Commercial Meat Rabbit Show Question

[catfishingpokey]

My son entered his first "major" stock show junior rabbit show in San Angelo, Texas today. We took a Californian senior buck that we thought was pretty mediocre and a Californian senior doe we thought was pretty nice. Our buck placed 8th (out of 19), but our doe was pulled in the first round out of 25. The ARBA judge's explanation on why he eliminated her was that she was long in the shoulder and was "rough." We are trying to learn from this experience so we know which rabbit to take next time. I always thought that rough meant not enough meat so that you can feel spine and bones. Honestly, I would have thought that he was the much rougher rabbit of the two because when you run your hand down him you can find his bones, where with her you can't. Can anyone provide us with some insight into what the judge meant?

She was one of the biggest girls in the class (she's about 10 1/2 pounds) and I did notice that those were the rabbits he eliminated first, in her class anyway, I didn't notice in other classes. He cut the smallest and biggest rabbits. Is that always true? I realize that ARBA judges are completely different from the ag teachers that judge at county, but she was Grand Champion Doe here locally. The buck placed dead last in his class at the local show. We were a little surprised when they flip flopped in San Angelo.

Thanks,

Pokey

 

[skysthelimit]

Hmm. Senior max is 10.5, but the ideal weight is 9.5. Some judges don't like 'em real big.

Rough- can refer to the condition of the fur, lacking finish and sheen, rough texture, or unevenness of flesh condition. Not always not enough meat, sometimes too much, sometimes not in the right places. The problem is there is room for some type of interpretation, if at all possible, after judging, ask the judge what he/she meant. I have't met one that wasn't happy to help.

The problem with ARBA showing, is what is a good meat rabbit is not always what is a good show rabbit, and you can get different opinions from different judges different days, and I had a doe take best of breed with one judge, and then she was first off the table with the other. you get the flavor by going to several shows and looking at what's on the table, seeing if it's even something you want to breed,, and working towards it.

 

[catfishingpokey]

We would have liked to talk to the judge, but they were running the classes REALLY quickly. The judge had to get to Houston as quickly as possible. In fairness to him, we didn't ASK to speak with him, but when we left at 5 pm he still had several classes to go, and they were trying to keep things moving along. Yes, I think most judges are willing to explain what made them pick a particular animal, and we were going to try to talk to him but then figured that by the time he had handled 300+ rabbits and he was trying to get gone.

On the Cals anyway (didn't watch much of the other breeds), he seemed to pay very little attention to coat. Hers is good, probably a little better than the buck's.

I figure it's like anything else that is judged by a single person. They all know the breed standards, but opinion on what conforms to it varies from person to person. Just wondering about "general consensus" (if any) on show rabbits.

 

[skysthelimit]

Pretty much.
I may not have looked like he paid much attention to the coat, but it does get points, and there are coat DQ's, so it figures in. When the judged ran his hands over the animal, or handled it, or with a ood judge eyeballed it, he could tell a lot about the coat and quality of fur.
I've learned the general consensus varies by region. I could not win with the Rex I have on the here on the west coast.

 

[catfishingpokey]

Well, and I know that he looked at coats cause you can't help but look at the coat as you run your hand over the rabbit, but he didn't address coat in any of the critiques I heard. In the junior buck and doe classes there were some rabbits that really shouldn't have been at a show. Fluffy pet bunnies that are loved and hugged and squeezed and called George, but they probably weren't show quality to start with. Even if they had been, I am sure their Petsmart or Walmart diets were lacking. Some of these little guys had some pretty rough coats you could tell just by looking, and he didn't address coat issues with them, only length of loin, slope of hindquarter, etc. I am pretty sure these kiddos had no idea what he even meant. God bless them, one sweet little girl and the woman with her consoled my son when his big girl got kicked out, saying, "Don't feel bad, we didn't win anything either."

I did notice that one of the families that was picking up ribbons had brought tables full of rabbits. We are pretty happy that we took two of our home grown rabbits and placed in the top half of the class with one of them. First time out! It was fun and a learning experience. We saw one rabbit get a medical DQ for not enough testicles, and another medical DQ for having too many testicles (doe class ).

Thanks for the comments,

Pokey's wife Kim

 

[skysthelimit]

We saw one rabbit get a medical DQ for not enough testicles, and another medical DQ for having too many testicles (doe class ).

Thanks for the comments,

Pokey's wife Kim

Now that's always a bummer, and even experienced breeders have had that problem.