some choose to cull anyway. Based on our history, we have kept around more rabbits that didn’t help our herd, than rabbits that we culled and later wished we hadn’t.

Here are a few of the things we consider when culling. Do we have better rabbits of the same sex and variety? If so, we cull. Is the rabbit producing other rabbits in our barn that are doing well at the show table? If not, we cull. Is the rabbit producing rabbits with genetic characteristics we do not like? If so, we cull. Just because a rabbit isn’t working for our herd, doesn’t mean it won’t work for someone else’s. Let someone else have a crack at that rabbit.

3. Keep your lines tight. For a new breeder this is very hard. You want to get the best rabbits possible, and sometimes you just can’t keep the lines tight. If you don’t keep tight genetics, the result is unpredictable litters. Ideally if you have a rabbit with a great shoulder and poor hindquarter, you would breed it to a rabbit with a good hindquarter. But if the genetics aren’t tight you could end up with a whole set of new issues.

For a long time our girls did very well in holland lops. We were consistently producing winners at the show table. An open breeder came to us and said they were getting out of hollands and offered their herd to us. After some very careful consideration, we purchased the herd. That set us back about a year in hollands. We are just now getting back to some good quality rabbits in the breed. There were several issues resulting from that purchase. Although they came from solid lines, when mixed with our existing lines, the breedings did not produce the quality we wanted. Its always a good idea to ask what lines a rabbit comes from.

4. Breed. Ok I know that sounds too simplistic, but seriously, do a lot of breeding. Try different combinations. When you find one that works, repeat it. The girls have done some breedings that they weren’t sure what would be produced. But many of them worked. Just to clarify they always consider color when breeding so we avoid nonshowable colors. We generally consider type, but will take some chances in color.

Don’t be afraid to breed a father/daughter or mother/son. If both have great overall type, this will help keep your genetic lines tight. This will assist you as you try to establish you’re own lines.

There are a lot of new breeders that don’t want to breed. They just want to win at the show table. If that’s you, be prepared to struggle at the show table. Most breeders aren’t selling their best rabbits. They keep their best rabbits. Sometimes you can get an older rabbit, and once in a while a junior that develops into something strong at the table. To get consistent winners, you have to have a good breeding program.

5. Enjoy the hobby. This week we had exhibitors at the show with no rabbits. They came out to see friends, and they had an enjoyable afternoon. When we first started showing, our youngest daughter wasn’t really in to showing rabbits. Often she didn’t go to the shows. I would stay home with her. Now she wouldn’t miss a show. We weren’t going to force her into showing rabbits.

Whether you’re a youth exhibitor or an open exhibitor, if you don’t enjoy it, why do it? One thing I do to pass the time between breeds is write for various breeds. Its fun to see different exhibitors, and the time can go by much faster.

We are dedicating this blog to Brianna Brown. Brianna is working hard to improve her rabbit herd. I think we’ll be seeing some very good rabbits from her in the future. Keep up the good work!

Rob Usakowski
Three Little Ladies Rabbitry

Often there are things that transpire at rabbit shows that tend to cause the show to run a little rough. Many of the issues are problems with exhibitors that could assist in keeping the show running smoothly. Here is a list of things for exhibitors to keep in mind. If you do these things, it will assist those running the show, and help keep the show moving along.

1. Labels on remark cards should show showroom variety not registration variety. This is one of the shortcomings with Evans Software and other pedigree software (except Breeders Assistant). Although, they accommodate show entries, they really aren’t designed for show entries. This is evidenced by the fact that they allow for registration varieties but not showroom varieties. So in jersey woolies we will see things like this for variety: “broken chestnut agouti”. Now those of us raising jersey woolies know that this would be in the broken group. The problem is with those sorting remark cards. They may not know that if it should be in the agouti group or broken group. They may also see “agouti” on the card and immediately place it in the agouti group. This happens often.

2. If you’re in youth put a “Y” in the upper right corner of the remark card. Open could put an “O” in that spot, but usually its asked that the youth place the “y”. If you’re a youth exhibitor and you don’t put the “y” your cards may end up in the open folder. This week as we sat down to write for a show, an open exhibitor threw down a stack of remark cards and said, “here you’ll need these.” I had no idea where they came from. So me and Ashleigh started sorting through them. When the judge called up agouti senior bucks, we had way too many cards. There were two shows. Open started with show A and youth started with show B. Two exhibitors hadn’t marked their youth entries with a “Y” and they went in the open folder for show “A”. Problem was show B was done correctly and when the open exhibitor threw the remark cards on the table there was no thought of which show it was from. So we wound up with remark cards for two exhibitors  for both shows. A simple “Y” in the upper right hand corner would have avoided the entire situation.

3. Exhibitors need to realize that changes CANNOT be made at the show table. They can only be made by the show secretary. This is to protect you as an exhibitor. In fact if there is an error, we stop the show and ask the exhibitor to go to the secretary’s table and have it corrected. I have on more than one occasion had a parent rip a remark card out of my hand and storm off upset. What those parents don’t realize is that the show secretary will verify the remark cards with the control sheet. If they do not match with your entry sheet, your entry can be disqualified after the show, when the show secretary is doing their reporting. Allowing the exhibitor to have it corrected on the spot avoids the possibility of that disqualification. Basically the writer is doing the exhibitor a favor by stopping the show and allowing them to correct it on the spot. To avoid this situation all together, double check your entries before you submit them.

4. Make sure your rabbits are ready at the show table. Its not often that a judge will not wait for an exhibitor to get their animal to the table. In fact, often you hear first call, second call and last call. This causes shows to drag on unnecessarily. I realize  there is a large difference of opinion on this, but I like the way Tom Green judges in these situations. If your rabbit isn’t there, he goes on with the judging and your rabbit just doesn’t get judged. Although, I will say, I think he’s a little quick on moving on without a rabbit. Our girls show at times up to 4 breeds.  Often they are split up and at different tables.  We as parents are writing for judges, so we aren’t there to baby step them through getting rabbits to the table. Yet its been very, very rare that one of them has been called because they weren’t there.  I think we see this more often in youth and less often in open. The parents are often the ones most interested in what is going on and the kids are off playing with friends or not paying attention. I understand this with new exhibitors and often some of the younger exhibitors who need a little more direction, but often its the experienced exhibitors that are late to the table.

5. Mistakes at the writers table or show secretaries table are correctable. Peoples reactions to these types of problems are all over the board. Some exhibitors will graciously come up and say they feel there may be mistake. In youth its rarely a youth exhibitor that gets improper, usually its a parent. They start blaming the writer, and sometimes make comments that the mistake was on purpose. If they would just step back for a second and allow the writers and judges to confer, most mistakes will be corrected without issue. We’ve written for multiple breeds for years. I often write for breeds we don’t raise to help at the shows. In hundreds of shows we have written for  I think we have made 2 errors at the writer’s table. The one I mentioned yesterday, wasn’t even our error, it was a problem with poor ear numbers, but I include that in the 2 errors.  Both times the issues were corrected at the writers table. Parents not exhibitors need to get upset with a mistake, most writers will work with the judge to correct the mistake.

If everyone put these things into practice, we would see shows move along a little quicker. We wouldn’t have to stop shows, because paperwork is incorrect or because someone is off playing with friends. None of us succeed at all of these things all of the time, but the less we make these mistakes the better off we all are.

Rob Usakowski
Three Little Ladies Rabbitry

The ARBA has a very simple rule about ear numbers during competition. They have to be readable. Its that simple. If the ear number is not readable, then it is a general disqualification. Here is what the Standard of Perfection has to say on the matter:

PERMANENT EAR MARK - illegible tattoo, or tattoo not in the left ear. Tattoo obliterated by tattoo ink so as to be unreadable.

This is one of the most unenforced rules in the ARBA. It caused an issue at a show table we were writing at this weekend. There were two rabbits, from two exhibitors, with very similar ear numbers. I will not use the actual first two letters so as not to bring attention to the breeder. The rabbits were AB1 and AB9. There were five rabbits in the class. The first one off or fifth place, the judge said AB I think “1″. We had a remark card for AB1 and we filled out the control sheet for that ear number as well as the remark card. What no one but the exhibitors knew was that the judge and writers had just placed the wrong rabbit 5th.

The judging of the class continued. When he got to first place, the judged called off AB something. I responded AB9 and he said yes I guess it could be. Of course the rabbit was actually AB1. The problem was compounded when because of space issues, rabbits were sent back to their exhibitors instead of staying at the table.

Now this is an error that the judge can correct. What ensued was a parent that questioned the writers, and even tried to change a control sheet without the judge or writers involvement.  Breeders from other surrounding breeds heard the inappropriate behavior.

This was actually all avoidable. The rabbits both should have been disqualified. Now heres where it gets tricky. Who’s responsible? Where should the line be drawn?

The rule itself is fairly clear. If the tattoo is not readable the rabbit should be disqualified. That means if the judge has to ask the writer if the ear number appears on the card, the ear number is probably not readable. To me there is still some gray area there, but not nearly as much as is given. I think some of our girl’s rabbits could be disqualified for illegible ear numbers. I have seen rabbits disqualified by some judges for this reason but it is a rarity.

There are three people/organizations that are responsible for this problem. First is the exhibitor. Every exhibitor is responsible for having a legible ear number in their rabbit’s ear. Thats not always as easy as it seems, especially for breeds with smaller ears. Sometimes as the rabbit grows so does the hair near the edge of the ear, covering the tattoo. This is where the PenTat is a great tool. Many tattoos tend to wear out over time. The bottom line is bring your rabbi to the show table with a readable tattoo.

Secondly, I think the ARBA needs to train and remind judges of this rule. They have a responsibility to take the lead on enforcing the rues that it establishes in its Standard of Pefection. No judge wants to be the only one single out exhibitors for this one offense. If the ARBA would take the lead it could probably eliminate this problem all together.

Finally, judges are also responsible in helping correct the issue. They have to uphold the Standard of Perfection. Although the ear number can be somewhat of a gray area, if your questioning the ear number, I would say it is illegible. It would certainly make it alot easier for the judge and for the exhibitor if the ear numbers were better. Allowing bad ear numbers is in essence endorsing it.

So here are some things to help you out. I prefer to use the clamp type tattooer. I ink the ear first. Then I use the clamp. I then scrub the ink with a small stiff bristled brush. I don’t wipe the ear until the next day. My girls all like the PenTat, which almost always comes out looking good, and is great for touchups as well.

So the next time you get ready for a show, don’t just place your rabbits in the carrier. Take a look at their ears. If the tattoo looks poor, touch it up, or find someone that can help you touch it up. It could save confusion at the show table, or even a disqualification.

Rob Usakowski
Three Little Ladies Rabbitry