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Angora Rabbits by Victoria Varga

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Angora wool can be harvested year round, and most fiber enthusiasts do this by holding the rabbit on their lap and either combing out the fiber, or (careful) scissor harvesting. The Angoras notoriously seem to enjoy this frequent attention, and the harvesting process causes them no stress or pain whatsoever. Angora wool harvesting is said to be a calming process for both the groomer and the “groomee”.

A well-groomed animal will have very little debris in their fiber, and therefore the harvested wool is not required to be washed or carded (the process of removing debris from wool for even fiber texture/continuity prior to spinning). The raw wool is considered pleasing to the spinner because of its strong and yet soft texture, each of the breeds having their own distinct and unique fiber qualities, allowing for quick results in the spinning process. The wool is sometimes left in its natural color, but can be dyed. Angora wool has a superior quality in its ability to retain dye color permanently over all other types of wool fibers.

Angora wool is normally mixed when knitted into clothing, with other soft fibers such as silk, cashmere, mohair, or sheep’s wool, at a usually no more than 30% ratio. Garments made of 100% Angora wool are undesirable as they would be too warm, and the texture too fine to provide density in knit stitches.

Housing and care of Angora Rabbits to be raised in a commercial wool production facility, can range from large mesh cages/hutches off the ground, where debris and waste can fall through,  keeping the wool clean; or large rabbit condos with mesh runs can be a good setup for clean and happy and leisurely movement of the rabbit. As with other breeds of rabbits, secure housing is imperative to protect the rabbit from predators & other rabbits, who may fight when quartered together. Most breeders of Angora Rabbits consider them to be companion animals (a.k.a. ‘pets’) and allow their Angoras the luxury of large cages with ample space to have freedom of movement, unlike some commercial meat rabbitries. With Angoras, cleanliness of living conditions is an important factor in maintaining fiber quality.

Gestation of Angoras, as with other rabbits, is only 30 days, and their ability to reproduce themselves and many more in short order, is no different than with other breeds of rabbits. The buck, or stud male rabbit, should always be housed by himself, and only put in the cage with the doe (female) for breeding purposes. Male rabbits will fight with each other, and will often kill babies or young rabbits in the same cage. Angora Rabbits can live up to 10 years, and even longer.

Angora Rabbits should be fed only commercial rabbit food, as this is specially formulated to meet all the rabbit’s nutritional requirements. Vegi greens are excellent treats but fruits and fibrous vegetables such as broccoli,  cauliflower, or cabbage, can cause digestive upsets and diarrhea, which can be harmful for the animals as well as destructive to the wool. Rabbits DO love carrots, but these should also be given only as a treat in sparing amounts.

The wool industry views Angora fiber as the “creme de la crème” of the fiber production market; and because Angora wool is always in high demand, and the number of those breeders producing wool for market in North America are relatively few, the price producers receive for their end product is often very good. Angora wool can be marketed raw (unspun) or spun, in either dyed or natural colors.

Benefits of raising Angora Rabbits: they are easy to keep and house, inexpensive to feed compared to other animals, easy and fast to breed to increase numbers of animals for wool production, the harvesting of wool brings much pleasure to the owner, raising Angoras takes no amount of land to produce them and Angoras are a no-kill livestock producer. Angoras are an excellent and diverse alternative to other types of livestock husbandry, and if one is so inclined to promote the raw or spun material, will certainly turn a profit, and bring much pleasure to the “Angora Farmer”.

For some excellent information on Angora Rabbits visit the World Wide Web at “The National Angora Rabbit Breeders’ Club (U.S.A.)”, as well as “Angora-Online Technical Manual”, a webpage which has some excellent and useful tips on how to get started in the Angora Wool business.

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