It is always something of a mystery about how much mis-information is circulating around keeping Angora rabbits and showing them. So in an attempt to try to raise awareness and dispel the myths here are a few insights to keeping and showing Angora rabbits in the UK. If you have any questions or queries about keeping or showing Angora rabbits then please do not hesitate to contact the National Angora club either through the contact us form or via our Facebook group for members.
They are now well on their way to becoming very distinctive Angora rabbit looking now, they have developed very fluffy wool coats however not suitable for showing as they are chewing each others coats when they groom one another. They are both potentially female after checking again the smaller one I thought was a buck is a doe, so fortunately names are still being decided.
If you are looking to buy an English Angora rabbit, it is recommended that you talk to existing breeders who belong to the National Angora Club especially if you are looking for show Angora rabbits. Currently some of our members have English Angora rabbits available and one of those is Richard Grindey who has two litters of white English Angora’s that are looking for their new homes. Contact him for more details through Facebook or the National Angora Club.
He also did a live video on English Angoras which you can view here – https://angorabunny.club/2021/05/17/richard-grindey-on-english-angora-rabbits/
The London Championship Show for October 2021 was held this year in Peterborough and thank you to everyone who attended or supported the National Angora Club and entered Angora wool products and Angoras into the show.
Only two adult angoras were shown this year, both whites shown by Christine Hamilton and Adel Wray of Foxwood stud. Adel was the winner of best angora. Congratulations to Adel.
Thank you to Sue Fisher for judging the products this year. Best in show for the wool products was Mary Tomlin with her stunning rise pink cardigan, beautifully made and presented. Congratulations to Mary. Mary had also entered two other luxurious garments, a lovely white scarf/ shawl again beautifully made and presented and a mauve top, another gorgeous item. A full report will be posted once fur and feather have published the results.
Wow have they changed, they are little bundles of fluff now and full of energy and keen to play and run about. They still don’t have names yet and still not 100% on whether they are bucks or does or one of each. The larger potentially is a doe whilst the smaller bunny might be a buck. They have very different characters which develop more each day as does their coat colouring.
They have made it through to week 4 and are both developing really well and are starting to look more like Angora rabbits now, well in some of the photos they look more like Chinchilla’s but as they grow this will change. They have developed fun personalities and have some very distinctive character traits developing like the larger one is more inquisitive and wants to climb and both stand on their back legs to get a better vantage point to look out. While the smaller one tends to like to try to burrow and dig and run in and out of the cardboard box.
Just as an update the Breed standard changed this year for Coloured Angoras with the redefining of the Sooty Fawn colour now being Tortoiseshell (Sooty Fawn)( Black Mask) and Chocolate Tortoiseshell (Chocolate Mask)
The journey of the two baby English Angora rabbits continues as they start to develop further. This is the end of week 3 so 21 days old now and are quite the characters. As they are being hand reared they are very used to being handled and very friendly and social at such a young age in comparison to naturally raised young. Fortunately there were two to hand rear at the same time which has, I believe, helped their development in contrast to when I have only had one to hand rear.
They have both survived the first week of hand rearing and are developing well. One is definitely a better feeder than the other and is noticeably larger but both are putting on weight.
So hopefully hand rearing baby Angora rabbits is rarely needed, but in the eventuality that it is, here is some guidance on how to do it. Recently I had a doe who gave birth to a litter of babies, she started to show signs of failing health prior to the birth and sadly died immediately following the birth of the babies. The two babies were born on the 6th September 2021.