Youth Herd Development Program
Essay Deadline - Feb 1, Rabbit Donation Deadline - Feb 15
The NSFRC wants to support our youth members in any way possible! That’s why we are once again conducting the Youth Herd Development Program essay contest! The goal is to make sure our youth members gain access to high quality animals that may not typically be accessible.
In order to be considered to receive a donation animal(s) you must:
- Be a youth member of the NSFRC
- Write and turn in an essay (details below)
- Be able to attend Silver Fox Nationals (March 7–8 in Dalton, GA) or have transport available. (Need transport? Just ask, we’ll do our best to find something!)
- By participating you agree to give first right of refusal back to the donating breeder.
Essay Requirements
Topic
Write an essay about your short-term (this year) and long-term (2–5 year) goals for your rabbitry/breeding program. It should include at least one short-term and one long-term rabbitry goal. It must also include how you plan to achieve these goals.
If you can add what your herd’s current strengths and weaknesses are, that is a plus. It will help us know what to keep an eye out for in donations to best match you with an animal.
Finally, please include a photo of you and one of your rabbits, and let us know if you would be okay with the photo ending up in the next NSFRC newsletter.
Length
The essay must be a minimum of 5 paragraphs, with 5 sentences per paragraph.
Due Date
- All essays must be turned in by February 1st at 11:59 PM EST
-
Essays can be either emailed to
jonmarc@thetruecrew.com
or mailed to:
19942 Woodtrail Rd,
Round Hill, Virginia 20141
(postmarked by February 1)
Essays will be reviewed by a group of NSFRC members and we will do our best to match every youth who meets the requirements with an animal. All donation animals will be looked over by an experienced group of breeders before they are offered to the entrants.
We hope to have enough options to give each youth multiple options to consider and choose the animal they think will best help them achieve their goals for the year.
Last year we were able to award 16 animals to NSFRC youth!
With this we will also need other members to step up and donate quality stock! If you would like to donate an animal or animals, please reach out to discuss via email.
Donation Animal Requirements
- Have a complete Silver Fox only pedigree (weights, ear numbers)
- Be free of disqualifications
- Meet the breed SOP
- Weigh a minimum of 4.5 lbs
- Be at least 12 weeks old at the time of rehoming (born on or before January 10, 2025)
- Be available for viewing on Friday night, March 6, 2026 by the YHDP committee
- Please include posed pictures of your donation animal(s) showing all three angles: side profile, top view, and rear view.
Submissions can be sent to jonmarc@thetruecrew.com via email.
Donation animal submissions are due by February 15, 2026.