*The Color in these photos does not do justice. I will try to get better photos to see their true blue color*

A Member of:

Well my Daughter reached that age where she wants to start showing animals though 4-H and FFA.  Knowing this can be a tedious and time consuming responsibility I wanted her to pick something that I had some experience with so that I could help her, and something I thought she would enjoy.

Every year when we would go to the Kimble County Kow Kick, she would waste all her money trying to win one of those cute little, living and breathing bunnies.  Thankfully at the time she did not win any.  We had no place to keep one and worried about the cats.
Well she finally got her wish.

Samantha started the 8th grade this year, and with that came the opportunity to join FFA.  An organization that I belong to and loved when I was a kid.  When I was in School, those many many years ago, it was FFA that I enjoyed doing most of all.  Having my daughter join made me proud.  She also decided it was time to join the local 4-H club as well and just this past week was elected as the Junior Club Secretary.  That's my little girl growing up and taking on some responsibility.  In November she will embark on her first Leadership Camp and I know she will grow up a lot in the few days she is there and she will benefit from it greatly.

Any who, back to the bunnies.  When the wife and I decided to let her show rabbits, we wanted to get her a type of Rabbit that was not that common.  We went online to look at the many different breeds and their characteristics.  One of the Rabbits that caught my eye was the Beveren.  It was a unique breed and I loved the color.  It was also one of the rare rabbits and I thought this would be neat to have.  After an exhausting search for anyone in Texas that had any, I came up empty handed.  I found a contact number of a Breeder in Brazil, IN and made a call.  He gave me a contact number of the Rare Hare Barn located in Leon, KS, and thought he might be able to help me.  After speaking with Eric, he sold me on a different breed, one that he had, and one that was the rarest of all breeds in N. America.  It had the Blue coat that I was looking for, and as a matter of fact, was created with Beveren genetics.  The American Blue was my next choice, and one I am glad we chose.  The American Rabbit came in two colors, Blue and White, with the White being the rarest.

The ALBC (American Livestock Breeders Conservancy) keeps a list of all livestock breeds and their status.  Until recently, rabbits were not on their list.  Due to efforts from rabbit breeders across the nation, the ALBC recognized rabbits as livestock and began monitoring their statutes.  The American, along with the American Chinchilla and Silver Fox, was listed on their priority list for rabbits as being Critically Endangered, with fewer than 500 registered in each of the three species, in the United States, with the American being the most critical.

The Rare Hare Barn was one of the few breeders that had Americans.  They also had the other two on the Critical list, as well as the Blanc de Hotot, which was on the threatened list. The only problem, it was 628 miles from Junction.

After an exhausting search, we decided it would be best to get them from someone who knew all about them, and decided to make the trip to Kansas to pick up a breeding pair.  In the mean time, we were preparing Samantha for the responsibility and getting her all the information she would need to take care of her rabbits.  We also made her a member of the ALBC and ARBA (American Rabbit Breeders Association).  Being members of these organization will help Samantha and give her a sense of pride, being one of the only American Rabbit Breeders in Texas. The other advantage was to eliminate the compititon. Showing rabbits can be a serious business, and since I was no an expert in showing rabbits, wanted to give her an edge. Being the only person in Texas showing Americans will give her an edge at the compitition.

Initially I only wanted two rabbits, a breeding pair, but after thinking about the long trip, decided it would be best if we got an additional Doe, in the event one of them died shortly after we would bring them home.  Giving the expense of driving to Kansas, I thought this would be the best contingency plan and it would only cost us a little more.

On September 20th, 2008 at 5:30am in the morning we headed to Kansas, with the intent to pick up the rabbits and come straight back to Texas, a 1256 mile round trip.  This was the first time Samantha left the state of Texas as a child.  The trip was a pleasant one and we arrived in Leon, KS around 4:30pm.  We met with the Owner of the Rare Hare Barn and he gave us a grand tour of his facility.  The neat part about the tour was that we got to see the three most critical endangered rabbits in one day.  Giving their rarity, most people will never get to see them.  After the tour, we loaded up our 4 1/2 month old rabbits and headed back to Texas.  We arrived home, in one piece, with all rabbits breathing at 4:30am on Sunday morning, September 21, 2008.

Eve R81, is the first rabbit and will be the primary show and breeding Doe.  She was the pick of the litter and of the best show quality.  She has a good color and I believe she will one day be a Grand Champion.  Samantha picked out the name Eve, long before we go her.  The number R81 is the tattoo number given to her by the Rare Hare Barn.

Pepsi Blue R83, is our second Doe, and the one we picked as a reserve.  She is the sister to Eve, and although not quite a big, is quickly gaining in size due to her apatite. I think all she does is eat and will damn near attack you if you get near her food bowl.  She will be one of our show rabbits as well.  She got her name due to a Pepsi I was drinking on our way back to Texas.  Samantha and Gina picked Pepsi and I added Blue.  As before the number is her ear number for registration purposes.

Black Ice R82, is our Breed Buck.  He is a unique species and is jet Black.  The drawback is that Black is not a recognized color by the ARBA and therefore does not qualify for shows or cannot be registered.  The beauty of ICE, as we call him, is his genetics and body type.  He fits the Standard of Perfection of an American Rabbit, it size, weight, ears, etc., to a tee, with the exception of Color.  His ancestry consist of his father, grandfather, and Great Grandfather being the rare White American.  One of his Grandmothers was fully Registered, making his genetics superb and should make a great Breed Buck.  The color black is a flaw from the breeds early development and appears from time to time.  This flaw was what made the color blue in the American Blue, the bluest of all the blue breed rabbits and hopefully will give us some high quality Kits when we breed him with our two Does.  He got his name due to the air freshener hanging in the rear view mirror which was called Black Ice.

Their first show will be in January at the 2009 Kimble County Youth Show.  After that we will start our breeding program and hopefully all will go well.  For now, the hard work starts with building the proper cages, feeding, changing their litter pans, training them, grooming them, and all that fun stuff.  Only had the for 4 days and I'm already tired.  Despite the people telling me I was crazy spending all that money, and driving that far for a couple of rabbits, I am seeing the big picture and know I am helping my daughter prepare for her future and know that the benefits will out weight the cost when its time for her to go to college and pursue her career.  Its only Money and that's what Daddies are for, aren't they?

As soon as I can I will post some quality photos of the three amigos. So check back.