Loaded some new pictures into the personal album

gallery/album.php?album_id=16 will take you to them. Mostly shots of the 9.5 week old kits. Both himis, and 4 of the 6 black kits. I'm thinking of keeping the black himi. she's just...well, she's NICE and has lovely wool, so....but man....it's time for these girls to find new homes. With the pictures taken, I can put up an ad on craigslist and on the woolers list.

Oh, they're so gorgeous, Ann! Keeping them brushed has got to be a full-time job!

Thanks for the compliment, and surprisingly, they don't take much time to comb out. They get picked up and a quick comb once a week. The little white girl with the blue ears is the worst...she is very fine coated and it wants to mat more than the others do. But as long as I get to her once a week, she's fine. There's one black one that has the same super fine wool, but so far, no problems.

Ann,

How much fur do they produce? What does an ounce sell for? I can get two angora for $20ea.

thx

Wow! I would have thought angoras were much higher maintenance... brush at least once a day type thing.

These rabbits produce about 3-4 oz (as adults) every 3 months-ish. Sells for anywhere between $6.00 and $10 an oz. here in the states. The Chinese raise a gazillion angoras and pretty much have the commercial market sewn up. Most angora breeders sell to the craft type spinning people. It's a fairly competitive market...but ifyou have a fiber group near you, or YOU spin, it can be very helpful. You'll never MAKE money of any significance with Angora. I'm happy with them for the fiber, and paying their own way.

Miss M, these guys are the product of RiverPines (from HT) breeding program. Over a couple of decades she's been breeding JUST for fiber and as little matting as possible. She culls heavily, and keeps three separate lines going so she can cross out undesirable traits. The french angoras require less grooming because they have more guard hairs, and the wool is slightly more coarse than the English. The English angora have few guard hairs, but have EXCELLENT FINE wool...BUT they mat really easily. What RP did was keep the finest woolers from her french and brought in English until she'd pretty much bred out the guard hairs...

anyway. Some angoras require more grooming than others. These are some that require less. I'm sure they would benefit from more grooming...easier to handle, maybe the hair growth would be stimulated more...I'm not anywhere near an expert on it But I'm learning!

also ann I think it's important to note that angoras aren't ideal for a typical outside colony and yours are housed differently to the wire cage set up - angoras in traditional wire cages may need more care ... my Franklin needs a daily combing or twice weekly dematting - Puff probably needs the same thing but he doesn't get it
i really think angoras are specialized - not a great rabbit for someone looking for a quick buck with little work - a few well kept angoras are worth a LOT more then many kept in less than ideal conditions with less than ideal grooming - wasting wool is so easy ...