Pet rabbits for spinning wool?

[NinjaGamer2022]

I have just learned about people using Angora rabbits for wool. I have no knowledge of spinning wool but I was wondering do you shear the fur off and then spin it? If I ever did this the rabbits involved would be pets so I wouldn't cull them to remove their fur. How many rabbits worth of fur would you need to make a throw blanket? Also for anyone that has done this what breeds of rabbit would you recommend? Thx,

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

@TiffMaeWin

 

[Earthdale]

I have angoras, you get better quality of wool if you comb it out vs shearing because the fibers are unbroken.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

I have angoras, you get better quality of wool if you comb it out vs shearing because the fibers are unbroken.

Thank you for this info. How much rabbit wool do you need to make a roll of yarn? Also, may I ask if I brushed out their fur frequently would I have to shear their fur to prevent hairballs or is brushing enough? Thank you.

 

[Earthdale]

I'm not sure how much you would need, it would vary a lot depending on how big a ball you wanted how thick the yarn etc. I have yet to spin much yarn more because of lack of time than wool.

 

[NatJ]

do you shear the fur off and then spin it? If I ever did this the rabbits involved would be pets so I wouldn't cull them to remove their fur.

With angora rabbits, you do not kill the rabbit to harvest the wool, so no worries there.
Shearing is one option, plucking or combing the wool is another option.

Wikipedia tells the basics:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angora_rabbit

How many rabbits worth of fur would you need to make a throw blanket?

It depends on how big and thick you want the blanket to be, and how much fur is produced by each rabbit.

It also depends on how long you want to spend collecting the wool. If you want to harvest enough wool on one day to make an entire blanket, it will take a large number of rabbits. But you could have only a few rabbits, and harvest their wool every few months, and eventually have enough for the blanket.

It also takes time to spin the wool into yarn, and make the yarn into a blanket. So you could be spinning some of the wool while the rabbits are growing more wool.

If you don't yet know how to spin, I would probably start by buying some angora rabbit wool and learning to spin. Or getting just one rabbit or a few rabbits, and learn to spin once you harvest the first amount of wool. As you get better at spinning and at caring for the rabbits, it will be easier to tell how many rabbits is the right number for you.

If you only want to make one throw blanket, it is probably cheaper and faster to buy angora wool for the project, rather than buying rabbits, rabbit cages, rabbit food, and so forth. So I suggest you only get angora rabbits if you want to spend time caring for the rabbits, or if you expect to keep spinning yarn and making projects as an ongoing thing.

Also for anyone that has done this what breeds of rabbit would you recommend?

I have not personally done it, but I would recommend whichever of the angora breeds is being raised by someone who lives in your area. Visiting in person, and talking to the person who is currently raising them, is a great source of information. That would be more valuable than trying to find a "better" breed that needs to be shipped a long distance to reach you.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

With angora rabbits, you do not kill the rabbit to harvest the wool, so no worries there.
Shearing is one option, plucking or combing the wool is another option.

Wikipedia tells the basics:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angora_rabbit


It depends on how big and thick you want the blanket to be, and how much fur is produced by each rabbit.

It also depends on how long you want to spend collecting the wool. If you want to harvest enough wool on one day to make an entire blanket, it will take a large number of rabbits. But you could have only a few rabbits, and harvest their wool every few months, and eventually have enough for the blanket.

It also takes time to spin the wool into yarn, and make the yarn into a blanket. So you could be spinning some of the wool while the rabbits are growing more wool.

If you don't yet know how to spin, I would probably start by buying some angora rabbit wool and learning to spin. Or getting just one rabbit or a few rabbits, and learn to spin once you harvest the first amount of wool. As you get better at spinning and at caring for the rabbits, it will be easier to tell how many rabbits is the right number for you.

If you only want to make one throw blanket, it is probably cheaper and faster to buy angora wool for the project, rather than buying rabbits, rabbit cages, rabbit food, and so forth. So I suggest you only get angora rabbits if you want to spend time caring for the rabbits, or if you expect to keep spinning yarn and making projects as an ongoing thing.


I have not personally done it, but I would recommend whichever of the angora breeds is being raised by someone who lives in your area. Visiting in person, and talking to the person who is currently raising them, is a great source of information. That would be more valuable than trying to find a "better" breed that needs to be shipped a long distance to reach you.

Thank you for this info @NatJ . I plan to start with only a few and learn how to pin and as I get good at it then expand the number of rabbits accordingly. I hope to get good enough to use it as both self sufficiency and possibly an income source. I also plan to have the outdoors in rabbit tractors basically permanently. I know some basics of knitting and I hope to continue learning it and learn to crochet also. Thank you.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

I've done some research and if I ever do this I will try and get English and/or French angora rabbits due to being able to come off the shedding fur and fur production.

 

[NatJ]

I plan to start with only a few and learn how to pin and as I get good at it then expand the number of rabbits accordingly. I hope to get good enough to use it as both self sufficiency and possibly an income source.

That sounds like a good plan. Starting small and expanding generally works much better than starting big and getting overwhelmed

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

That sounds like a good plan. Starting small and expanding generally works much better than starting big and getting overwhelmed

Agreed. I may even start with buying wool and a hand drop spindle to start learning or depending how soon maybe even sheep wool from are own sheep if we get some. My family hopes to in the future get sheep for meat. I didn't even think about buying wool until you mentioned it. Thx,