NFFGRB Articles

WHAT CONSTITUTES A
GOOD FLEMISH FOR ME

by Jim Richards

I likely had Flemish for 10 yrs before I finally figured out what makes a good Flemish.
Size seemed to be the most important thing and that was always stuck in my head. I
think the lights finally came on when I was at Harold's one day and he started pulling
out some good and some not so good (mind you they would have looked good in anyone's
barn) but he picked them apart anyway to show me the good and bad points, and the last
thing he commented on was size. Balance was the first thing he pointed out, a nice long
body with good length of ears really helped set off the balance, even though they are
only allotted a few points . Depth of body was the other major makeup, I never really
could get that one into my head, if it's big, it has to have depth of body, but not so. At
that time Harold had some of the finest Sandys in the country and not just a few, but
heaps of them. One thing I noticed was they were up on their feet, not hunkered down
on their legs like most were. His comment was that many old timers told him when he was
getting started, they should "show some daylight" and I see what he means. If a rabbit is
up on its legs it makes the body taller, hence giving it more depth of body.

Roughness over the back and pinched hips are the two most common faults and the
hardest to eliminate. Mating two animals with either problem will only intensify it. If I
had to choose one animal that didn't have either fault my choice would be to use a buck that is
free from it, he's one half your herd. The does should have a nice skirt all around her
backside, this will help overcome the pinched hips.

When I first got into Flemish, Fawns and Whites had the worst fur. Bringing one up to the
table left you spitting hair all over the place, it was so soft and fluffy. Over the last 20 yrs
both have improved immensely and almost rival the Sandys. Both have been crossed
with Sandys and the fur quality today shows.

I can remember being at the Harvest show in Syracuse and walking down the cages and
looking at the fawns. There were about 10 that obviously were from one breeder 'cause
they all looked alike. I should have guessed who's they were. As it turned out they all were
from Harold. I asked him if any were for sale but unfortunately none were, as he was showing
all of them. Later he explained they were all out of one buck but different does, to say I was impressed is putting it mildly. And of course the inevitable question, would he sell him.
Harold was still using him in his breeding program but he promised that when he was done
he would let me know. After the show I went to Harold's to buy a fawn doe and it gave me
a chance to look at this buck. If memory serves me right his number was WM 961. First
glance at this buck, he wasn't real impressive, he wasn't the big powerful buck that I had
expected. What he had was balance, BUT the most important thing was he was prepotent,
all his get looked alike. I can remember looking at other youngsters out of him with other
does and they too all looked pretty much alike. As it turned out I bought two does from
Harold that day with the understanding that they would be bred to him before I left. As luck
would have it he bred both, but not before Harold's legs got a bit tired, I'm sure he was
cursing me under his breath. The one doe had 5 and the other one missed, but they were
the best 5 fawns I had bred yet. The 3 does were only shown a few times but always placed
in the top 5, one took BOB at the Harvest show in 94. This doe, like her father, was not
overly large but had great balance and fur. I can remember Harold telling me that this
buck never threw a bad rabbit but always a few great ones. Looking at the pedigrees of
other lines of fawns, this buck showed up many times showing his worth many times over.

Another bit of advice I took from Harold that day was breed a lot from a few and cull hard.
Set one goal to improve at a time and achieve that, get it fixed in your herd then move on
to another fault. Lenny Smith always said build the house then paint it and that is so true,
and by that he meant color. Lenny had some of the best Steels and Grays in the country.

Jim Richards