Angora Thread

[craftymama86]

Exactly! That's where it's the worse. Basically anywhere between his legs, especially since I have a hard time getting a comb in there, lol. And he doesn't like it. You should see my arm from last night, talk about ouch.... I'll have to ask about trimming their nails too, lol.

 

[SarahMelisse]

Exactly! That's where it's the worse. Basically anywhere between his legs, especially since I have a hard time getting a comb in there, lol. And he doesn't like it. You should see my arm from last night, talk about ouch.... I'll have to ask about trimming their nails too, lol.

I know! Geez! Why does the most sensitive area have to be the hardest to keep clean?

On the other hand, I have had some luck trimming nails. I just got my rabbits used to having their paws touched. I pet their paws when ever i get a chance: feeding/general grooming/just saying hi. Then when it comes time to clip them, I just set a small treat on the grooming table for them (like celery) and clip away gentlly being sure to firmly hold their paw so the can't jerk away and get hurt.

 

[craftymama86]

What length do you trim them to? And what type of clippers do you use, are they specifically for rabbits?

 

[SarahMelisse]

What length do you trim them to? And what type of clippers do you use, are they specifically for rabbits?

I have "rabbit nail clippers" from petsmart that look a little like scissors. They cost like $3. I clip their nails so that there is a little over hanging the quick that way I know I'm not getting too close. So in other words, on my REW I cut the white ends so there is a little white left before the pink part of the nail starts... Which if clipped would probably bleed. I noticed on my colored rabbits that the nail end is light brown and the quick is dark brown.

I'm not sure if all of that is the best way to do it, but that is how I always clipped my cat's nails.

 

[craftymama86]

Ok great! I'll check PetSmart for the clippers.

Makes sense, the way you clip yours. I don't see a need for them to be much longer since mine don't go outside. But that's just my opinion, lol.

 

[CYGChickies]

We clip nails as needed when we notice ourselves ending up with bleeding scratches from handling the rabbits. The French Angoras we have were tame--but never groomed--and had no trouble letting us brush them. One of us picks up the rabbit and holds it and the other brushes/plucks/dematts the underside of the rabbit. Even the "sensitive" areas on our buck don't cause him to fight or anything. We're lucky to have them so tame especially considering we got them from someone who NEVER brushed them. We had a lot of matting to comb out the first day!

CYG

 

[PinkFox]

heres a quation for the angora people...

how many rabbits would one need to have to get a deacent supply of wool...
or...
how much wool does 1 angora produce per month in ounces?

i hand spin (drop spindle) and LOVE rabbit wool...but im assuming id need a large number of angora bunnies to produce enough wool to make say a hat/scarf set...

And im assuming angoras are also super heat sensitive with the heavy coat?
im planning on getting shetland sheep and a couple of alpaca for wool, but angoras are beautiful!, just not sure where id put them/how id keep them as my rabbitry is outdoors and i dont see myself building an ac-d angora barn anytime soon lol.

 

[SarahMelisse]

heres a quation for the angora people...

how many rabbits would one need to have to get a deacent supply of wool...
or...
how much wool does 1 angora produce per month in ounces?

i hand spin (drop spindle) and LOVE rabbit wool...but im assuming id need a large number of angora bunnies to produce enough wool to make say a hat/scarf set...

And im assuming angoras are also super heat sensitive with the heavy coat?
im planning on getting shetland sheep and a couple of alpaca for wool, but angoras are beautiful!, just not sure where id put them/how id keep them as my rabbitry is outdoors and i dont see myself building an ac-d angora barn anytime soon lol.

I LOVE angora wool too! Which is why I bought three French angoras over a month ago. Obviously I haven't had them long enough to shear and weigh their wool, but I have read that you can expect 8-12 ounces of wool a year from French and English angoras.

I have my rabbitry outdoors. It is basically an 8x8 foot shed with a slanted roof. It was super easy to construct in one day out of just plywood, 2x3's, 4x4's, and cheap PVC roofing. I also don't plan on installing a/c for my rabbits and it does get in the 100's during the summer. I just made two of the walls 1/2 lattice (for ventilation and can be covered during the cold winter) and I was sure to build the rabbit shed in a spot that is shady all day during the summer. And since we do get a few weeks of high temps here, I plan on shearing them for the warmest months so they won't have to wear those thick coats in the heat.

Anything is do-able. Maybe just start with a breeding trio and if it turns out rabbits aren't your cup of tea... Don't breed them. Wow, sorry I got so chatty on this one, but I just started and I'm very excited about others getting into angoras too.

 

[CYGChickies]

They shed a lot and I'm convinced you could just brush until they go bald! We took Victoria and Sebastian (Frenchies) to the groomer today for a treat and they brushed them all out, got all the blown hair and undercoat and even used a pet hair vac on Victoria and they were putting out hair like spores all the way home haha.

Don't ever get an Angora if you're not willing to be covered in rabbit hair any time you pick them up. French Angoras are hefty and shed. We personally have longhaired cats so we're used to heavy shedding--and hair is a lot better than chicken poop which I'm all too used to getting on me! I think the way Angora hair is made actually helps a bit to keep them cool. New Zealands are short haired but have such dense thick fur that they overheat VERY easily while Angora fur isnt nearly as dense. Shade and breeze are important in summer; shelter from rain and wind is the big deal in winter. I'm getting power run to the barn and plan to run a shop fan through the barn "breezeway" on really hot afternoons, or just point it out to pull hot air away. The frozen water bottles really do good for us though I swear by those. Even our turkeys got a frozen 2-liter when they were in the raised juvenile hutch.

Anyway, it takes a while to get an ounce of wool from Frenchies but it's easier if you have all white rabbits maybe? Because you can mix wools? We have two different patterns in our French Angoras--tort and broken black--but they're gorgeous! The tort dos has beautiful tan and blue wool while the buck's is silver and white. Just bred them today and can't wait to see what we get in the babies.

CYG

 

[nerissad]

They shed a lot and I'm convinced you could just brush until they go bald! We took Victoria and Sebastian (Frenchies) to the groomer today for a treat and they brushed them all out, got all the blown hair and undercoat and even used a pet hair vac on Victoria and they were putting out hair like spores all the way home haha.

Don't ever get an Angora if you're not willing to be covered in rabbit hair any time you pick them up. French Angoras are hefty and shed. We personally have longhaired cats so we're used to heavy shedding--and hair is a lot better than chicken poop which I'm all too used to getting on me! I think the way Angora hair is made actually helps a bit to keep them cool. New Zealands are short haired but have such dense thick fur that they overheat VERY easily while Angora fur isnt nearly as dense. Shade and breeze are important in summer; shelter from rain and wind is the big deal in winter. I'm getting power run to the barn and plan to run a shop fan through the barn "breezeway" on really hot afternoons, or just point it out to pull hot air away. The frozen water bottles really do good for us though I swear by those. Even our turkeys got a frozen 2-liter when they were in the raised juvenile hutch.

Anyway, it takes a while to get an ounce of wool from Frenchies but it's easier if you have all white rabbits maybe? Because you can mix wools? We have two different patterns in our French Angoras--tort and broken black--but they're gorgeous! The tort dos has beautiful tan and blue wool while the buck's is silver and white. Just bred them today and can't wait to see what we get in the babies.

CYG

I WISH I had an Angora Buck. I would get rid of all my NZ and replace them! My Rabbitry is new and my start up costs were higher than I expected so I'm not spending any more money for a while especially to replace my perfectly fine NZ Buck.