Expanding the Rabbitry

So far, we've only been raising Silver Fox meat rabbits plus a mini-lop we were given when we first started our rabbit journey.  (I guess we technically also had a white New Zealand initially but she unexpectedly died and we bought a Holland Lop early on which we eventually gave to a friend's daughter for a pet because he just wasn't 'willing' to be a show rabbit for our girls.)

Not long ago, we also added a little chinchilla colored Netherland Dwarf rabbit -- Sam.  Sam belongs to Bethany and will be shown by her during her last year of 4H and her first year in the rabbit project.  He's a cutie and so far quite the sweetie as well.  I do believe he will be the ONLY Netherland Dwarf rabbit we'll have in our little rabbitry.

After fair this year, it was obvious the Silver Fox are just too big and not calm enough for the little girls to use them for showmanship -- at least not and expect to do well.  The kits, although smaller and easier to handle, are just too young and too wryly.

They. Won't. Sit. Still.

Makes 'showing' them rather challenging to say the least.

During Family Night at the county fair, they had a sign up to win a free mini-rex rabbit with cage.  Techno let the girls sign up for the drawing.  Sadly, they didn't win.

After fair, our rabbit leader approached me and asked about getting the girls started with mini-rex rabbits to enable them to be more successful in the area of showmanship.  I talked to Techno and he -- surprisingly -- said, 'up to you'.

So.... now that state fair is over and our rabbit leader has determined which of her mini-rex rabbits she is retaining and which she is willing to part with, we'll be expanding our rabbitry even more to the mini-rex variety of rabbits.

What fun!

The girls are excited and are even mumbling about breeding the mini-rex.  I guess time will tell on that one as they aren't really big enough to be 'meat rabbits' and we aren't planning on keeping hundreds of rabbits in our mini-mountain menagerie.

One bonus from going this route.... the girls seem much less distressed about the prospect of 'processing' the Silver Fox rabbits and sticking them in our freezer.

We have tried to sell the kits, but have found little to no interest. Therefore, it's looking like they will indeed become residents of our deep freeze in the near future.  I'm not complaining as the meat is tasty  and it's a fairly inexpensive way to add lean, healthy meat to our dinner table.  (Granted, the process of getting them INTO the freezer is a bit arduous to say the least.)

We can't wait to see what kinds of mini-rex rabbits the girls get.  Selah is hoping for a chocolate colored one - at least that's what she thought when she was LOOKING at a chocolate colored one.  :-) Not sure if the other two have a preference.

Guess we'll know soon enough.