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Sunday, Jan 27, 2008
Posted on Sat, Jan. 26, 2008
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Admirers hop on over to see this year's bounty of bunnies
Rabbit fanciers get lots to awww them this weekend and next
By SHIRLEY JINKINS
Star-Telegram staff writer
STAR-TELEGRAM/JILL JOHNSON
A 1-month-old lionhead rabbit gets a lot of attention from a group of teenagers before the rabbit show Friday.
FORT WORTH -- Back behind the Planet Agriculture exhibits is the cuddliest spot at the Stock Show.
Look just beyond the interactive displays of water trivia, sheep and goats in history, and the illustrated life cycle of cotton, and it's there.
Rabbits, dozens of them, began arriving Friday morning for this weekend's youth division shows, and though they may not have their own barn like the cattle and horses, the furry creatures attract plenty of admirers.
"They're all different, and they don't just sit in a corner," Sarah Bergs, 12, of Rowlett said as she attached a note to the cage of her lionhead rabbit, Beowulf. He is sweet, she said, but is known to nip.
Sarah and her mother, Deb Bergs, brought 17 lionheads to the show, including Comfy and her five babies born Christmas Day. The fuzzy-faced lionhead rabbit is a breed in development, meaning it has yet to be recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association and cannot be considered for prizes outside its own breeders' organization.
Fanciers of more conventional breeds have plenty to see among the more than 900 youth-show rabbits being judged this weekend, and next weekend's 1,400-rabbit open show.
Rabbits on display range from the tiny 2 1/2 -pound Brittania petites to the intimidating Flemish giants, which tip the scales at 18 pounds and up.
Debbie Hill of Roanoke, a rabbit show superintendent, said only two of the relatively rare Brittania petites are being shown this year.
"They're the smallest breed and can be flighty," Hill said, pointing out a wary-looking white rabbit stretching with slender legs to the top of its cage.
On the other hand, Hill said, Flemish giants are usually docile and affectionate.
Most rabbit exhibitors show several animals at a time, and keeping rabbits is definitely an expanding industry.
"It's amazing how fast they grow," said Sarah Bergs, who is a seventh-grader at Coyle Middle School. "We went from three rabbits to 20-something in a year."
Maybe that's why the rabbit show's Rule No. 10 states, "No breeding will be allowed in the showroom."
[email protected]
SHIRLEY JINKINS, 817-548-5565
document.write(today_string());
Sunday, Jan 27, 2008
Posted on Sat, Jan. 26, 2008
reprint or license print email
Digg it del.icio.us AIM
Admirers hop on over to see this year's bounty of bunnies
Rabbit fanciers get lots to awww them this weekend and next
By SHIRLEY JINKINS
Star-Telegram staff writer
STAR-TELEGRAM/JILL JOHNSON
A 1-month-old lionhead rabbit gets a lot of attention from a group of teenagers before the rabbit show Friday.
FORT WORTH -- Back behind the Planet Agriculture exhibits is the cuddliest spot at the Stock Show.
Look just beyond the interactive displays of water trivia, sheep and goats in history, and the illustrated life cycle of cotton, and it's there.
Rabbits, dozens of them, began arriving Friday morning for this weekend's youth division shows, and though they may not have their own barn like the cattle and horses, the furry creatures attract plenty of admirers.
"They're all different, and they don't just sit in a corner," Sarah Bergs, 12, of Rowlett said as she attached a note to the cage of her lionhead rabbit, Beowulf. He is sweet, she said, but is known to nip.
Sarah and her mother, Deb Bergs, brought 17 lionheads to the show, including Comfy and her five babies born Christmas Day. The fuzzy-faced lionhead rabbit is a breed in development, meaning it has yet to be recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association and cannot be considered for prizes outside its own breeders' organization.
Fanciers of more conventional breeds have plenty to see among the more than 900 youth-show rabbits being judged this weekend, and next weekend's 1,400-rabbit open show.
Rabbits on display range from the tiny 2 1/2 -pound Brittania petites to the intimidating Flemish giants, which tip the scales at 18 pounds and up.
Debbie Hill of Roanoke, a rabbit show superintendent, said only two of the relatively rare Brittania petites are being shown this year.
"They're the smallest breed and can be flighty," Hill said, pointing out a wary-looking white rabbit stretching with slender legs to the top of its cage.
On the other hand, Hill said, Flemish giants are usually docile and affectionate.
Most rabbit exhibitors show several animals at a time, and keeping rabbits is definitely an expanding industry.
"It's amazing how fast they grow," said Sarah Bergs, who is a seventh-grader at Coyle Middle School. "We went from three rabbits to 20-something in a year."
Maybe that's why the rabbit show's Rule No. 10 states, "No breeding will be allowed in the showroom."
[email protected]
SHIRLEY JINKINS, 817-548-5565
