Bunny2Beanie -My German Angoras

I have to admit my passion for angoras came from a desire to spin and knit my own fibre.  Having a German husband and being drawn to the extra yield/size of the German Angora compared to the English Angora lead me on a quest to acquire some of these more rare and majestic bunnies.

My poor long suffering husband (who often threatens to use my wool stash as wall insulating when I’m not looking!) was sent off across the channel to pick up my beautiful German angoras from the very Easten side of Germany. I was beyond excited when they finally arrived home. Two REWS (Hagrid and Fleur) and three blues (Hermione, Remus and Bella) settled in really well and with a lot of support from Sally May I slowly got to grips with looking after my wonderful buns.

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Grass time

It is good to be able to put your Angora rabbits outside in good weather to enjoy some fresh grass and fresh air if you have the space to do this. It is also a chance to observe them while they relax and check them over to ensure they are all healthy and look at the contrasting colour if you have a litter with a range of colours like this one from Blues to Lilacs to Smokes.

However a few notes for you before you put them outside.

  • Make sure you have a secure run or cage to put them in set up in advance
  • check the grass area over before to remove any plants that might be harmful or debris
  • If you know they dig make sure the run or cage has a wire base as well
  • If you are putting babies out make sure the wire cage has small enough wire that they cannot slip through it and get outside the cage
  • Ideal to watch them during their first time out to see how they react and to ensure they are safe
  • Ideally also check on them if you do leave them for any period of time whilst they are outside to check they are alright
  • Provide a shade or cover if the location is in full sun
  • Provide a water bowl or bottle if leaving them out for longer than 10 minutes
  • Make sure the cage is protected from being accessible by cats and other birds and animals as they can scare the rabbits

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Virtual Stock Show – Pets/Spinning Show

Best in Show – Jo Ford with Smoke Adult Buck

Here is the judges feedback and results for the Pets Virtual Show. 1st J Ford, smoke. Best in pet and spinning class. Nice head, colour, body and wool. 2nd, J Ford, Lilac. Another nice exhibit. Good head and body. Nice colour. 3rd C Hamilton. White. Also a nice rabbit with short body and nice wool. Many thanks to Chris for asking me to judge. I really enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone for entries and congratulations to the winners.

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Winners of the Product competition

Winner of the product competition by Sally May

Congratulations to everyone who entered, and the overall winner was Sally May with the most votes for her felted Angora bunny. However, as we had so many fabulous entries we decided to make a few other awards.

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Product competition entries 2021

Wow, what an amazing array of Angora wool products, thank you ever so much for everyone who entered it is fantastic to see such excellent craftsmanship and skill as well from our members. With 39 entries it is incredible to see such talent all together, so congratulations to you all. It is brilliant to see so many ways in which Angora wool can be used from shawls to hats, slippers, toys, baby boottees, gloves, tops and in an array of colours and patterns too. Angora wool is such a versatile natural product and has endless opportunities for you to make so many items in so many ways from hand knitting, felting, needle felting, crochet and anything you can use your imagination to create.

Here are the entries and don’t forget to vote via the National Angora Club Facebook page for your favourites by 6pm on Monday 31st May 2021. You can vote for as many as you like.

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Jo Ford English Angoras

Jo Ford is one of our NAC members who has in more recent years got the English Angora rabbit bug as well. She has started up a small stud and enjoys keeping Angora rabbits currently mainly in a pet capacity and is keen to start making wool products in the future.

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Richard Grindey on English Angora rabbits

Richard Grindey and his White English Angora called John

This information came from a Facebook live demonstration by Richard Grindey on 13th April 2021 for the Carlisle and District Rabbit Club on English Angora rabbits providing showing and grooming advice as well as welfare and breeding information. Richard throughout the video was also responding to live chat messages and has one of his White English Angora rabbits called John for demonstration purposes. This was really informative with lots of useful information on handling, grooming and showing English Angora rabbits.

Richard has had rabbits for the past 20 or more years and the Angora rabbit is the one breed for him that has stayed the distance throughout the whole time of him keeping rabbits. He says that there is something about the breed that has captivated him and that he enjoys keeping and showing them. He has the showing bug with them and continued that with a lot of success and many award winning English Angora rabbits.

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Breeding from a Sable Angora rabbit

First photos of the new Sable babies in 2021

Here are a few images of a litter from a Sable Angora rabbit doe and in the litter there are 2 siamese sables (medium shade) and 1 marten sable medium and 1 white in the litter all born on Good Friday 2nd April in 2021. It is common to throw whites as we used whites to outcross as very few sables are available to breed from.

A few weeks later at the start of May (2nd May 2021) enjoying their evening tea
Two weeks further on (16th May 2021) now starting to show the change in their coat and colour as they grow

Standing Angora rabbits

Every Angora rabbit is an individual, so it stands to reason that not all Angoras show the same traits. One trait I have observed in some of my Angora rabbits is to stand on their hind legs to get a better look around. Some do this free standing whilst others may use a wire frame or something to stand up against. I have noticed that also if the mother Angora stands her babies also have this trait. It is not limited to the colour of the English Angora either as it has been observed in a wide range of colours but potentially down to their genetics and learnt characteristics. Many of our club members also have Angora rabbits who do this as well as shown in the gallery of images at the bottom.

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