Meat pens?

[Gordon]

So I just got back from the Fair, and I'm still really wondering about this.

I've been going to the Fair for years and never noticed until this year, "meat pens".

I was walking around the beautiful bunnies, and stopped to notice some cages that held three rabbits - they were lounging together. I looked at the tag, and rubbed my eyes. I wanted to think it said "Meet pens". I thought to myself, oh how cool... maybe this is a "meet & greet" cage for people to see if two rabbits will get along before they take them home. No... the category is Meat, with an a. In the grand scheme of things, I don't have a problem with that but it just seemed bizarre to me, that those pens were smack dab in with the other bunnies who could go home as companions. Is that a normal presentation at other state fairs?

 

[majorv]

Yes, showing meat pens at fairs is very normal. They're usually shown by youth in 4-H and FFA. The kids raise the rabbits to about 70 days old and then select 3 rabbits from their litters that look and feel the same. These 3 rabbits are shown and judged together, and the judge ranks the pens based on how their uniformity. They're called meat pens because the youth are showing 'meat' or commercial type rabbits...ex: Californians, New Zealands, etc...

 

[bunnychild]

It's becoming more popular here in my county. Next year I will hopefully have a meat pen or two. Some places also have single fryers, roasters, and stewers which are also meat rabbits. People in the suburbs and city areas often opt to this because like cattle, pigs and goats it can teach business and responsibility but it takes up less space.