This is Harley Mcdaniel. She's an 8-month-old Blue Flemish Giant rabbit that will show at this month's Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, beginning Jan. 12. The 14-pound gentle giant (that's the slang term for a Flemish; they can grow to be upwards of 20 pounds) visited our studio in early December just after winning her first champion "leg" at a show the prior weekend. Harley hails from a breeder named Robert McAllister in Indiana and now lives with Wes Archambeau and Lorie Mcdaniel in Weatherford. Two more legs and she'll be a grand champion at the tender age of 8 months old. Her dad is particularly proud of her dewlap, the abundance of fur around her neck that she'll use to build a nest for her offspring, and her "wide fat butt." He assures me that's a good thing in the rabbit world. Harley can thank a diet of rabbit pellets, sweet potato, apples, carrots, and kale (her favorite) for that back side. Archambeau is confident she's a happy bunny, saying, "We spoil our rabbits."
