In a year fraught with challenge for market rabbits, quality was exceptional, and Blooming Grove senior Matt Beam of Blooming Grove FFA took his first-ever grand champion for meat pen rabbits at the Navarro County Youth Exposition. Naomi Boyer of Blooming Grove/Barry 4-H was named reserve champion.
In the first year for fryer competition, siblings Jamie and Cody Williams walked away with grand champion and reserve champion, respectively. Both are members of Rice 4-H. Though they live in Navarro County, they attend school in Ennis, where Cody is in 10th grade, and Jamie in seventh.
“We just feed them, weigh them every day, and work with them,” Cody said.
“And have fun with them,” Jamie added.
The competition in meat pen rabbits was much tougher, with 35 pens competing. The difference between fryers and meat pens is the fryers are a single rabbit, which must not weigh over five pounds, and the meat pens have three rabbits.
“What we’re looking for here is triplets,” said Rose Marie Goff, rabbit chairman. “We want three rabbits that look and feel the same, good uniformity. Each rabbit in the pen must weigh within ounces of each other.”
Goff has served as chairman of the rabbits for the last 10 years. She said that the rabbits’ toenails have to match each other, their teeth must be perfect, and the California rabbits — the ones with black ears — must have marbled toenails. And, the fur must “fly back,” meaning when you rub it backwards, it must “fly back” quickly, without any dead fur.
“There’s a lot more to it than people think,” Goff said.
“We have some fantastic quality here,” said judge Carrol Hooks of Moody. “These kids have really learned ... this job is difficult. These are probably the best quality pens I’ve seen at this show before, and I’ve been judging this for 25 or 27 years, best we can tell. Evidently, someone is doing something right.”
The Boyer family was up against a particular challenge this year, after dogs got into their rabbit pen and wiped out the hatch.
“We lost all our female rabbits in November, and had to get all new ones and breed them and get them ready for the show,” said Marilyn Boyer, Naomi and Jacob’s mom. “Jacob used one for the fryer competition and placed third, and Naomi made a pen with the other three and got reserve for her meat pen.”
—————
Deanna Brown may be contacted via e-mail at deanna@corsicanadailysun.com
Latest News
Related Photos
Discussion
Beam, Williams capture wins in Market Rabbits
- Latest News
-
-
Memorial Day ceremony honors servicemen, women
Navarro County turned out in numbers Monday to honor those who made the ultimate sacrafice in service to the U.S. military.
-
One killed, five hurt in Interstate rollover
One man was killed and five others injured Sunday when a Ford Expedition rolled several times and jumped a cable barrier on Interstate 45 south of Corsicana.
-
Memorial Day services Monday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Monday is Memorial Day, and Corsicana will host two separate ceremonies to honor those who gave their lives in service to our country.
-
Downtown's 'The Diner' to close its doors Thursday
The Diner, in downtown Corsicana, will close its doors after the close of business Thursday, owner Richard Arnett said Sunday.
-
Sample Ballots, Polling Places for May 29 Election
Click this link to get sample ballots for the May 29 Primary Election
Early voting
Early voting will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays Monday thru Friday May 14 through May 18, and May 21 through May 25, 2012, in the basement of the Navarro County Courthouse, 300 W. Third Ave., Corsicana.
Early voting will be held on the weekend from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday May 19, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 20, in the basement of the Navarro County Courthouse, 300 W. Third Ave., Corsicana. -
Commissioners to meet Tuesday
The Navarro County Commissioners Court is scheduled to meet in special session at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 29, in the county courtroom of the Navarro County Courthouse.
The meeting was moved from Monday, May 28, due to the Memorial Day holiday. -
Business News
The Texas Bankers Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Texas Bankers Association, presented a Cornerstone Award to Community National Bank & Trust of Texas, Corsicana
-
Local Beat 5/28/12
A listing of meetings and events of interest from throughout Navarro County
-
Candidate Q&A: U.S. Representative, District 6
The race for District 6
After the redistricting conflicts that took nearly eight months and multiple lawsuits to resolve, a new congressional districts were carved out, but Navarro County remains in District 6 with incumbent Representative Joe Barton.
However, Barton is facing his toughest challenge to his seat in more than a decade. He has four Republican opponents in the primary, and four Democrats are also vying for the seat in that primary.
All the candidates in both parties were given the same questions and asked to submit their answers for Corsicana Daily Sun readers. These are the four responses we received.
-
CHS Val and Sal speeches
Corsicana High School held graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2012 Friday at the CHS Gymnasium. Ryan Hitt was chosen valedictorian, and Alberto Miranda was the salutatorian. Here are the speeches delivered by the two at the Friday ceremonies.
- More Latest News Headlines
-
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
