A couple of weeks ago I tattooed my rabbits that needed to be done for the upcoming West Georgia Rabbit Club Annual Fall Festival, a triple, in Carrollton, Georgia on October 6, 2018. Starry Knight and Twilight had been done at Silver Lox when I bought them on May 19th, but they had faded so much that they were hard to read so they were redone. Luna, also from Silver Lox, had not yet been tattooed and had not yet been shown, so she was done. Lastly, I did my two junior does that I decided to keep. Then I had to do a few touch-ups a few days before the show.
I decided that my homebreds would have different colors for their tattoos. Purple for the does and green for the bucks. It makes it quicker for knowing their genders at a glance.
There are only four Silver Fox breeders who are showing currently in our area, which makes it hard for all of us. We need a minimum of three exhibitors (breeders) with a total of five entries (rabbits) for each class for a Best of Breed (BOB) and Best of Opposite Sex of Breed (BOSB) each to earn a leg toward Grand Champion. For Silver Foxes, we needed at least five black bucks and at least five black does, each being a class, for the BOB and BOSB to earn their legs. So, the four of us worked at collecting the numbers, there was over 20 rabbits in all with 8 blacks in each class. Blues and chocolates both have a Certificate of Development (COD), which means they can be shown and judged for comments and placement, but they do not count and cannot earn a leg.
There are only four Silver Fox breeders who are showing currently in our area, which makes it hard for all of us. We need a minimum of three exhibitors (breeders) with a total of five entries (rabbits) for each class for a Best of Breed (BOB) and Best of Opposite Sex of Breed (BOSB) each to earn a leg toward Grand Champion. For Silver Foxes, we needed at least five black bucks and at least five black does, each being a class, for the BOB and BOSB to earn their legs. So, the four of us worked at collecting the numbers, there was over 20 rabbits in all with 8 blacks in each class. Blues and chocolates both have a Certificate of Development (COD), which means they can be shown and judged for comments and placement, but they do not count and cannot earn a leg.
I spend much of the week preparing and weighing my rabbits. All the rabbits were in various stages of molt so all had some tinge to large patches of oxidize fur, a stiffer, brownish tint fur; in other words, their coats were not the best and grooming was not going to change that, but as predicted it was the same for the other breeders' rabbits so that the playing field was level. Luna had been a tad under the weight minimum for the summer and was back to the senior weight as listed on her original pedigree. Every bun was in the right class. No last minute changes for mine.
I took six rabbits, four black: Starry Knight, Astro Man, Luna, and Ciara, and two blues: Twilight and Misty Blue Too. Some of these I took for comments and numbers, already pretty much knowing they would not win a top spot. I also showed four rabbits of a friend, Hannah Yost from Renaissance Farmstead, who could not come to the show but would count as an exhibitor. She posted her own results on her blogsite. I have to say that her Dallan would have taken BOB the all three shows if he had been black or blue was an ARBA accepted color, the first judge had out right said so and everyone could tell how much she liked him.
I believed that my best buck is Starry Knight and at least the first judge agreed he was the best. Starry Knight won BOB in Show A! My first win big win that would be the only one for the day, but I was still quite happy. The judge, Donyelle Shultz, seem to really love 6-class (commercial) breeds and even remarked how she like the Silver Fox temperament.
Show A with Judge Donyelle Schultz #872:
Black Senior Bucks: Astro Man - 1st of 3
I believed that my best buck is Starry Knight and at least the first judge agreed he was the best. Starry Knight won BOB in Show A! My first win big win that would be the only one for the day, but I was still quite happy. The judge, Donyelle Shultz, seem to really love 6-class (commercial) breeds and even remarked how she like the Silver Fox temperament.
Show A with Judge Donyelle Schultz #872:
Black Senior Does: Luna - 2nd of 4
Black Intermediate Buck: Starry Knight - 1st of 4, BOB, BOV
Black Intermediate Doe: Ciara - (disqualified)
Black Intermediate Buck: Starry Knight - 1st of 4, BOB, BOV
Black Intermediate Doe: Ciara - (disqualified)
Blue Senior Doe: Twilight - 2nd of 3
Blue Junior Doe: Misty Blue Too - 2nd of 2
Show B with Judge Tom Green #743:
Black Senior Bucks: Astro Man - 1st of 3
Black Senior Does: Luna - 2nd of 4
Black Intermediate Buck: Starry Knight - 1st of 4
Black Intermediate Doe: Ciara - 3rd of 3
Black Intermediate Buck: Starry Knight - 1st of 4
Black Intermediate Doe: Ciara - 3rd of 3
Blue Senior Doe: Twilight - (disqualified)
Blue Junior Doe: Misty Blue Too - 2nd of 2
Show C with Judge Jacinta Taulbee #862:
Black Senior Bucks: Astro Man - 1st of 2
Black Senior Does: Luna - 1st of 4
Black Intermediate Buck: Starry Knight - 4th of 4
Black Intermediate Doe: Ciara - 1st of 3
Blue Senior Doe: Twilight - 2nd of 2
Blue Junior Doe: Misty Blue Too - 2nd of 2
Astro Man was in 1st place in all three shows, which made me happy. I was hoping Luna would do better even though she had two 2nd places and one 1st, but I still have hopes for her.
Very pleased with Starry Knight's Best of Breed!
