Preparing to Show Rabbits at the Angelina County Fair

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At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 19 at the Angelina County Fair, the breeding and market rabbit show kicks off. An estimated 150 rabbits from 50 families will take part in the 2017 market rabbit competition. The show sponsor is PID Services, Inc.  

There are two divisions regarding rabbits: breeding and market. Breeding rabbits are judged on their physical characteristics that can pass positive traits onto their progeny. In the market rabbit division, a pen of three will be evaluated for their carcass traits.  

Lest we forget, rabbits are meat producing livestock. Can anyone say “hasenpfeffer?” That’s the name of a traditional German stew made from rabbit.  

Dovie Murray, left, and Chloe Murray hold a pen of eight Californian rabbits that they have entered for competition at the Angelina County Fair. The rabbit competition will be on the second day of the Fair, Wednesday, April 19 starting at 10 a.m.

Sisters Dovie and Chloe Murray will be showing rabbits in this year’s fair. Dovie is a Junior at Hudson High School and Chloe is an eighth grader at Hudson Middle School. Their parents are Chris and Melanie Murray and this will be the family’s 5th year in the rabbit project. Both girls are officers in Blue Ribbon 4-H Club and members of the Angelina County 4-H Rifle Team.

The Murray sisters raise rabbits year-round. They breed their own rabbits as well as purchases from other breeders. The breed of rabbits that they raise and show is the Californian.

On Saturday, March 25, just over 400 market rabbits received a tattoo in their ear, marking them as a validated entry for this year’s county fair. In the market rabbit division, each entry means an exhibitor can show a pen of three at the Fair.

Dovie and Chloe currently have eight market and six breeders on feed. Like many exhibitors, they are raising more than the minimum so that they will be able to pick the best three from the group. While some families may have tagged in only four (giving them one spare) others tagged over a dozen!

The top exhibitor has the best combination of three rabbits. Of the 62 pens entered, there will be only 20 pens of rabbits that make the auction on Saturday, March 1 at 4 p.m.

Like deer, male rabbits are called bucks and females are does. Within the breeding rabbit division, there will be a champion buck and champion doe. Breeding rabbit are not included in the auction on Saturday.

Rabbits require feed once a day. They need lots of fresh clean water at all times. Exhibitors like Dovie and Chloe check daily for ear mites and work their hair. To best monitor growth, they weigh them every three to four days. Keeping records of weight gain and loss help the girls maintain uniform weights.  

The Murray sisters market rabbits are seven-weeks-old and currently weigh between 2.75 and 3 lbs. earlier this week. While they want them to continue to gain, the rules state than market rabbits cannot weigh more than 5 lbs. at the show.  

Rabbits in both breeding and market divisions are kept in a pen and then placed on the table to be evaluated by the judge. In the market division, only three can be shown.  

Their mom says the best part of them participating the county fair is the memories made and life lessons they have learned. An added bonus is the meat that will go into the family freezer.

The auction will be at 4 p.m., Saturday, April 22.  For a complete schedule of this year’s County Fair, go to angelinacountyfair.com.  

Cary Sims
Cary Sims is the County Extension Agent for agriculture and natural resources for Angelina County. His email address is cw-sims@tamu.edu Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, or national origin.

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