Dairy cows line the stalls of one of the show barns in Brandon’s Keystone Centre, a hub of agricultural events in Manitoba.
A frenzy of activity surrounds the cattle. They are washed down, trimmed up and then guided into stalls lined with plush mounds of bedding.
Brian Halldorsson drove more than two hours to share in the exhibition of livestock, held as part of the Manitoba Fall Fair.
Seated in a chair under the watchful gaze of dairy cows, he talked about the pleasure he draws from showing his animals.
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For him it’s a chance to make new friends while renewing former acquaintances.
He’s not in it for the prize money, although winning a ribbon always gives him a good feeling.
“It’s just the recognition that you’ve raised some good rabbits.”
Rabbits?
That’s right.
The same weekend cattle producers were in Brandon to show some of their finest heifers, cows and bulls, Halldorsson was there to show his pedigreed rabbits and to talk about his hareÐraising experiences.
He and his wife Ruth began raising rabbits four years ago, and now keep 150 of them at their home in Winnipeg.
“He’s a farm boy at heart,” says Ruth, explaining her husband’s love of the animals. “What else can I say?”
The Halldorssons own and operate a Winnipeg group home for troubled youth.
Meeting people
Much of their spare time is devoted to rabbits, a hobby that takes them to several shows in Canada and the United States each year.
Their grandchildren sometimes accompany them, creating a chance for quality time together.
The Halldorssons are rabbit fanciers. They enjoy breeding quality rabbits, but don’t sell the animals for meat or to research laboratories. Brian, who was raised on a mixed farm near Arborg, Man., finds that many rabbit fanciers have rural roots. He describes them as a caring group of people.
The Halldorssons are proof of that.
Some of their spare time is spent visiting hospitals and personal care homes. They charge a nominal fee, and in exchange, a hospital patient or personal care home resident gets to cuddle a soft, warm animal for an hour.
Brian calls it pet therapy.
The Halldorssons also visit day cares and nursing homes.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Brian said, “and very, very rewarding. I wish we could do more of it. Maybe when we retire.”
The Halldorssons need a licence to raise rabbits in Winnipeg. The licence limits them to 150 animals. Brian thinks they may move to a place outside the city after retirement. That would allow them to have more Netherland Dwarfs, and Polish and Holland Lops, the breeds they now most fancy.
It would mean more work. Brian and Ruth feed their rabbits twice a day and give the pens a thorough scrubbing twice a week.
But casting a glance at the dairy cows penned near the rabbit exhibit, and perhaps mindful of his childhood on a farm, he speculates that the chores would still be modest.
“It’s a lot easier to keep things tidy,” he said. “Smaller piles to clean, you know.”
