The Entire Family Affair

The entire Ambrosino family, left to right: Kyle, Justin, Jennifer, Mike and Cody.

Mom Jennifer working at the secretary's table.

Kyle and dad Mike in the back, mom Jennifer and yellow lab Daisy in the front.

Cody and dad Mike taking Daisy for a walk.

On December 3, our blog first read "A family Affair" showing mom Jennifer with her three sons Justin, Kyle and Cody. Dad was not in that post, Mike is a fireman, was busy at the station.

In Red Bluff, the entire family attended the two-day shows. Not only dad Mike, mom Jennifer and the three brothers were there, even puppy Daisy was there too.

Mom helped at the secretary's table, big brother Justin worked as the registrar, Kyle and Cody helped at the judging tables, and dad Mike hung out with everyone and Daisy had a great time.

Justin had great weekend, we'll see what he did in the post tomorrow.

Tracy's Bumper Crop of Bunnies

Tracy has storks visiting her over and over. She has litters of Satin Angora, English Angora and even Giant Angora.

Tracy's son Oscar helps to put the bunny pile together. Can you count how many bunnies are in the pictures?

If you reach the number of 58, then you got it right!

Allen Guest Blogs from Africa III

Livestock Expo in Dakar.








Fauve de Bourgogne rabbit breed.

Allen and the breeder of Fauve de Bourgogne.

Two weeks ago, an advertisement on TV, in Wolof, grabbed my attention. The program advertised the weekend’s livestock expo in Dakar. I could hardly believe what I was seeing! You can imagine that the next morning, I piled my Senegalese family into a taxi, and went exploring. Above all, I was surprised to see Dakar hosting a livestock expo. After all, most people don’t have enough money to feed themselves; how can they feed exposition animals?

The Livestock Expo, 2nd ever held in Senegal’s history, was an expo in a more commercial setting. With the Muslim holiday of Tabaski coming in near weeks, showing off sacrificial animals found precedent at the show. Hundreds of sheep, several cows, a few chickens... and yes, even rabbits found their way to the expo. Everything was for sale, but breeders were excited to display their animals for the “oows” and “ahhs” from those in attendance as well. The primary animal used for Tabaski sacrifice is a ram, with a cow being second in importance, followed thirdly by a camel. Yes, even camels are a way of life in Africa. Over the weekend I met a Polish back-packer who was happy to have left Mauritania because he was sick of eating camel meat!

After viewing commercial vendor booths for medications, like IVOMEC, and feed milling, I heard my Senegalese mother yell, “Allen, Allen! Lapins!” Lapin, of course, is French for “rabbit”. Though not an animal used for Tabaski, a local breeder displayed 6 rabbits, mostly Fauve de Bourgogne. The breeder was as excited to speak to me as I was to speak to him! He told me it was the first time in Senegal’s history that rabbits have been displayed in such a setting. What are the chances that I study in Dakar, and find Senegal’s first rabbit show? Pretty cool stuff. He raises rabbits as a supplement to his income, but promised me if he had more rabbits and more cages, he could survive off of selling rabbits for meat. We exchanged phone numbers, made plans in the immediate future for a farm tour; and, to further conspire on the potentials of rabbits in Africa as a food source, supplement to income, and even fertilizer in rice farming.

Everyday I find discover new things in Senegal; even better when they involve rabbits!

Keelyn Wins Double Best In Show

There are double youth shows held in Red Bluff in conjunction with double open shows on Saturday and Sunday.

Keelyn turns out to be the big winner. Out of four shows, her two different Florida White won Best In Show in show B on Saturday and again in show B on Sunday.

The top photo was taken in show B on Saturday. Keelyn's Florida White took Best In Show and Justin's Satin took Reserve In Show.

The second photo is the Best In Show winner Sammy with his Netherland Dwarf in show A on Sunday.

The third photo is Keelyn winning Best In Show again in show B on Sunday. This is a different Florida White from the day before. The Best In Show judge is Josh from Tennessee. Josh is the ARBA district 6 director.

The fourth photo is Ashton with her Reserve In Show winner black New Zealand and judge Josh.

We do not have information concerning the winners in show A on Saturday.

Randy's Winning Streak

Randy and Allen's rabbits are in a long winning streak again!

Randy showed and judged 8 all breed shows in two weekends. Their rabbits won Best In Show in 5 shows and Reserve In Show in 1 show out of the 8.

During the 4-show weekend in Red Bluff, Randy and Allen won Best In Show 3 out of 4 shows.

In the top photo, their Mini Rex was the Best In Show winner and the Reserve In Show went to Jeanne's French Lop in show A on Saturday. The judges who picked the top two winners are Bruce and Joey.

In the second photo, their Netherland Dwarf won the Best In Show with Betty's English Angora as the Reserve In Show winner in show B on Saturday. Sharon (not shown) and Josh with the apprentice judge Jim picked the two top winners.

In the third photo, their Mini Rex won the Best In Show and the Reserve In Show winner in show B on Sunday was Larry and Rita’s Satin. Larry and Rita's Satin also won Reserve In Show to Betty's English Angora in show A on Sunday.

Randy and Allen's rabbits are hard to beat. Their quality gives all of us the incentive to work harder in order to be competitive.

Sevenah Wins Best of Best In Show

Sevenah is ending her show year with a high note.


During a two-day show weekend, Sevenah won a Reserve In Show on the first day, Best In Show on the second day. This is the last show weekend in No. CA. in 2007.


At the end of the show on the second day, the four Best In Show winners from the two open shows and the two youth shows were invited to go back to compete for the title of "Best of Best In Show". Sevenah took the title. Last year, Casey's Molina took the title. This is the second year that such contest was installed, and an English Angora won in both years.


The top picture is Sevenah in her pretty pose.

The second photo shows Justin, holding the prize, with Betty and Sevenah. Justin is one of the hottest registrars currently, he works in almost all the shows; he is destined to becoming in judge in the near future. He has impressed the judges and the show committees so much that he was asked to do the honor.

The third photo shows judge Carol with Betty and Sevenah. Carol picked Sevenah as the Best In Show in show A of the CRCS show.

In the fourth picture from left to right are judge-to-be Jim from Florida, Betty with Reserve In Show winner Sevenah, Randy with Best In Show winner black Netherland Dwarf and judge Josh from Tennessee. Josh and Sharon picked the Best In Show and Reserve In Show; Jim participated in the examination of the rabbits as a part of his training to becoming a judge.

It was a very busy and fun weekend. There will be many more pictures and reports in the next several days.