Adding a New Fiber to our Flock!

October 28, 2013

Opalyn:

I have such a great life! By living cooperatively with a wonderful group of people, I have (access to) land, animals, a huge garden, and lots of projects to keep me busy. I can also get away for a couple of days to learn new skills.

At a recent Northwest Regional Spinners Association meeting, we were planning our annual fund raiser which includes a silent auction and a day of fiber fun. At this meeting, Tammy, one of the newest members and an angora rabbit breeder, wondered out loud if she could donate an angora rabbit to the silent auction.

My immediate response was a resounding, "Yes!" So she did and I spent the morning (of the fundraiser)inquiring about the care of this particular angora rabbit.

This German Angora was born in April and goes by the name Sweet Pea. There are several different breeds of Angora Rabbits including French, English, Satin, and Giant which are recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association. The German Angora breed has its own association, the International Association of German Angora Rabbit Breeders.

Tammy of Fuzzy Vaughns Farm shared her knowledge freely and I learned so much during that morning. The more I learned, the more I realized that a German Angora would be my preferred breed to include in our fiber flock. The clincher: German Angoras need to be sheared like our sheep instead of getting plucked while they are shedding.

Sweet Pea is six month old and ready for her second shearing, so Tammy and I made plans to spend the afternoon together and shear my new rabbit. When shearing our sheep, I've learned that starting with the difficult parts is best because the animal tends to be calmest and not yet tired or "antsy" and the shearer is fresh as well.

Tammy quickly showed me how to hold Sweet Pea and I flipped her over and got her settled before starting the shearing. With a pair of Gingher 5" craft shears in hand, Tammy walked me through the procedure. When shearing, you fold the fur over then slid the tip of the shears under a layer of fluff. One the tip is exposed, you then rotate the cutting edge away from the skin and cut the fllece.

The table was a great height and Sweet Pea's head rested inthe crook of the elbow while I continued trimming her belly.

Sweet Pea was amazingly calm and content to let me shear her and hold her in what must have been new and possibly uncomfortable ways. She also let me know when she needed a break. Struggling to get up and nipping are two signs that a break is needed so when that happened, I put her in her cage and took a break myself.

We continued shearing the belly region avoiding her teats and other sensitive parts. Next it is time to clip the neck. Older rabbits have a fold of skin under the chin so Tammy took over and showed me how to clip this area.

The importance of seeing the tip of the shears before you cut, as well as rotating the shears like in the photo above, are the two main strategies to avoid drawing blood.

Sweet Pea was quite calm so I set her on the table and start shearing her back.

The work progressed steadily and Tammy and I got to talk about the varying value of the fleece. The "blanket" is the fleece across the back and is usually the longest and the most valuable. Most of the value comes from the length of the fiber and anything over 3" is good quality and "prime". Then you have fiber that is between 2" and 3" - seconds. And fiber that is 1" to 2" in length and that is usually used for felting, decoration or stuffing/batting.

We are NEARLY finished with just the last section of neck to shear and after a break that goes smoothly.

To replace the insulating wool that we'd just removed, we took an old fleece jacket and cut the sleeve off at an angle so it would cover about 1/2 of her belly and all the way to her tail on the top. Then we cut two long slits for her front legs.

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