Hello from Arizona! : Welcome to RabbitTalk

[ArkhamQueen]

Hello everyone!

My name is Megan and I'm in Buckeye, Arizona (about 20 miles west of Phoenix).

I have a small indoor rabbitry called "Arkham Rabbitry". Arkham consists of Purebred Rex (Tri, Harlequin, Broken Black, Self Black, and Lilac Otter) An American Chinchilla/Rex, New Zealands (White and Gold Tipped Steel) and a couple lop mixes. We have converted an upstairs bedroom into a rabbit room, and it's working well. We grow our own Fodder to supplement their diet, and plan on expanding on that soon.

Our intention is to breed for Pets, Meat, and Fur. When we butcher, nothing goes to waste. What we can't eat is tanned, feet preserved for keychains, and the rest goes to the dogs. Zero waste is the goal!

Happy to be here to learn and share!

[MaggieJ]

Glad to have you with us, Megan. Your goals are shared by many of our members, so I'm pretty sure you'll fit right in here at RabbitTalk.

[Nymphadora]

Glad to have you with us, Megan. Your goals are shared by many of our members, so I'm pretty sure you'll fit right in here at RabbitTalk.

Yup, and you're a step ahead of some! Welcome to Rabbittalk, we're mostly harmless.

With a name like Arkham Rabbitry, I just have to know if the theme carries on with the rabbits' names?

[SableSteel]

Welcome! I am in arizona, too, but I raise rabbits strictly for showing.

[MeadowView]

Wooo, another AZ member! Welcome! Do you ever do any showing?

[ArkhamQueen]

Thanks!

Haha yes, I'm trying to keep with the theme! Bane, Riddler, Katana, Penguin just a few so far!

I haven't gotten into showing yet, but I want to. I'm planning on going to the state fair to check out how it all works.

I'm trying to decide what other breed I want to work with. I love the look of the Silver Fox, but I've always wanted Flemish too. Too many decisions! Lol

[SableSteel]

I haven't gotten into showing yet, but I want to. I'm planning on going to the state fair to check out how it all works.

I'm trying to decide what other breed I want to work with. I love the look of the Silver Fox, but I've always wanted Flemish too. Too many decisions! Lol

Just a warning, state fair isn't your 'average' rabbit show. It's a cooped fair show, so the rabbits stay there all week for the public to see and only get judged for one day, while in normal shows the rabbits only stay there for a day or two, while they are being judged.

Of those two breeds, silver fox are better meat rabbits. However, they're also more rare; I only know of 2 or 3 breeders in the state, where there's plenty of flemish.

[ArkhamQueen]

Thanks for the heads up! Are there any other shows coming up locally that are more typical?

TBH I don't even think I have anything "showable". But I want to start breeding more towards type. Right now I'm not really focusing on anything but meat and fur, with a preference for temperament. (Can't stand mean critters- especially around my kiddos!)

[macksmom98]

Welcome! You will want to look for ARBA shows in your state. These can possibly be found on the ARBA website or you can look for local rabbit groups on Facebook and usually find the information kicking around. They are more fun than any of the county or state fair shows (IMHO) and will focus on the different breeds as well as the pet breeds, where you will see the 4-H community is mostly all about meat breeds, and most popular are Californian and new Zealand in our 4-h community. Those are ok breeds but not necessarily the most fun to show:)

[SableSteel]

The next show is in november, I think? november 4th in kingman, az. Then there's one december 2nd in tucson, usually they have early january in yuma, then February is the state convention, possibly in kingman again this year, in april theres usually a show at the pima county fair (this one is different from the state show; the open show rabbits don't stay at the fairgrounds).

if you just want to go check it out, I heard that randy shumaker was judging the state fair, he's a good judge

[ArkhamQueen]

I think I will, thank you! Will you be showing anything?

[sunrise]

Hello Megan, welcome! There are a few of us on here from Arizona. I live south of Tucson and raise Satins, French Angora and Satin Angora. Maybe we'll see you at some shows.

[ArkhamQueen]

Thank you! I hope I can get into showing, and different breeds as well!