Angora rabbits.

I often hear readers say they can't raise livestock "because I live in the city." Why not raise an Angora rabbit?

For their small size, Angoras are a veritable treasure-trove of fiber. These rabbits have been bred through the years to achieve long, luxurious coats prized by spinners and knitters everywhere.

Feeding an Angora is a little more costly than feeding the average rabbit--about $4 a month. But I feel it's worth it to raise my own spinning fiber, which I can sell f or $5 an ounce, or up to $9 a skein as spun yarn. (Prices, of course, depend on local markets.) Each rabbit can yield from 2-4 ounces of fine wool per harvest.

My favorite use of angora wool is to blend it with some soft lamb's wool to get a soft, long-wearing yarn.

Feeding

There are commercial Angora foods that are supposed to be good, but they are not available near me, so I mix my own. I feed my Angoras a mix of 6 parts rabbit pellets, 1 part Calf Manna, 1 part oats, 1 part barley, and 1 part sunflower seeds. (I used the shelled type, but to save money or if you grow your own, you can use unshelled seeds.)

I feed my rabbits hay in the morning--no "stickery" hay that might get caught in the wool--and about 3/4 cup of the food blend in the evening. You can feed it all at once, but I like to check on the rabbits twice a day anyway, to make sure no water bottles have been knocked off the cages and everyone is okay.

Once a week they "fast," and are fed only hay and papaya pills (found at any health food store). Angora rabbits get hairballs, which the enzymes in the papaya help to break down. I have one doe who won't eat papaya pills, so she gets birdseed, which also helps.

Grooming

When I got my first pair of Angoras I was told that they must be groomed daily. This has since proved not to be a good idea. The rabbits are prone to regroom themselves after every grooming session, increasing the ingestion of wool. For this reason my schedule now is twice a week. This is enough to keep out tangles and mats, but not enough to cause wool buildup in the rabbits, systems.

To groom, I start by gently grabbing the hair above the tail and lifting slightly to see the rabbit's bottom, which I gently clean with a metal dog comb, removing all traces of feces. I keep wool clipped in that area, which makes the job easier.

I then clean off the comb, lift the coat into layers, and comb through them. I then take a wire dog brush and repeat. Any tangles or mats I either gently pull apart and brush, or clip out.

The next time I groom I use a Shop Vac set to blow air. You can buy special animal hair blowers, hut they,re expensive. The blower is used to blow air into the coat, which opens the coat, separates the fiber, and allows you to see the animal's skin (to check for parasites), and removes dandruff.

To clean and sterilize your grooming tools, you can soak them in a solution of water mixed with a little bleach. If, when soaking ;,rooming tools in this solution, you notice little specks of orange in the water, you may have fur mites. You an use a mild cat flea powder for fleas and mites. Mites are rare unless you show your rabbit, as they can be picked up at rabbit shows where large numbers of animals are gathered.

Think of your rabbit as a dust mop! Anything it gets near ends up stuck in its coat.

Exercise helps to keep the rabbits healthy. I let mine run on a cement patio. Beware of predators! Mine get about four hours of exercise a week.

Housing

Angoras do best in all-wire cages, which makes cleaning wool and feces off easier. I brush the bottoms of my cages every other day with a barbecue grill brush. This helps to ensure good hygiene, and only takes about a minute per cage.

Every four months I clean the cages with soap and water. Twice a year I use a bleach rinse, followed by a thorough water rinse.

Clean cages help control flies, and flies are an Angora's worst nightmare. If a fly is able to find a dirty rabbit bottom it will lay eggs there. Twenty-four to 48 hours later, those eggs hatch and the larvae will start to burrow into the rabbit. They will proceed to feed on the rabbit from within. This horror is called "flystrike," and usually means a painful death for the rabbit.

Ordinarily, flies are only a problem in warm weather. If you have your rabbits outside in warm weather, take your comb along when you feed them and quickly check each bottom to make sure it's clean. This process takes practically no time, and can save a life. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

I got tired of fighting the flies, so now my rabbits are in a screened room. This sure has made life easier for them and me.

Angoras make great house rabbits, and can be litterbox trained like cats. There are even special rabbit litter boxes sold in some small livestock catalogs. I am told that rabbits living indoors are best confined to one room.

Rabbits love to chew on electric cords, so a wise precaution is to enclose those temptations within lengths of PVC.

I have small wooden "houses" with no floors in my rabbit cages. I put cut portions of sheet rock under the houses so the floors can be changed when they get dirty.

Yes, the rabbits will chew on both the wood and the sheet rock, so be sure the surfaces are unpainted and free of chemicals. Both the wood and the sheet rock are beneficial to the animals.

If your rabbit lives indoors, you can use sheet rock for them to lay on.

Harvesting wool

Angoras shed, or molt, their wool 3-4 times a year. When they start to shed, there are a number of ways to harvest the wool.

It can be "plucked" by gently grasping six or seven hairs and gently pulling them. If the wool comes right off, continue. Otherwise, wait a day or two and try again until it pulls out easily.

Another method is to cut the wool off, one lock at a time. Place a comb next to the skin as you cut, to keep from cutting the rabbit.

When my rabbits start to shed I pull all the loose stuff off over a couple of days, then cut the rest.

You must remove molting wool. If you don't, the rabbit will groom itself, ingesting the loose wool in large quantities. As noted, Angoras cannot regurgitate. The ingestion of large quantities of wool will cause massive blockages in the digestive system. This is commonly called wool block, and is often fatal. Since the animal can no longer process its food, it will cease to eat or drink, eventually dying of starvation or dehydration.

Wool block can sometimes be treated successfully, but proper grooming, including timely wool harvesting, will prevent the problem.

Weather

Angoras can tolerate extreme cold very well, as angora is among the warmest of all natural fibers. However, they do not do well at all in the heat without substantial help. For this reason, they must be watched. I take their coats off at the end of June whether they are ready or not, so they are short-coated for our California summer heat.

If the temperature gets to 92 or above, I either put ice blocks in the cages or turn on a fan, or both.

In an emergency, the bathtub works well as a cold container.

You may not be able to raise sheep in your backyard, but a herd of Angora rabbits can be just as rewarding. If I can answer any questions about these wonderful animals, or provide hints for those new to raising rabbits in a suburban environment, feel free to write to me. My address is: Kathy Hart, 1224 W. 8th St., Antioch, CA 94509.

There are three types of Angora rabbits: English, French, and German. The official weights for English Angoras are 5 to 7-1/2 lbs., for French, 7-1/2 lbs. or more, and for German Angoras, 8 lbs. or more.

A sheared coat will grow back faster, but plucked wool produces a superior yarn. Usually it takes 2-3 weeks to pluck an animal, since different portions of the coat loosen at different times. For further information:

The following articles appeared in Rabbits magazine (formerly published by Countryside Publications, Ltd.) and are available as reprints. Prices: $1 each + SASE; any 5-10, 85[cts.] each; all 13 for $10.

Angoras are gentle and versatile, Dec., 1978, pp. 5-6.

Colony arrangement makes feeding and care easier, July, 1979, pp. 14-16

Spin a yarn with Angora, Aug., 1981, pp. 12-15.

Wool production records important for success, May, 1983, pp. 12-13.

Grooming Angoras, May, 1984, pp. 21-22.

Angora mathematics, May, 1986, p. 9.

TLC for English Angoras May,1986, pp. 11-13.

The German Angora, May, 1986, pp. 14-17.

Helpful hints on grooming Angoras; and Wool block; May, 1986, pp. 18-19.

Grooming tips for English Angoras, May, 1986, pp. 20-21.

The German Angora: Inbreeding at its best, May, 1986, pp. 23-24.

Broken pattern Angoras, May, 1986, pp. 25-26.

101 uses for short Angora wool, May, 1986, p. 34.