By Julia Butler – GEMS Reporter
The Hop to it GEMS 4-H rabbit and cavy club has had a busy spring. The club hosted the Easter Eggstravaganza fundraiser on March 29th. Several club members brought tent canopies and tables to set up the booths and games. There was a wheel of fortune game, a merchandise stand, a food stand, a petting zoo, two Easter egg hunts, a coloring picture contest, a marshmallow counting contest, and a food stand.
The club has also had several meetings since the beginning of April to start practicing for rabbit and cavy showmanship. The first club practice meeting was on April 14th. Club leader Deb Brown quizzed the club on diseases, rabbit handling such as showing teeth, showing straightness of the back legs, and also how to pick your rabbit up and how to handle your rabbit without hurting it. The club also talked about rabbit conditions such as mites, infections, parasites, disqualifications and characteristics of the different breeds. Also Sergeant at Arms Matthew Butler and Jill Pfaff quizzed club members and helped them handle rabbits.
The next Hop to its GEMS meeting was on Tuesday, April 21st, where, once again, the club met to practice with the animals. The club worked on rabbit handling again like posing and showing the teeth. There were also questions such as how many teeth a rabbit has, possible signs of rabbit diseases, and also the overall health of a rabbit.
The next meeting was on April 28th. The club continued practicing with handling rabbits and cavies, along with answering knowledge questions about rabbits and cavies. The two club leaders, Deb Brown and Kristy Grieve asked the questions. After the questions, club leader Kristy Grieve gave a presentation about trimming toenails and how to avoid cutting the quick while doing it. She also gave instructions about stopping the bleeding in the event a nail is trimmed too short. After the nail trimming presentation, the other club leader Deb Brown began to tattoo some of the rabbits’ ears, Rabbit ear tattoos are a way of identifying a specific rabbit, and they are used to help keep track of rabbits at a show, as well as tracking breeding lines.
The club will continue to meet weekly throughout the month of May in preparation for the Jackson County 4-H and FFA Spring Fair. The fair will take place at the end of May, with the rabbit show on May 30th and 31st. Hop to it members would love for the public to come to the show and see the lambs, goats, rabbits, and cavies.
