Raising angora rabbits for wool?

[LeslieMiikal]

I have seen a few Pinterest pins in my search for rabbit hutch ideas, we have been looking into meat rabbits. I came across angora rabbits and now I'm intrigued. Are these rabbits you shear? Or is it raise and skin and also eat? Just curious really, we have a niche market where I live for things like raw wool and hand spun wool. What are good reliable resources to look into? (We all know just googling can be luck of the draw when it comes to animal information)

 

[Rickba]

I, personally, have never heard of anyone spinning rabbit fur into wool. Homesteaders here have either alpacas, sheep or goats for raw wool spinning. I can't imagine how many rabbits you would have to sheer to get enough wool to knit a sweater. I have been looking into meat rabbits myself. But angora rabbits have good fur pelts to sew together to make warm coat liners.

 

[pennyJo1960]

glad you stopped here but you may find yes rabbits are more for the pelts we use to shear our sheep for wool but look into homesteaders here for resources good luck on you quest

 

[LeslieMiikal]

Thanks for the info! I kind of figured they were more for the pelts then shearing, which is good for dual purpose anyway I'll check things out more for sure!

 

[LeslieMiikal]

Well, I just watched an enlightening video on shearing one angora rabbit and spinning the wool, neat process! I'm going to look into hobby clubs here, get a better feel for this specific hobby

 

[Bunnylady]

The real angoras (those raised with wool production in mind, as opposed to the pet market) will shed almost all of their wool at the same time. The best quality wool is pulled off as the rabbit sheds it; that way, both ends of the fibers are tapered. I know spinners who do demonstrations with rabbits sitting in their laps; the wool is plucked off and spun immediately.

Pure angora rabbit wool yarn is a very expensive specialty item at knitting shops. It's very much a niche market, but if you can find it, it's worth a great deal more than a rabbit pelt.

 

[Zoomie]

I used to do this. Also taught spinning and weaving. For those who don't know: angora is the type of sweater that looks really hairy and is super soft.

The rabbits are not killed and skinned, they are either plucked or shorn. (Never, ever pluck a rabbit when the fur is not ripe... it hurts terribly!) I sheared mine because the wool stays denser and finer than it does if you pluck. There is a book about it and the authors compared the two methods... it was quite striking. (Too lazy to walk upstairs, turn on the lights and look for that book right now, but it was written by two ladies and for a long time was the only book to be found about this.)

Let me tell you, keeping rabbits in shape for proper shearing is a lot of work. You have to groom them all the time. You will need to carefully comb out the coat, or you will get mats in the wool. The wool grows, on average, about an inch a month. This means three to four shearings per year. (Depending on the staple length you are aiming for.) Don't let either the grooming or the shearing go; you will regret it, and the rabbit will suffer. Believe me, the people who go through this earn the money they charge.

One of the best deals I ever had was when I raised English Angoras and sold them as pets. Many of the owners did not want to bother with shearing, so they brought the rabbits back to me for that. I would shear and clean them up, clip toenails etc. Most of the time they did not want the wool. (To be honest, it was not always in great shape, but there was some useable wool in there.) So I sold the rabbit, and then got paid to shear it, and sometimes had useable wool to sell.

There are different breeds of Angora and they all have their quirks. For example the French Angora has a different type of coat than the English. I always fed my rabbits on the best pellet I could get, as well as very good quality hay. Don't scrimp on feed for a fiber animal; they can not grow good fiber if they don't have good feed.

Shearing requires you to be very careful; a rabbit's skin is like tissue paper, and you don't want to nick them. You must be patient and work *with* the rabbit. Usually they are very good-natured about it but can become very sensitive depending where you are shearing. This is where all that work on grooming comes in! Hopefully they have learned to trust you. Take your time and give the rabbit a break every now and then. With practice, you can get pretty fast... but, a rabbit would take me close to 45 minutes to shear, whereas I could shear an alpaca in about 15 minutes... so remember, it takes a lot of time.

 

[Rickba]

WOW, I learned something new here today. Thanks for the info.

 

[Bunnylady]

@Zoomie Did you ever use a blower for grooming? I have talked to people who raise English Angoras for show, and their advice was, "if you have even one angora, a blower is the way to go." They said they don't brush or comb, just go over the rabbit once a week with the blower. Matted coats cost you on a show table, so I have to assume it works.

 

[Zoomie]

@Bunnylady no, I never had a blower... could not afford one... I wished for one though! They do seem to work well. Once a week seems a little scant to me, but maybe it works... I don't know. If I'd had one I would have used it way more often than that.

I did show, but I was there combing with what I think is called a Greyhound comb, all morning long before my class was called. For finishing, I used a small very fine hand carder. I did quite well, I am pleased to say, but as I pointed out it takes a lot of work. Whenever I sold a rabbit as a pet, the poor person would be subjected to a terrific lecture on proper care. If they were daunted and decided on a Mini Rex or something instead, that was fine with me. I did not want to sell a rabbit to someone who did not know in advance the amount of work and time involved.

Don't get me wrong, I thought it was totally worth it. To me, English Angoras look like live stuffed animals, they are so darn cute. I found it very rewarding to work with them and develop their trust, not to mention it really got me out of bed and out to the rabbitry on stormy or snowy mornings - I could not wait to get out there and see all their cute little faces!