I have been keeping rabbits since I was 7 years old (first rabbit was and English lop/cross called Loppy) I met my first angora rabbit a few years later, when the mother of my best friend bought a smoke (Blossom) so she could spin and knit the fibre. This was my inspiration for my love of the breed and specifically smoke. Several breeds later I bought my two beautiful boys Benjamin and Elliot from the wonderful Sally May in 2014.
Cream next to a Blue-Cream
Blue Cream is a self colour, not an Agouti colour, and a Blue Cream bred to Blue Cream for several generations will have the genotype aaBBCCddeell. It can be considered to be a dilute version of the Sooty Fawn.
This is one of the oldest colours of Angora, but sadly now is relatively rare. It is an Agouti colour, and when Golden has been bred to Golden for many generations, has the genotype AABBCCDDeell
I was sorry to hear the sad news that Ray Whitcombe has died. He was a lovely man who did a huge amount of work for the National Angora Club over the years when he worked as secretary in the 60s and then a few years ago until ill health made him give up. He was an active exhibitor of stock and products as well as an experienced judge in both.I have many happy memories of spending time in his company. Love to his family at this sad time xx
Ray Whitcombe 1939-2018
Rays interest in rabbits started when he was a child, as dinner not keeping! The elderly couple that lived next door to him sometimes shot rabbits to eat and saved him a leg for his tea! His first 2 pets were a pair of chinchillas called Ching and Chang that unfortunately escaped – he always strenuously denied letting them out.
His next foray into rabbit keeping was when he was doing his A Levels. He was living in Chipping Sodbury at the time and bought 2 supposed English does from a local market, these were returned a couple of weeks later as they were both bucks and fought like cat and dog! Next came a Flemish giant the lived for 9 years but it wasn’t until 1966 that his true involvement in the fancy first began. The parents of one of his pupils kept and showed Dutch rabbits and it was with them that he attended his first shows. In 1967 his fate was sealed when, whilst exhibiting at a show, he heard a funny hissing sound. He investigated and found a woman fussing with what he thought was a woolley hat – it was of course Mrs Pratley grooming her show angora. Ray was well and truly hooked and from that moment on Angoras became his passion.
He became secretary of the National Angora Club after the great Joe Holmes retired, stepping down only when he went abroad to teach. On his return to this country he picked up in the angora fancy where he left off. He was a breeder judge, he handspun and was products judge, a council member , Vice Chairman and then Chairman. He always attended stock shows and was a regular visitor at the Ewerby social weekends at Dennis and Sandra’s until ill health overtook him.
This article was written many years ago by Mrs Pratley, a former President of the National Angora Club. For present day Angora keepers, some things have changed. Wool is stored in self seal heavy duty freezer bags rather than newspaper, tins and boxes, and the rabbit is often clipped sitting on the owner’s knee. Plucking is rarely performed nowadays, as to pluck ethically and correctly is extremely time consuming, as it is done over several weeks whilst the rabbit is moulting. Lakeland Mothstop is the product recommended now to protect wool from moths. Waste wool can be composted, or left out for the birds in Spring for nests.
National Angora Club Stock Show held at Coventry 27th May 2018 and judged Neil Robertson. We had a very good entry for our first stock show of the year, quite a few different colours on show too. Congratulations to Richard and Rob , Yvonne Hobbs Fothergill, Michell Campbell, Christine Hamilton, Dawn Caines, Janet Rhodes and Savanannah (our junior) who entered and well done to cope with the grooming which is needed to do these lovely creatures justice.
Our new badges have arrived. Anyone who would like one please contact Sally May through the contacts page and the price per badge £4 plus £1 postage. These are pin badges but sew on ones are also available.
This is a very attractive self coloured rabbit. When Sooty Fawn has been bred to Sooty Fawn for several generations, the genotype is aaBBCCDDeell
Myxomatosis is not native to Britain, but was deliberately introduced from France in 1953 to control the wild rabbit population. It was rapidly fatal and over 99% of wild rabbits died. The virus has mutated and is now less severe, and to some extent wild rabbits have developed resistance.
Domestic rabbits are still very vulnerable, and the best protection is annual vaccination with Nobivac. The myxomatosis virus is spread by biting insects and rabbit fleas, with an incubation period of between 5-14 days. The rabbit develops discharging swollen eyes, causing blindness, swollen ears and genitals and a prolonged illness usually resulting in death. It is still possible for a vaccinated rabbit to get myxomatosis, but is much more likely to survive.
It is most prevalent where wild rabbits are common, but as biting insects can fly many miles, no domestic rabbit can be considered safe. It is strongly recommended that owners vaccinate against myxomatosis and both forms of viral haemorrhagic disease. Nobivac protects against VHD1 as well as myxomatosis, but a separate vaccine is required to protect against RVHD2.
Judges are requested to judge the coloured Angora to the Breed Standard as laid down by the Specialist Club and not to confuse the colours with any other breed standard for short haired varieties.
Points are the same for Whites except that 5 points each are deducted from Quantity and Quality of wool and allocated:
Solid Colour: 10 points
Angoras are unique in the fact that they possess a multi-layered coat. The tips of each new coat are therefore darker than the previous coat which lightens as it gains length.
This produces Banding in all colours. Rabbits should not be excessively penalised for lighter bands of the top colour appearing in the coat, but the more uniform the colour the better. White bands are unacceptable, with the exception of the Golden, which is of yellow origin and therefore has a creamy – white band at the base.