# Rabbit fur for spinning? Help...



## shanzone2001 (Dec 3, 2009)

My 9 year old daughter is taking spinning lessons and we would like to spin some rabbit fur. A few questions....
What type of rabbit should we look for? 
How much do rabbits cost (average)? 
How many do we need if we plan to spin a few hats? 
How do you get the fur off the rabbit and how old are they when you do?
Thanks!!!
Shannon:bow:


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## budwpm (Jun 28, 2009)

Angora rabbits are the breed of rabbit you would want. If you search google for "angora rabbit" it should lead you to the answer of all your questions.


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## shanzone2001 (Dec 3, 2009)

Thank you!!!


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## katduck (Jul 10, 2008)

There are different types of Angoras. French are lower maintenance and good for beginners. I paid $75 for mine, but it depends on the supply and demand in your area. I had to go to Portland to get mine. You clip or shear the wool every 3 months or so. Here are some websites that I had bookmarked.

http://www.angorarabbit.com/angora/angora-rabbit-manual/index.htm
http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/angora.shtml
http://filangora-production.com/fr/video.php
http://fiber-fling.com/keep.html
http://www.spangangoras.com/
http://www.unitedangorarabbitclub.org/clubinfo.html

Kat


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## shanzone2001 (Dec 3, 2009)

Fabulous info!!!! Thanks to you, too!


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## Somerhill (Dec 13, 2005)

Please consider joining United Angora Rabbit Club. We have waived the membership fee for 2010, so fill out the application and email(or mail it) today! The club has about 100 members, and we are a friendly group. The club's yahoo group is very active, and lots of topics are covered. The board is really trying to focus on the fiber interest in angoras, and less on the show aspect. 
Hope you'll join us!
http://www.unitedangorarabbitclub.org/clubinfo.html
Lisa (club treasurer)


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Also jersey woolies, btw. They're a smaller rabbit, calmer, more likely to be happy in a pet home. Also easier to groom.

Be aware that rabbits are not something to just buy and get wool from. They need daily care, grooming, cleaning the litterbox, etc. 

You need to know what to feed them and what NOT to feed them. 

First shear or pluck is usually around 4months of age. You'll need quite a bit for a pure angora hat. Many people add angora to wool to make it stretch further.


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## Kyah (Oct 29, 2007)

Oh my, an angora fur hat. Would that ever be nice and warm. 

I'm of no help on spinning, although it's always been something I've found very interesting. This is something very unique I had in my book marks. This lady had makes a yarn from fur. I'd sure like to know how she does it. 

http://www.furyarn.com/main/content.php?page=0 

Kyah


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

Kyah said:


> Oh my, an angora fur hat. Would that ever be nice and warm.
> 
> This lady had makes a yarn from fur. I'd sure like to know how she does it.
> 
> ...


The website says:

"Paula Lishman's exclusive, patented yarn is made from genuine fur pelts -- sheared beaver,fox , mink, and muskrat. The pelts are hand cut into a narrow, 1/8 " (2.5 mm) wide strip. 

This strip is re-enforced with colour-matched cotton and twisted, so the leather is on the inside covering the cotton, with the fur radiating outwards from the centre. "

Have a good day!
Franco Rios


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## Cheribelle (Jul 23, 2007)

Now that is a VERY interesting link!


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## UUmom2many (Apr 21, 2009)

We're getting angoras this weekend. A REW full english angora and a french/english mix. Both bucks as I understand the wool is better. This is an experimental thing to see if it's somethign we'd want to continue on our homestead as a true marketing potential. Initially, the first 2 will be used for personal yarn spinning, again a learning curve. 

Check out dowel or drop spinners, I just got the materials to make my own the other day and ordered a bit of Angora off Etsy to try since my boys won't be ready to pluck/shear for a bit bc of the cold. 

I've been reading like crazy and my head is a little awash with information overload so if that doesn't make sense i [email protected]!

ETA the REW is priced at $60 and has an almost complete pedigree (missing 1 set GP's), the F/E mix is not and is $25

Eventually we'd want to have enough rabbits to supply us with a steady stream of fur to sell either just washed/unspun for other artists or mix with some other animal wool like sheep or alpaca or angora goat (which gives mohair)


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## Bricore (Sep 8, 2007)

We raise English Anogras and spin their wool. It's addictive! 

Back in Ohio we sold the rabbits for $25 on up.

We now live in Alabama so I only breed for what I need (we have not had any problems with heat but I have them in an open barn, under trees, I use frozen water bottles, and I make sure their wool is kept short as I can during the hot times.)

The # of rabbits needed to make a hat all depends on if you are going to blend your wool with something else or not. I blend a little because Angora wool doesn't have memory to it.

I have been working on an afghan now for just over 3 years with 4 rabbits. I hand pluck (They need it about every 3 months. I have to cut them down once a year because of the heat here), spin it on a spindle, and than finger knit it. I "THINK" I have about 2-3 more years to go before it'll be finished (unless I increase the number of rabbits I have.)

If, you go to my blog (at the bottom) I have a slide show of some of the things I have loom knitted. There is a hat I made for my mother that is made from our rabbits.
http://bricoreandfamily.blogspot.com/


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## Bricore (Sep 8, 2007)

This hat took me about 6 months or so to make (this is the one I made for my mom)









This hat took me only like 3 months. I blended more with this one.









Here is a link to some of our other Angoras:

http://bricoreandfamily.blogspot.com/search?q=angoras


I am sure you'll love having Angoras. Just be aware that they are a LOT of work (you have to watch for wool block, careful with heat, and keep their wool cared for.)

Best of luck to you!


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

It's best to mix Angora with something that has crimp. A sweater I made from angora mixed with Alpaca is nice , but wet the thing weighted about 25 lbs and was hard to get dry and reshaped. Mittens are nice and sell like crazy. Made a pair of Booties just for my Mom,for after her back surgery, to keep her feet warm. I've sold my Bunnies at fiber festivals for $25 without papers. Angoras are very sweet.


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

Bricore, that is beautiful!!

Shanzone2001, if you're anywhere near northCentral Ark, we had an interesting developement in our rabbit barn. A few years ago, an angora was crossed with the lops to try and improve the lops as a meat breed, as the first cross won't have long fur and angoras are a _great_ meat breed.

Suddenly, generations later, we got TWO lovely little plushy, angora furred mini lop does from 2 different litters! A cute black (Lassie) and a pretty, silvery dove gray (Tribble). Tribble needs combed all the time and has been plucked once as she has a tendency to mat (so I assume her wool would felt beautifully, have a baggie of it already) while Lassie never really knots up at all.

As soon as I get some pictures I was going to advertise them on the fiber arts forum. They are for sale ONLY to a fiber or breeding home, as Tribble really needs someone knowledgable about fiber and we'd like to see them used productively. Otherwise, I'll just keep them, lol.
If you're near, you're welcome to come see them. Tribble should weigh about 7 to 8 pounds full grown and Lassie's parents were a little smaller, about 6 pounds.


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## brody (Feb 19, 2009)

OTTER - you TEMPTRESS you 

good thing there are a lot of miles between us  

(and man I hope this goes through - I can't pick up pm's, can't stay logged in and can only rarely post)


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

LOL, yes, I'm a critter enabler BIG TIME.

And have you ever seen a wooly lop? They are _seriously_ cute! AND we even have the rest of Lassie's littermates. None wooly, but they are _very_ plush, black, broken black and broken tort.

I bet we could figure out a way to get them to Canada _<Otter plots....>_


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## Devoville (Mar 23, 2009)

The American Fuzzy Lop is an ARBA Breed. They are seriously cute. Here is the website of the club....http://users.connections.net/fuzzylop/


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## Bricore (Sep 8, 2007)

Thank-you.

I sure hope you post pictures of your lop/angora's. I bet those would be VERY cute!! 





Otter said:


> Bricore, that is beautiful!!
> 
> Shanzone2001, if you're anywhere near northCentral Ark, we had an interesting developement in our rabbit barn. A few years ago, an angora was crossed with the lops to try and improve the lops as a meat breed, as the first cross won't have long fur and angoras are a _great_ meat breed.
> 
> ...


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