4-H State Fair champions agree: give the rabbits credit

Berg, of Mosier, and Mitchell, of Hood River, both won Champion ribbons for Conformation at Oregon State Fair for their rabbits last month.

”It wasn’t me, it was the rabbit,” Mitchell said, holding her rabbits in the hutch just a few feet from the back door of her Heights home. “It’s about the rabbit conformation, however it stands up to the standards of the breed.”

Both are repeat finalists at Hood River County Fair, and first-time State blue ribbon recipients.

Mitchell, 12, participates in Funny Farm 4-H and raises Holland Lops.

This is just her second year in 4-H; her friend Eva Murray got her going. Eva’s mother, Kathryn Murray, is Funny Farm leader.

Berg agreed that the credit goes to the bunny – in her case, Champagne D’Argents, which she describes as “a pretty decent-sized rabbit,” at generally 9-12 pounds.

“You are judged on the rabbit’s body type and how the fur is, and when you pull the fur forward how it comes back – it’s called ‘flyback,’ and the straightness of their legs and how their back end comes down to a close,” Berg said.

“It really does feel good to win state, since last time I didn’t do too well,” said Berg, a sophomore at The Dalles High School who participates with the Hood River 4-H group Valley Critters.

Mitchell said that in her first year, “I had a rabbit at the time and my guinea pig was pretty scared to do anything. He doesn’t like to be picked up, which makes it tough to show,” so in 2014 at County and State fairs she focused on her Holland Lops.

She showed her Lop Buster at County but switched to Trillium for State; Buster got a red at County “because he’s molting — he’s shedding a lot,” Mitchell said. After trying breeding, with two stillborns resulting, she purchased her winning Lops from a Salem farm. She plans to try breeding again.

Berg, in her fourth year, bred her rabbits, and won a blue ribbon at County Fair with her doe.