COMPETITOR: Because they are fun pets. I like it a lot.
COMPETITOR:
I just love rabbits because they are my second favorite animal and they are easy to take care of.
COMPETITOR: Their uniqueness. They are more unique than any other species because of our 50 breeds.
BECKY STOCK:
The main thing we're doing this weekend is showing our rabbits. We have purebred rabbits.
Most of us that are showing are members of the American Rabbit Breeders Association.
And we are a sanctioned show. All of our grand champion points will count.
We have so many activities going on at the Iowa State Fair that we really have to stagger
the events so we can get them all finished in the 11 days.
In the past we've done some rabbit agility and hopping.
Tonight, we are doing the Largest Rabbit Competition. I believe we have six entries. We
are going to weigh those rabbits in and find out who is the largest rabbit at the Iowa State Fair.
Good evening. Welcome to the Largest Rabbit Competition at the 2022 Iowa State Fair.
Thanks for coming everybody. I know we had some terrible weather earlier but
it seems to have cleared off a little bit. We have six entries this year and the Largest
Rabbit Competition. We're going to call them up one at a time and get the weight on these guys.
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BELLMAN FAMILY: My dad coming into rabbits in the fourth grade. We
started with one and quickly went from one to very many.
BASKETT FAMILY: It was definitely the girls saying they wanted to raise rabbits.
I wanted to give them some responsibility and it gets them outside every day.
They have to be accountable to something else that's living.
BELLMAN FAMILY: That's the thing about raising rabbits, in a matter of days they can change
drastically. So, the competition is always different every year.
Mia is weighing in at 15.2 pounds.
DEITRICK FAMILY: We start them off with one banana a day with some cucumbers,
half a watermelon and then we feed them the typical grain and sprinkle some oats.
Next we have the Bellman's second entry. This is Sadie who is also a Flemish Giant. 16.98 pounds.
CASEL FAMILY: Three years ago, my granddaughter was able to show rabbits in 4-H, and as long as
we have been coming out here, my husband said, "You know we have a rabbit that weighs 22 pounds,"
and he said, "We may as well take it along and enter it into the Biggest Rabbit Competition."
This is Thumper. And Thumper is a Flemish Giant as well. Oh boy, 18.9 pounds.
CASEL FAMILY: It is just a family thing. We all get together and go. We do rabbits for a hobby.