The Angora Club Products Competition is open to all members. It is not necessary to keep an Angora rabbit to enter  yarn, a felted product, garment or accessory, as Angora wool can be obtained from the Club or from another member. Products hand-made from the wool from English, French, German or Satin Angoras and from Angoras of unstandardised colours can be entered. The competitions take place at the Bradford show at Doncaster in January, and the London show at Peterborough in October. Entries can be sent by post.

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Handling

Regular handling results in a friendly rabbit that does not get distressed by grooming, wool clipping or toenail clipping. When you go to pick them up, use both hands and securely hold the young angora rabbit so it feels safe and secure in your hold. 

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Housing

Angoras need a hutch 5ft x 2ft by 2ft high. Because of the Angora’s fine coat a hutch with separate sleeping compartment is not recommended as the restriction of the entrance to the compartment ‘shaves’ the sides of the coat off. They are quite hardy and may be housed outside, however, if this is to be the case it will be necessary to cover part of the front of the hutch to provide shelter for the rabbit during inclement weather. I also feel it is better, during the winter months especially, to have something that drops down to cover the entire front of the hutch in extreme weather conditions ie heavy rain, snow etc. as Angora wool and water do not mix! If hutches are in the garden then make sure they are fox proof, as many foxes will roam gardens even in towns at night.

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The coat is long and gets so dirty
When it gets matted it doesn’t deter me
The ears well pulled, the nose all furry
The feet go yellow, the bum does too!
No, it still won’t make me feel blue
Tips get chewed, the rabbit goes in moult
Just can’t and still won’t call a halt
To this hobby called Angora keeping
If this were a tape, there would be lot’s of bleeping!
When thwarted of these plans I’ve laid
I think of all the friends I’ve made
I try not to think of all the weeping and wailing
‘Cause I won’t change to breeds where it’s all plain sailing!

By Sue Fisher, NAC yearbook

The angora, because of it’s coat requires a little more thought as regards it’s housing. Hutches should be acquired or constructed before the rabbit arrives. It should have a well-constructed wooden hutch, ideally measuring 3’ x 2’ x 1.8’ and with no rough surfaces.

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Rabbit Ralph – The Pet Angora, with more character than fluf

Ralph was bred at The Bourne Stud Angoras in January 2016 and moved in with myself, Nikita Harrison in May 2016.  Living outdoors, Ralph spends lots of his time freely exploring the gardens. Fortunate to have a garden backed onto 2,600 acres of woodland, Ralph’s adventures are often joined by many different wildlife species, from robins to deer’s. In addition to his wild friends, Ralph also spends time snoozing and exploring with the families two pet cats.

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Portrait of Mrs B A Pratley by her daughter Gill Watkinson

Mum was a devoted angora-ite, determined to keep them true Brits with no foreign bits added. Her love affair with these bunnies started at the age of 13 and continued right up until her death.

I have been told that I attended my first show athe age of three weeks and slept in a rabbit box throughout. I didn’t get Best In Show though! My teddy bear was given BIS a couple of years later by Mr Powell. He received both rosettes and cards!

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Fly strike is a horrible condition in which flies lay their eggs on soiled areas around the rabbit’s anus and tail. Maggots quickly hatch out and burrow their way into the skin, and if not spotted quickly, into the rabbit’s internal organs. In early stages there may be no external signs, but later the rabbit may become hunched and listless. Overweight and elderly rabbits, who cannot clean themselves easily and rabbits who have episodes of diarrhoea are most at risk. The thick fur of the Angora poses an additional risk. Prevention is the best option. Keep your rabbit hutch clean, clip around the tail and hind legs of your wool rabbit to keep the wool short in that area, and inspect bottoms regularly, particularly in hot weather. Be vigilant. If the worst should happen, bathe the affected area and pick off the maggots with tweezers. Clip down the fur surrounding the area and in all but the most minor cases, get the rabbit straight to the vet’s. Sadly euthanasia may be necessary in severe cases. To help avoid fly strike use fly papers or fly traps in your rabbit shed or rabbit enclosure.

 

Mrs Chris Hamilton General Secretary for the National Angora Club and to introduce her, here is a short profile about how it all began with angoras. I started keeping rabbits while in junior school but met my first angora at a garden centre pet shop and became his owner in 1986. That was not a safe start for any angora to be sold at a pet shop to a person with no experience, who was not given any advice on how to care for his coat. Thank goodness I knew about rabbit care and so just needed the grooming and clipping lessons.

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Angora (and other) rabbits living together by Anne Gibson

As I am not interested in breeding, I have all my rabbits neutered. The groups consist of one group of three Angora rabbits, a pair of rescue rabbits and a single rescue rabbit who is partially sighted. Most of my rabbits were neutered while young, except for two who were four at the time, and I have had no problems at all with the process. Rabbit anaesthesia is now much improved and the younger rabbits have been active (often too active) within a day of the operation. My vet does not suture but the wounds heal with no problems because they close up naturally. It is my belief that because there are no stitches reminding the rabbit it has a wound, the bunny forgets it is there and ignores it. So no neck collars or “the cone of shame” have ever been needed to stop the inquisitive teeth.

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