I Keep Thinking About This...

[Random Rabbit]

This ( in my mind) doesn't fit neatly into another forum, so i'm considering it 'musing' and put it here.

I keep coming across the idea, on various forums, of selling to 4-Hers and Youth at reduced prices. The "we need to encourage our youth" line of thought. And i Do agree...up to a point.

In the distant past... DH and i had a young lady Every year purchase a Palomino to show at our county fair. She never bred the animal... just showed it and after the fair... sent it to auction. Fast foreward a lot of years... Recently.. we came across a 4-H 'leader' who stated that her kids simply raised animals thru the warmer months and got rid of them at Fall.

Is this a common as it seems ? I Know there are youth out there deeply involved in their rabbits. Some have impressive knowledge ! But to be able to tell who Cares and who really doesn't... that's a trick.

To be perfectly honest...i have a very difficult time selling Any animal. I want to Know that someone cares about them and appreciates them. I also kind of resent the thought that i "Should" sell my best animals to a person who might consider them disposable. I catually have less of a problem selling them for meat.


Thanks for letting me ramble on.... Rambling Random Rabbit.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

The breeder I bought from actually "loans" the rabbits to the 4H kids and they return them after the show if they don't make the auction. If they do, they split the money 50/50. Seems like a good idea to me....

 

[eco2pia]

I believe that in some areas the "auction" at the end of the fair is part of the process--cows for instance, get raised, shown, and then auctioned, and eaten. The big auction at the end was supposed to ease the loss of your buddy(so that it didn't show up on YOUR plate). My husband raised a pig, named it, trained it, showed it, bit his lip and sold it, and then cried at home. His mom bought him a stuffed pig he still has.

However, those auctions don't go for market prices in some areas. I remember steers going for thousands above market prices--supposed to help the kid set up for next year, and put something away for college. It was a tax write-off for the buyers at the time as well. I think that your young lady may have got herself a bit of tidy pocket money each year. I don't see anyting wrong with doing that, but I do see something wrong with you feeling that you HAVE to subsidize it. That is entirely up to you.

 

[Anntann]

Most of the 4H kids around here who buy specifically for showing at the fairs don't keep the animals. The ones who are already raising animals on the farm, do keep the critters. We have a good friend who's son just goes out to the pasture/barn and selects the calf/steer/piglet/turkey that he wants to show that year. (He usually wins, btw.) The kids with the hogs and steers understand from the getgo that the animal goes to the auction and slaughter.

 

[PulpFaction]

I've seen a disturbing trend of parents pushing their kid into rabbits and getting youth/4-H discounts and then the kids really had little to nothing to do with the animals, but the parents sure did get one heckuva a deal!

I won't sell to youth at youth prices unless they have proven themselves to be dedicated in some way or another. And much of this decision has been formed from actually having BEEN a youth that worked hard with my rabbits and was friends with the kids who let their parents do everything for them and they didn't even seem to like the rabbits.

But I'm right there with you RR. I am selective when it comes to selling. I have turned down far more homes than I have accepted. If I had it, I would sell a meat pen to a 4-H'er that called me themselves about them and had a reputation for taking good care of their animals (I know lots of 4-Hers and others in the ag community!) I might sell breeding animals at a discount with the agreement that I get a pick back out of the first litter to make up the difference, etc. And basically, I would set it up so that I was a mentor for that youth and could not only make sure they were taking care of what I entrusted them with, but could stay involved and help be sure they are successful and develop a life-long love for rabbits.

I am a very small operation at this time and I feel like this is feasible. If I raised hundreds of rabbits a year, it might not be, BUT, if I raised hundreds of rabbits a year most would be going for meat anyway!

 

[Random Rabbit]

My apologies... I neglected to say that the 4-H at our county fair did not Sell the rabbits. Yes... large stock ...cattle, sheep , pigs have a market class. Rabbits...no. The person we knew simply shipped them to a small 'Sells anything type of auction'. Then came back the next year. Took us a couple years to figure out what she was doing... then we just did not have anything available.

What really surprised me was the 'Leader' and her comments. I will say that this area is a bit more 'citified' maybe That contributes to that line of thinking.

 

[eco2pia]

In that case, I absolutely don't blame you. Raising an animal for 4-H is supposed to teach you animal husbandry, not animal disposal!

It has been a long time since I had anything to do with 4-H, my girls aren't that interested in showing. They like petting the rabbits and they will eat the rabbits, but they just don't like competition of any kind. Or work, I am sorry to say. They can't see adding to their chore list for "fun"...that is the trouble with raising kids to do chores when their age mates seem to have none. But they don't bug me for new pets either, they know that pets=work.

 

[curlysue]

Kids at our fair cant buy the meat pen,its three rabbits they have too raise.they must own the parents.the top 8 are auctioned at the fair.the other breeds minilops,Polish,mini rex are either sold or taken back home its the kids option.most kids take there bunnys home.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Our county fair does not 'meat' the rabbits-- as most are pets. Other fairs in the area, though-- the processor picks up the rabbits two days after judging.