No Bad Bunnies at San Juan County Fair Rabbit Show

Lots of honey bunnies battled it out for best of show at the San Juan County Fair this year. Area youth and adults cuddled and coddled their show breeds during the recent Open Rabbit show, gaining cheers and ribbons throughout the morning. You're watching the Local News Network brought to you by Distil beer, wine, and spirits and Home2 Suites. I'm Hayley Opsal. Participants were excited to showcase their bunnies for their judge, who carefully picked up the bouncy creatures to examine aspects of their fur and body parts.

See, we check their teeth to make sure they're the bottom ones, top ones are over the bottom ones, check their toenails to make sure they have color in their toenails. We check front and back, check the section, and you check their tummy for any bumps or lumps.

Of the 49 breeds of rabbits recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association, only ten were on display at the San Juan County Fair. Due to a recent deadly rabbit virus, the rabbit barn has gone from holding 300 does and bucks five years ago to 108 this summer.

A couple of years ago, we had what's called the RHD virus, which wiped out a good amount of the population in New Mexico. It's in both the standard domestic rabbits and in the wild rabbits. So, yeah, we closed down the barn for a couple of years.

It's by extreme hygienic measures that they were able to open the rabbit barn at all in the past few years. That's a blessing for parents, as children and bunnies go together like cookies and cream. Nine-year-old C.C. Stark said that each of her fancy cottontails has their own disposition.

Some of them just bounces around the cage, some of them will actually climb up on the cage, and then some of them were hanging from the top.

Rabbit judge of 30 years, Allan Ormond agrees.

Yes, all of them have personalities. Different breeds have different personalities. It's a good project for kids to get into because they're small. They go anywhere from 2 pounds up to 24 pounds, you know, or larger. So, and I've had younger kids get Flemish giants, which are the largest breed, and they'll pack them around like a little dog. And they're very good project to teach kids responsibility, teach them how to, the 4-H group teaches them how to interact with other young adults their age. And it's just a really good program for parents to have their kids in.

With a membership of nearly 500, San Juan County has the second largest 4-H youth enrollment in New Mexico. The county fair provides them a chance to show what they have learned to love and take responsibility for. To learn more about this and other stories, go to farmingtonlocalews. Thank you for watching this edition of the Local News Network. I'm Hayley Opsal.