Chuck and his girls

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Anntann

Anntann

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Looking like Chuck has managed to breed at least 2 of the 3. (i'm not sure about success with Chocolat Bunny..she's still playing head honcho) so in a month I"m crossing fingers for a couple of lovely nests full of kits. :bananadance2:

Now I just need to get them all moved out to the farm BEFORE the kits come. GET IN GEAR, Ann!!
 
Looks like I've got 3 pregnant does!! :bananadance2:
The whole colony is just laying around, picking their teeth with pieces of straw now. :D It was REALLY funny yesterday afternoon. I went up to check on mama-san and glanced in at the colony. The 3 does and chuck were just laying around in various places of the colony..Chuck, big bad stud that he is... was laying flat out on his side SOUND ASLEEP! :zzz:

The girls are all very happy, FLB and Vienna are both being sweet bunnies. Chocolate Bunny is, as normal, a sweet bunny as long as you don't pick her up. :roll: We're both working on her temperament now. I had Mike go up with me and hold her in his lap while I plucked. She was....um...contained, I suppose is the word. He spent quite a bit of time with her trying to get her to just sit quietly and relax enough to eat a treat. She eventually ate a piece of romaine. I'm going to try dandelion and plantain today. See if that works as a bribe.

Mike's on the hunt now for the depilatory they use in France. Maybe he can find it thru the University or something and I can feed her the stuff and then life will be a LOT...er...different.
 
Ann,
I know nothing about fiber rabbits, but if she won't pluck what is the problem with trimming with scissors? do they get split ends or something? :shock:
 
avdpas77":75hxiksg said:
Ann,
I know nothing about fiber rabbits, but if she won't pluck what is the problem with trimming with scissors? do they get split ends or something? :shock:
Click to expand...

Yes, they get split ends and then they have a bad hare day. :D

Sorry, Frank, I couldn't resist. As I understand it, plucked wool spins better because it is complete and is therefore preferred and more valuable. It is also difficult to avoid clipping the tips of the incoming new wool, which will spoil it.
 
BAD Maggie!! Down girl! No biskees for YOU! ;)

It's not so much that she won't let me pluck her, but that she hates being picked up and held..which is necessary to pluck. with shearing(scissoring) it would take me about the same time, I think. With her getting madder and madder. With the depilatory feed, they just shed it all at once. She'd have to be confined for the few days it takes to work (3 days), but she could just sit in a cage and eat :)

We'll keep trying to get her hold-able. She was such a SWEET bunny before that first litter arrived...and then..DEVIL BUNNY!! I'm hoping that what happened was a chemical imbalance and that this pregnancy will even it out a bit. That, and the continued treat feeding and grooming.

She hasn't passed the attitude on to her kids...haven't heard negatives from either person who has the 3, and the 4th I still have and that girl is a normal sweet "oh geez..gonna pick me up AGAIN? oh well..." kind of rabbit.
 
Just by drastically dropping the protien level of the feed will induce a moult. I can't think that this "depilatory feed" is anything but that. Anything else would have to be some type of strong chemical.I would stop all treats and lower the protien to see what happens. Other than that I would think that the wool is not "ripe" yet if it isn't comming out easily and she gets fussy.
 
It's actually a chemical that's added to the feed. I'll have to find the article again. I looked into it last summer and found that it's not harmful to the rabbit in any way, and I think I remember something about it being a naturally occurring thing. I'll see what I can dig up. I believe it's used by the Chinese for their huge angora industry, too.

ah yes..and it's time for a gratuitous shot of Chuck and FatLittleBunny just hangin' out together. (try to ignore the dirty walls. I had chicks in there last year and the plaster got stained pretty badly.)
DSCN2755.jpg


__________ Mon Apr 12, 2010 11:20 am __________

Yipee!! here we go.I knew I'd seen it somewhere online

Wool removal is by plucking in France using a depilatory agent (Lagodendron ®, Proval Company, Paris)
to assist with hair removal. This depilatory agent is a pelletted supplement, feed for one a day after
the fast, approximately 5 days before plucking.
Click to expand...

They reference it in the http://filangora-production.com/fr/video.php from the angora fiber assoc. in France. Lovely video (in French) about 12minutes long. shows they use straw as bedding, cement cages, etc. Also talks about spinning the fiber and the micron size, etc.<br /><br />__________ Mon Apr 12, 2010 11:21 am __________<br /><br />almost forgot...the Lagodendron is apparently a naturally occuring substance found in some plant. Of course, I've not found WHAT plant...
 
Omg that video of angora wool plucking is disturbing. I can only imagine what losses occur after plucking an animal bald like that.The stress must be unreal..Sunburn cold and DRAFTS, I don't think that is worth it on a small scale. JMO
 
Lauren, the rabbits are indoors, in a climate controlled rabbitry. Notice, too, that they leave (usually) a strip of unplucked hair down the sensitive spine.

I chatted last year with a French woman who worked in the industry. She said the rabbits don't seem to be bothered by it. It's much less stressful, she said, than being plucked without the additive. It's quick, there is no pulling or plucking hair that isn't ready to release yet, and they only get handled for plucking once every 3 months instead of being plucked every day for a week as is done by quite a few places. There's no buzzing sound from shearing (which apparently is a noise most buns hate) and no chance for a snip into the skin.

I'm just joking about using it on CB. The stuff is WAY to expensive in small amounts. CB will just have to get use to it :D
 
The video I saw left the entire body bald,ie absolutly no fur just pink skin; which is totally unatural, just the legs and head were left.. its still a shock to the system no matter what the climate is. The rabbit would be very much like a newborn and we know how hard it is to keep kits from getting chilled anytime of the year.I suspect the additive is actually numbing the rabbit not releasing the fur, because the plucking looked like it took quite an effort.
 

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