Rabbits

[Gardening with Rabbits]

That is really interesting about the yarn. It sounds like a full time rabbit business. I have seen a woman at our Farmer's Market spinning I think alpaca wool and selling scarves and blankets and other things. I have watched videos about using rabbit pellets for worm food and having worm compost for the garden. My 2 rabbits are side by side in the hutch and the hutch is big for them because they are not the big Flemish Giants. I am not going to put them in the pen. Bobm is right about the diva females. The oldest one was an amazing rabbit and ruled everything. When their owner left them and the new renters came with dogs, they turned the dogs in the pen and most of the rabbits went down in the tunnel they had, but she was out in the yard. She saw the dogs and they chased her and she made a big wide circle and ran towards the fence and jumped through the wire and that is when we decided to build the hutch. They caught the dogs and the other rabbits gout out of the pen and into my garden.

 

[AMKuska]

I'm interested in getting an angora rabbit. Exactly how much is the wool worth? Is vacation a trip to Tahiti or a trip to a log cabin nearby?

I used to be a dog groomer, and I'd absolutely love to have something long haired to brush out. I just haven't gotten one out of fear my dogs would startle it and give it a heart attack or something.

 

[Niele da Kine]

The angora wool has a certain value, but it is only about $5-6 per ounce which is profitable, but there's a lot more money in selling yarn or finished items. Ten ounces of angora fiber is about $50. Or that same ten ounces of fiber can be made into yarn. It's usually mixed with very fine sheep's wool so it can be commercially spun, I have the mill I use mix in some silk for shine along with the Merino. It's 40% angora, 40% Merino, 20% sillk. So the ten ounces of angora fiber then becomes twenty five ounces of yarn. That sells for about $15 per ounce although there's costs involved in having it spun into yarn but it at least doubles the amount from raw fiber. To increase the profits, it can be knit, crocheted or woven into a scarf, shawl or hat. Then the same ten ounces of fiber can sell for hundreds, but more work is involved.

Angoras don't really startle that much. They have long wool that covers their eyes, at least the English angoras do. So, half the time they don't even see the dogs. They don't really get brushed, either, since brushes can't get into the coat since it's too fine and too dense. A long toothed steel comb works pretty well. As fiber animal, they get sheared down to near naked about three times a year so for a lot of the time there's not much there to groom anyway.

The females here are all in a communal space and they don't fight hardly at all. Occasionally one will be a bit of a diva, but generally she's outnumbered and then pretty soon gets along with everybunny else. Usually when changing members of a group, I'll put the whole group along with the new members into a different space so they're all in a new space. That seems to keep fights to a minimum since they're all in a new territory and have a hard time being territorial.

Bobm, how do you castrate the bucks? Isn't that a trip to the vet? They don't have descended testes until they're about four and a half to five months old if not longer and even after they descend, they're in an odd shaped sac that looks like it would need stitches to close after anything was removed? At five to six weeks old, they're just over being weaned, but perhaps it was a typo about being that young to be castrated.

The bucks usually have their own space in the buck hutch, although for some reason they seem to find some way to visit with Phineas Phogge. He's a lilac buck who generally gets other bucks visiting him occasionally, I have no idea why. They'll all be snuggled up together, happy as clams. (Are clams actually happy? I've never seen them smile) It's been several different bucks who have squirmed between the wire separation between the buck spaces to hang with Phin. He doesn't seem to mind and they all seem pretty happy together. Which I think is odd, but as long as they don't fight, they can do what they want.

 

[ducks4you]

Rabbits make good pets. I need functional pets. Last 2 rabbits were dumped on me, DD's took a short shine to them, and I ended up taking care of them. One was very old and died soon. The other died a slow death, bc paralyzed in her back legs. I should have simply broken her neck.
Like somebody Else has said here, "When you have livestock, you have deadstock."
Sorry for your losses, but I understand how you can become attached.
AWESOME manure, though!!!

 

[ducks4you]

Big wow about rabbit behavior.
Love the 'Bunny berries.'
My 7 cats all get along, with a minimum of spats.
Tomkins, who fathered 5 of them before being snipped, cleans them whenever they are near, AND cleans his "lady friend" Inky, who had 4 of his kittens--DD has one, her 2 friends still have 2 of them, and one of those kittens has his own outside carrying case for cat walks.
Tomkins is NOW seeking stray female cats who come "Pre Loaded," in his perpetual search for more "fur worms."

 

[bobm]

The angora wool has a certain value, but it is only about $5-6 per ounce which is profitable, but there's a lot more money in selling yarn or finished items. Ten ounces of angora fiber is about $50. Or that same ten ounces of fiber can be made into yarn. It's usually mixed with very fine sheep's wool so it can be commercially spun, I have the mill I use mix in some silk for shine along with the Merino. It's 40% angora, 40% Merino, 20% sillk. So the ten ounces of angora fiber then becomes twenty five ounces of yarn. That sells for about $15 per ounce although there's costs involved in having it spun into yarn but it at least doubles the amount from raw fiber. To increase the profits, it can be knit, crocheted or woven into a scarf, shawl or hat. Then the same ten ounces of fiber can sell for hundreds, but more work is involved.

Angoras don't really startle that much. They have long wool that covers their eyes, at least the English angoras do. So, half the time they don't even see the dogs. They don't really get brushed, either, since brushes can't get into the coat since it's too fine and too dense. A long toothed steel comb works pretty well. As fiber animal, they get sheared down to near naked about three times a year so for a lot of the time there's not much there to groom anyway.

The females here are all in a communal space and they don't fight hardly at all. Occasionally one will be a bit of a diva, but generally she's outnumbered and then pretty soon gets along with everybunny else. Usually when changing members of a group, I'll put the whole group along with the new members into a different space so they're all in a new space. That seems to keep fights to a minimum since they're all in a new territory and have a hard time being territorial.

Bobm, how do you castrate the bucks? Isn't that a trip to the vet? They don't have descended testes until they're about four and a half to five months old if not longer and even after they descend, they're in an odd shaped sac that looks like it would need stitches to close after anything was removed? At five to six weeks old, they're just over being weaned, but perhaps it was a typo about being that young to be castrated.

The bucks usually have their own space in the buck hutch, although for some reason they seem to find some way to visit with Phineas Phogge. He's a lilac buck who generally gets other bucks visiting him occasionally, I have no idea why. They'll all be snuggled up together, happy as clams. (Are clams actually happy? I've never seen them smile) It's been several different bucks who have squirmed between the wire separation between the buck spaces to hang with Phin. He doesn't seem to mind and they all seem pretty happy together. Which I think is odd, but as long as they don't fight, they can do what they want.

When you are dealing with hundreds of rabbits at a time, having a Vet. castrate the males would put a HUGE dent in the research budget. So, I did the deed myself. Once you know how to do it you can do dozens in short order at a younger age. And no, you do not suture the scrotum as you need it open for drainage.