Rabbit Talk In Ohio

March 2010
	1. your name? Kathy Flarey 2. rtio user name? IFLY 3. rabbitry name? IFLY Rabbitry 4. What rabbit clubs your in? Ohio State Netherland Dwarf, American Netherland Dwarf, ARBA 5. How did you get interested in rabbits? My daughter started in rabbits doing dutch and english spots and then when she hit 15, boys and malls were more important. So I enjoyed new people I had become friends with at rabbit shows and decided that I would continue to do the hobby. 6. what breed(s) do you raise? Netherland Dwarfs 7. what made you pick this breed(s)? I choose NDs as they were a breed that showed a lot of competitiveness not only on the tables but in properly raising them through the genetics side of it.
	Evanlea

February 2010
Kellee E.	My name is Kellee Ertl. Together with my 2 sons, Breyden (13) and Garrett (5), we are BKG Rabbits. My user name on RTIO is BKG Rabbits. We are a relatively small rabbitry compared to the rest of you with about a dozen rabbits. Originally when we started in this venture we were co-breeding with my friends at Layman’s Way Rabbitry. We breed Flemish Giants, French Lops, and Netherland Dwarfs. Since our co-breeder lost her herd we have been focusing mainly on the Netherlands at this point. We got into breeding and showing rabbits a little differently than most I would think. My younger son Garrett had gotten a rabbit from a friend of a friend, and Breyden had rabbits when he was Garrett’s age and said “mom… I really miss my bunnies”. I saw this as a good opportunity to spend quality time with my older son, educate him about animals and we joined our local 4-H club. We attended several shows our first year in 4-H, went to Rabbit School, and complied a rabbit book with all the information we would need to have a better understanding of rabbits overall. We also belong to North Coast Netherland Dwarf Rabbit Club. The reason that we got into our breeds was simple. My son, Breyden, fell in LOVE with the Flemish Giant after meeting one. Personally I always loved French lops (being French Canadian might have played a bit into that decision too J ). We just kind of fell into Netherlands through chance and circumstance (again my son fell in love with a rabbit at a 4-H show). We are now starting our 3rd show season this spring and are finally finding out which breeding pairs are producing the kits we are looking for, and have high hopes for some of our new offspring. We look forward to seeing everyone at the shows.
Amanda B.	Hello! In real life and on the message board, I’m referred to as Amanda. I’m a member of ARBA in addition to a few state breed clubs and a 4-H advisor. The hobby of rabbits started in April of 1998 with a Farm and Fleet rabbit that was definitely a Heinz 57! The first Netherland Dwarf arrived in August of 1998 via county fair. Then 1999 was spent with just 4-H and a 4-H mom then introduced me to ARBA shows in 2000. That year I think we hit up just about every show in Ohio and Eastern Indiana and when possible there was a show on Saturday in Indiana with a show on Sunday somewhere in Ohio. In 2002, I went from Netherland Dwarfs to Dwarf Hotots and had some success with the change in breed. I entered the world of an open exhibitor in 2005 and I believe the last show that I took rabbits to besides the county fair was Mini Convention in 2006. I basically stopped because I lost interest in the showing part as I had more fun writing then showing and kept having other people putting the rabbits on the table. So I since then, its just been going to shows with no rabbits who are sitting in The Retirement Barn using wheelchairs or using walkers. I continue to have contact in the ‘rabbit world’ via friends, attending shows and maintaining/assisting with organizational websites. So that’s my rabbit history in a nut shell without boring readers with details!

January 2010
Laura L.	Hi, my name is Laura Lamb, or Lambqtrs on RTIO. I have always been an animal lover. I have had dogs, cats, goats, horses, cows, pigs, a chinchilla for a while, and now sheep and rabbits during my life. My first rabbit was a Flemish giant. I got her for Easter. In 4h I always showed horses. My rabbits at home were always mixed, just pets. We now have club lambs, rabbits, a cavalier spaniel, a German shorthair pointer, and a Great Pyrenees. Our Rabbitry started because my daughter took a rabbit from a friend who could not keep her. She was a BEW Lionhead. She was a cute little thing, but no mane. So then my son, J. T. decided he wanted to take rabbits as his 4h project in 2007. We raise our rabbits under our farm name, Lamb Quarters Farm. We started with lionheads. We went to a couple shows and realized no one shows them. We took them to the convention, at the urging of a very nice judge. We were too late to enter the Lionhead nationals but were able to enter the open, Sunday show and won BOS of 124 rabbits! We really like to show so we decided not to breed the lionheads anymore. We do not have the space required to keep that many rabbits for one show a year. We researched what breeds we liked and settled on Netherlands and Mini Rex. Eventually, we didn’t like dealing with the Netherlands. We had some trouble breeding them, sold a doe we never should have sold and well, now we are exclusively Mini Rex. We LOVE the Mini Rex. They are such a funny breed. They are always happy to see you. We have had really good luck breeding them. We breed Black, Broken Black and Broken Castor. JT’s most recent win was the BOB in Lancaster youth show. I finally have a broken castor buck that will have his first show in February at Piketon. JT and I really enjoy the bunnies. It is something we can do together. The only club we are in now is the American Rabbit Breeders Association. We haven’t chosen a local club yet. My family consists of my husband, Don, daughter, Alyssa (16), and my son JT, (12). We have lived outside of Circleville, Ohio on our farm for 18 years now. My husband works for the USDA and we also raise corn and soybeans. My kids are involved in everything, so we are a very busy family. We really appreciate the help we get on RTIO. We have also met very nice people because of RTIO.
Victor Z.	Hello; My name is Victor Zerby. On RTIO I go by Victor. My rabbitry is Zerby Zealands and I breed/raise New Zealands and Netherland Dwarfs. I am a member of the American Rabbit Breeders Association, American Netherland Dwarf Rabbit Club, American Federation of New Zealand Rabbit Breeders, Ohio Sate Netherland Dwarf Club, and Ohio Sate New Zealand Club. I got started in rabbits July 29, 2006. I became interested in rabbits one night after church while me and a friend, who raised rabbits, were having a snowball fight (although we were doing more talking than throwing snowballs) and he told me about them. We talked for awhile and he got me interested in them. After my family and I got home that night, I asked my dad if I could get rabbits and he said, no, but I kept asking and after a couple more tries he said okay. That was in the winter of '05 - '06. That June, I joined ARBA and got my cages and then in July, I got my first rabbits. They were New Zealand Whites. I got them because that is what my friend had available at the time and I liked the breed. I now also breed New Zealand Blacks and I am planning on trying Brokens soon. In early 2007, I decided I wanted to try a smaller breed along with doing my New Zealands. I started looking and pretty much jumped at the first small breed I saw for sale instead of looking around. It was a pair of Broken Mini Rex and I got them in June of 2007. I never really liked them a lot, and stopped raising them around October of 2008. I got my first Netherland Dwarfs in February of 2008. I liked the breed and after I got them I only liked them more. I enjoyed, and still do enjoy, the different colors you can get and the challenge of raising them because of peanuts and other things that Dwarf breeders deal with. I also enjoy going to the shows. I have not been able to go to very many but I have found the ones I have gone to enjoyable and informative. Raising rabbits has been a fun and exciting experience

December 2009
Bill P.	Everyone knows me on Rabbit Talk in Ohio as Judge 615. My real name is Bill Patrick. Laurie Owen and I show animals that we produce at Willow's Kennel & Rabbitry. We just finished our first Basenji Champion and are getting ready to campaign two whippet puppies and a basenji puppy who hasn't made it's appearance yet! I have shown Appaloosa horses, Shetland ponies, Llamas and Pygmy goats and had very competitive chickens. I had rabbits as a teenager, and like all teenagers, the birds and the bees attacked me and my rabbit raising days went by the wayside for many years. In 1984 I was on my lunch break from work and I saw a sign for rabbits for sale. I stopped and got 3 rabbits with the false pretense that they were for my kids. One of the rabbits got overheated in the car so I came home with two instead of three lol. After about a month, the novelty had worn off for the kids and I was on my way in raising rabbits again. My cousin raised Satin rabbits and he gave me a good start with Siamese Satins. It didn't take me long to realize that if I wanted to be competitive for Best of Breed in Satins, I better have a few blacks and whites around. J. Leo Collins helped me get started with a few blacks and whites. My first national Satin show was in Sedalia, MO in 1987. The Best Opposite Sex was a white Senior Buck that was born in my rabbitry. I aggressively raised Satins for many years. In 1995 I was gifted with several English Angoras from one of the top breeders of that time. I raised them for a few years and Cathy Backus (Patrick) became my partner in raising them. I did the breeding and she did the grooming. After a short time, Cathy felt she was getting the short end of the stick and she decided we needed to end our Angora career lol. Cathy and I fell in love and we started raising a few breeds. We tried Rex, Lionheads, Mini Satins, and few Florida Whites and some New Zealand Whites. Cathy was a very good breeder of Rex before I met her. I believe she had 32 BIS in one year with Rex. We raised rabbits together and were raising some good Mini Satins before she got sick. We lost interest in raising rabbits at that time, and I gave away or sold every rabbit here after she passed away. I met Laurie Owen thru her kids in 4-H in 2004. We became fast friends. After Cathy had died I told her she was raising too many breeds to be good in anything. After a little convincing, she chose to stick with the Jersey Woolys and sell everything else. I told her jokingly I would make her the Jersey Wooly Queen one day. I cleaned all my cages and re-hung them in single rows and we started on the task of raising nationally competitive Jersey Wooly rabbits. It was a walk down memory lane, like me and Cathy, I would raise them and Laurie would take them home to groom. (I found another fool lol) I am very serious when I really want to raise good rabbits, and we were soon on our way to having very competitive Woolys. We were fortunate enough to have the Best Opposite Sex ( Jr. Doe) at the 2009 Wooly National in Columbus. We took 4 rabbits to the San Diego Convention and had Best and Best Opposite Group (Broken) and our Junior Doe went on to be Best of Breed. We have about 40 rabbits growing out to be our show string for the 2010 Jersey Wooly National in Kentucky. We are very excited about direction our breeding program is going. I received my registrar's licence in 1989 and my judge's license in September of 1991. I have judged in 35 states. I have enjoyed traveling the country judging and have gotten to see many places that I would never have been able to see otherwise. I mentored Cathy Backus (Patrick) with her judging and she received her license in 1995. We traveled exclusively together and I would not trade that experience for all the tea in China. My greatest moment in rabbits was when Cathy was selected to judge a group at the 2005 ARBA Convention in Indianapolis, IN. We had just found out in July that Cathy had breast cancer. That moment, of her judging the group, will forever be burned in my mind. I have held many offices of local, state and national clubs throughout the years. I was the ARBA District 8 Director from 1997-2000. I've been on the Board of Directors of the National Satin Club, and was secretary a few years for the Buckeye Satin Raisers. I've been Vice President of the Ohio State Rabbit Breeders and presently am a Director at Large. I am also the President of the Penn-Ohio Rabbit Breeders Association and held several offices within that club as well as the Portage County club.
Suzy M.	Hi, I'm Susan Meier, I go by Suzy on the board. My rabbitry is called the Lazy Susan Rabbitry and I raise Netherland Dwarfs and Holland Lops. I am a member of American Rabbit Breeders Association, American Netherland Dwarf Rabbit Club, Ohio State Netherland Dwarf Rabbit Club and Ohio Holland Lop Rabbit Fanciers. I served as director of the OSNDRC for six years and President for two years. I am currently completing a two year term as director for OHLRF. I had some mutt rabbits when I was a kid and really enjoyed raising them. When we moved to our current home, the renters had left a pair and 5 offspring rabbits in one of the sheds. We kept those and added to them, raising for meat and 4H for about 10 years. I sold out for about 5 years then started back in with dwarfs in 1998. I got my first hollands in 2002 and became interested in doing different colors in them. I really enjoy both these breeds and the other people who raise and exhibit them. There have been many folks who have been very helpful and kind to me in both breeds. I've made some great friends in both breeds. Both breeds accept many different colors for show and I really enjoy the color genetics aspect of the hobby. Both of these breeds are a challenge to raise what with max factor, peanut kits, birthing difficulties at times, smaller litters, and the occasional wool gene! I love the challenges of these breeds and when that special winner shows up, it's a real thrill. There is always something new to learn in rabbits and the shows are always fun and informative.