The Angora Breeds
The Angora rabbit is a variety of domestic rabbit bred for its long, soft hair. The Angora is one of the oldest types of domestic rabbit, originating in Ankara, Turkey, along with the Angora cat and Angora goat. The rabbits were popular pets with French royalty in the mid 1700s, and spread to other parts of Europe by the end of the century. They first appeared in the United States in the early 1900s. They are bred largely for their long angora wool, which may be removed by shearing, Combing, or plucking (gently pulling loose wool).There are many individual breeds of Angora rabbits, four of which are ARBA recognized. Such breeds include French, German, Giant, English, Satin, Chinese, Swiss and Finnish, to name a few.Angoras are bred mainly for their wool because it is silky and soft. Most are calm and docile but should be handled carefully. Grooming is necessary to prevent the fiber from matting and felting on the rabbit.Of the four breeds, the English Angora is the most easily identifiable by their profuse amount of wool furnishings around the head and ears. Overall, their silky wool is intermingled with a small percentage of guard hairs. This mix creates an animal that requires more grooming. When groomed properly, the English Angoras outline has been defined as that of a basketball: round and soft in appearance. The average adult weighs 5 – 7 ½ pounds at maturity and is the smallest of the four breeds. The English Angora comes in a variety of colors including: fawn, cream, tortoiseshell, black, blue chocolate, lilac, sable, pearl, white, and chinchilla, just to name a few.The French Angora breed has a large amount of guard hair on the surface, with wool as an undercoat. If the texture is correct, it requires less maintenance than other Angora breeds. Ear tufts are allowed but not preferred by breeders. The ARBA recognizes the same colors as with English Angora, plus broken. The French Angora is one of the largest Angora breeds at 7 1/2 to 10 lbs, with a commercial body type. It differs from the English and German Angora in that it possesses a clean face and front feet with only minor tufting on the rear legs.The Giant Angora is the largest of the four ARBA recognized Angora breeds. It produces more wool than the others in general. This breed may or may not have furnishings on the face and ears. In addition to the underwool and guard hairs, it has an "Awn Fluff" that does not exist in the other three breeds of Angora. Currently, the Giant is only recognized as a white color, although there is work in progress to bring the black color into the standard.The Satin Angora is derived from a cross between a Satin and a French Angora. This breed is named for the extremely soft texture of its wool. It has no furnishings on face, ears, or feet, and it is also easy to groom compared to the English variety. Satin Angora's wool is said to be stronger for spinning than other varieties of Angora. The Satin Angora was accepted by the ARBA in 1987. Care of the English Angora
The English Angora requires a little more care than most breeds of rabbit. The soft, silky coat texture creates a coat that mats easily if not cared for properly. While the time requirement is more than that of other breeds, the affection returned more than makes up for your time.My Home …
The English Angora is not a rabbit to be housed on the ground. Their coat attracts everything in the area creating a matted mess. Because of this, most Angora breeds are raised above ground in wire houses. The general size of a cage is 30” x 30” x 18” or larger with a 1 ½” wire bottom. The cage should be place in an area that has good shading/protection from the elements and provides good ventilation. Because of their heavy coat, Angoras should not be placed in a sunny area. During the summer months, we use frozen clay tiles to help keep them cool. Unlike the frozen bottle, the tile will not “weep”, keeping excess water from the coat.
I’m Hungry …
And eat they do … also chew, nibble and munch! Personally, we feed using hanging bowls. This leaves space for the rabbit in the cage, makes it easier to feed, and prevents dirty/soiled bowls which need to be cleaned. Because of the coat production, the English Angora requires a high protein (for coat production), high fiber diet (to help with the prevention of wool block). Our feed is a mixture of a high protein, high quality rabbit pellet, Calf-Manna, and two different bird seed mixes. Along with this they are given timothy hay throughout the day and different vegetables. Most of our rabbits receive 1/3 to ½ cup of the mixture twice daily. We do not free feed. By doing this you will know if there is something wrong with your rabbit.
My Tummy Hurts ….
Woolblock is a common problem in the Angora breeds. This problem, if not treated/controlled, can be fatal to the rabbit. After a lot of research, we have adopted the following plan. As stated above, the rabbits are not allowed to free feed. With this program, we can see if anyone is off their feed or having problems. We feed the regular diet 6 days a week, then take one day off. This helps to clean the digestive tract. On the off day we offer a mixture of birdseeds, vegetables, grasses, hays, etc. Also, once a week we give the rabbits dried papaya to help break down any wool in the digestive tract.
Water please …
And lots of it. For watering, we do not use crocks with the Angoras. Because of all the coat, the crocks create greater opportunity for a mess. As discussed earlier, their coat attracts everything, including water/moisture. For this reason, we use hanging water bottles. The water in the bottles is changed twice a day. During the summer, we use cooler water, but winter brings on its own challenges. For this reason, we provide warm water for the rabbits during the cooler months. This helps to slow down the freezing of the bottles.
Let’s take a walk …
Exercise is very important to the rabbit. Being locked in a small cage is the equivalent to winter depression … eventually we just need to get out! Angoras can be exercise in-house or outside. Just make sure the area is “rabbit proof”. Remember … they have teeth and know how to use them. Make sure to groom your rabbit prior to putting it away. All those little things the coat picked up can turn into big mats in no time.
I’m having a Bad Hair Day …
And all too often, this is the case. A properly taken care of Angora is absolutely beautiful, but the opposite is also true. If not taken care of, the coat can become a matted mess, creating one of the sadist sights in bunnydom. With this breed, the old adage … an ounce of prevention … is ever so true. Grooming of an Angora, done on a weekly basis with a good quality brush, will prevent future disasters.
DustiBunni Rabbitry
English Angoras
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