A Merry Shearing
Topic: shearings

Meet Merry. She hails from Janet Gruber and traveled here last fall to join the herd. Merry is a silver marten pattern colored angora, which is pretty much of an unknown in the angora world. Her background includes some hefty fiber producing lines from Wiley, Samson, I See Spots and Greenberry. Since I am working on better black color, I will try her genetics mixed in with my herd to see if they will help.

Her only downfall, and it really isn't one, is that she does shed, which means I have to watch her more for wool block. I have two barns full of German crossed angoras who don't shed at all, not even one hair, between clippings, so this is a new slant.

But, I'll accept this!

She is a delight! Her health is outstanding. I am liking her more and more as time passes. In this picture she is 11 months old and this is her first clip here. She yielded 6.9 ounces of fiber with 1 ounce of waste, and weighs in at 9# 11oz.

She, however, had no idea what rabbits are expected to "endure" here:

Shearing Week
Topic: shearings

Liebchen is so ready for a haircut.

In spite of cold temperatures, angora coats must come off here when they get over 4". Believe it or not, a well groomed 1" coat, free of matts and tangles is probably warmer than a 5" mass of heavy fiber on a rabbit. As long as angoras are out of wind and draft, they can keep very warm with a good air space around them even in single digit temps.

I plan for a week of shearing when temps stay in the 20's at night, and above freezing during the day. And I make sure that I can put the rabbits in some sun right after their coats come off. Also, for the next 5 days, I like to put a shirt on them at night, as well as half a bale of hay in their cage so they can burrow under it if they want.

So, today I will start. I have 13 to shear, and if I pace myself doing 3 a day, taking off a day or two for teaching, I'll be done by next weekend. The cleanup takes hours and since this is such a messy business, I'll get out a set of angora work clothes to wear every day until I am done.

Shearing scissors
Topic: shearings

One of the main questions I get from new angora rabbit owners is what kind of scissors or shears to use when harvesting wool from their bunny. I have been to a few workshops where all sorts of equipment was used and saw some of what others have come up with. The bottom line is, use whatever is comfortable for you to hold, and keeps a good sharp edge that you can replace when you need to. Electric shears are fabulously efficient if you get the right blades for them; if the motor stays cool enough so you can hold them for awhile and if you get your rabbits used to the sound. Not everyone can afford the hundreds of dollars for the good ones, though.

With my little herd of under 20 adults, for me the 5" scissor with short tips has come to be my staple piece of equipment. I have $45 Fiskars in that length and they work great, but I also have $9 embroidery scissors that work equally as well. The benefit of the $9 scissors is that I can replace them every year and feel very good about it, relegating the old (I write the date I started using them in permanent marker on the handles) ones to general household use.

These scissors I use are extremely easy to handle. The short ends keep the area about to be cut very small, with the likelihood one will snip skin by mistake almost nonexistent. I keep them in stock at Countrywool.

More shearing pictures
Topic: shearings

Kirk stopped by yesterday just in time to be helpful with the camera. Here I am clipping Betina, who's sister went home with Rebecca on Sunday. Notice how close one can clip to get maximum fiber length in one snip.

And I mentioned how I proceed to clip in rows across the rabbit, from tail to head. When this gets working right, one hand holds the fiber already clipped away just a bit from the skin, so the next cut is clean with no short pieces. And the already clipped fiber will fan out, just as it does when shearing sheep. If you consider the use of your forearm as a retaining wall, the fiber stays altogether until you take your arm away.

This is Lucas holding still while I used both hands to snap this picture. Bless him, although from just his/my breathing, this is a bit fuzzy. You can see the fleece rolling away from the skin, and it cooperated by staying put for you to see.

How to hold a rabbit for shearing
Topic: shearings

GG and Anke came over for a lesson on how to work together to take off an angora's coat with kindness and care. They both did FABULOUSLY! In less than an hour and a half, Anke was trimmed and happy.

The key to stress free clipping is a relaxed rabbit, which means a relaxed handler. And here are a few pointers I'll pass along:

1. If you have the ears, you have the rabbit. Dr. White, who has been a rabbit judge since I was a child, has always impressed this upon his 4-H kids at shows, and he is right. So, if things get wiggly, go for the ear clamp. You can position a rabbit so his/her ears are always under them when you need to flip bunny over for a belly trim. This keeps their head stationary and they cannot wiggle much, making working with scissors much safer.

2. If you get the weight off their feet and onto their belly/sides/back, they will give up and relax quicker. Anytime bunny startles and gets back into a sitting position, start all over again coaxing them to drop their feet off your lap. GG got real good at this as the clipping progressed, and you see her holding a fully relaxed Anke above.

3. Pick a line from tail to head, and scissor a narrow path to begin from, then rotate the rabbit as you shear off a parallel line of fiber away from you. This allows you to see the skin and cut just above it (more pictures to follow when I get a bunny to hold still long enough).

4. If you line the floor with plastic, you can let the fiber fall as you clip and sort it later. This allows you to fully focus on neat and careful clipping.

5. After you clip bunny, trim toenails, check teeth and treat for fur mites with the medication of your choice. Feed ONLY HAY for 24 hours to allow loose fiber to be groomed off and safely disposed of in bunny's intestines. As soon as you see droppings of a good and generous size under the cage, you can start back with regular feeding.

More pictures coming tomorrow if the three I clip today will cooperate :)

Empty Barn!
Topic: shearings
Back from Rhinebeck and 3 rabbits lighter, the barns look so empty. Miss Merry Martin, who I picked up from Jan at the fair, will be in quarantine for a month, and so even her spot is vacant.

But, I am down to 12 rabbits at this point, and need to let 2 more go to make my winter chores easier to contend with, so I adjust to the new reality.

Sonya traveled home with new angora owner Rebecca; Groot went to Angela's and the beloved Angus to Jen's.I wish them all well. What a GREAT feeling knowing where they are and that I can stay connected to the folks who will care for them.

So, I swept barns yesterday. Today, GG is coming over for a shearing lesson with Anke, so I'll make some inroads on the last 6 left to shear. Beautiful weather here for a change and it'll be nice to be outside all day. I am hoping to take some shearing pictures for the blog tomorrow if the bunnies will cooperate, so check back.

Shearing Reports as we wait for Breeding Day
Topic: shearings


I spent this morning shearing rabbits. The does are due to be bred tomorrow and Wednesday, so I am spacing the shearings accordingly.

Sidney was a lamb to shear, and although her coat is not spectacular, her conformation, attitude, chocolate color and health are. So, she is due to rendezvous with Neo. Her clipping was 4 oz prime 3-4" angora and 2 oz waste. I expect tortoiseshell (if I am lucky), white, chocolate and black bunnies.

Grindle exceeded my wildest hopes and expectations. She had a prime coat of 10 oz and waste of 3.5 oz. My goal is a pound...eventually. This kind of report gives me hope, as I head in the right direction making breeding choices and moving some rabbits out when they don't meet the standard. She, too, will have a date with Neo. I expect the same colors in that litter.

Last spring and summer I was plagued by weepy eyes in the barn, and lost half of my breeding stock as I moved them to other homes when I couldn't clear up what was going on. Many of the rabbits are fine now...but they aren't here. A new buck arrived here 18 months ago and that was when all the trouble started. He left pretty quickly, but the eye thing had spread to the other rabbits. I still don't know what was going on.

At any rate, the herd I have now is in tip top shape and my breeding stock is all without a flaw. There have been years when I had only one doe to work with who met my standards, or one buck. I now have 3 bucks and 4 does.

I am very grateful.

By the way...Vanessa has a new home.