Rabbit numbers multiply at Woodbury County Fair
By Judy Hayworth, Journal correspondent | Posted: Wednesday, July 30, 2008
MOVILLE, Iowa -- Numbers of poultry and rabbits are up at the Woodbury County Fair.
MOVILLE, Iowa -- Numbers of poultry and rabbits are up at the Woodbury County Fair.
Poultry numbers are up appreciably, from 317 to 418, and rabbit numbers have grown about 20, to 162.
Mike Beavers, in his 15th year as poultry superintendent, credits several items for the increase. "Poultry is good for the younger kids in 4-H. It's a smaller animal, easier for them to handle. Farm kids often move on to bigger animals after a few years, but poultry works well for town kids and they often stay with it as it's an animal they can raise there," he said.
Tammy Brady, a first-time superintendent for the rabbit class, sees similar reasons for the rabbit increase. "It's an animal you can take to the fair if you don't live on a farm, if you don't have the capacity for large livestock," she says.
Smaller breeds of each animal are popular.
"Town and city kids like raising bantams, a smaller chicken that does not need a large building," Beavers says.
Both divisions, which share one building, have found ways to accommodate larger numbers. Curt Blankenburg, rabbit co-superintendent, arranged for 30 extra cages, placing some in the dairy barn, where numbers are down.
The week of the fair, superintendents focus on kids. The rabbit division holds an educational demonstration, in which older 4-Hers help first-year students with showmanship.
"The reason I have been here for 15 years is the kids," Weaver says. "I especially enjoy working with the little ones, new and full of questions. One senior girl, her first year at the fair, had a little white rooster. Birds must have blood drawn to test for Pullorum-Typhoid, and she sat outside the barn on a bucket because her bird was bleeding, and she cried and cried. I don't know how many cotton balls I used trying to stop that. That's the reason I'm here."
Photo gallery
See www.siouxcityjournal.com for photo from the Woodbury County Fair.
MOVILLE, Iowa -- Numbers of poultry and rabbits are up at the Woodbury County Fair.
Poultry numbers are up appreciably, from 317 to 418, and rabbit numbers have grown about 20, to 162.
Mike Beavers, in his 15th year as poultry superintendent, credits several items for the increase. "Poultry is good for the younger kids in 4-H. It's a smaller animal, easier for them to handle. Farm kids often move on to bigger animals after a few years, but poultry works well for town kids and they often stay with it as it's an animal they can raise there," he said.
Tammy Brady, a first-time superintendent for the rabbit class, sees similar reasons for the rabbit increase. "It's an animal you can take to the fair if you don't live on a farm, if you don't have the capacity for large livestock," she says.
Smaller breeds of each animal are popular.
"Town and city kids like raising bantams, a smaller chicken that does not need a large building," Beavers says.
Both divisions, which share one building, have found ways to accommodate larger numbers. Curt Blankenburg, rabbit co-superintendent, arranged for 30 extra cages, placing some in the dairy barn, where numbers are down.
The week of the fair, superintendents focus on kids. The rabbit division holds an educational demonstration, in which older 4-Hers help first-year students with showmanship.
"The reason I have been here for 15 years is the kids," Weaver says. "I especially enjoy working with the little ones, new and full of questions. One senior girl, her first year at the fair, had a little white rooster. Birds must have blood drawn to test for Pullorum-Typhoid, and she sat outside the barn on a bucket because her bird was bleeding, and she cried and cried. I don't know how many cotton balls I used trying to stop that. That's the reason I'm here."
Photo gallery
See www.siouxcityjournal.com for photo from the Woodbury County Fair.
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