French Angora Rabbits - Twin Willows Farm

If you’ve had the privilege to handle, much less spin, some prime plucked French Angora fiber, you know you’ve held a piece of heaven in your hands. The silkiness, the color, the softness, it all comes together to make something very special. It makes many spinners feel the need to rush out and buy one for themselves. But before buying a rabbit, there are some things you should know and consider about the breed.

French Angora rabbits are a larger breed, weighing between 7 ˝ and 10 ˝ pounds as adults. They require a cage at least 24” by 30” to live in. As with all angora breeds, a wire bottom cage is best as it keeps the rabbit and wool free from droppings and urine. While they do just fine in a barn or garage, they do need to be kept out of direct drafts in winter and direct sunlight in summer. Angora rabbits will suffer more from over heating than from cold weather. Their special coats keep them very warm in the winter months.

French Angoras produce two types of fiber, a very soft and crimpy undercoat and the smooth, silky guard hairs that grow slightly longer. Because of the abundance of these guard hairs, the French Angora produces a more vibrant natural colored coat. In the white French, the guard hairs provide a shine and glimmer to the coat. The guard hairs also help keep the softer undercoat from matting, making the French rabbits easier to groom than the other angora breeds.

Like all breeds of angora rabbits, French need to be groomed. Good quality French with proper coat characteristics are the easiest of all the angora breeds to care for. They still need a good brushing or blowing (using a commercial pet blower) at least once a week as the coat grows out. And since they are kept on wire floored cages, they also need regular toenails trimmings.

French Angoras are a shedding rabbit. Shedding is a natural process that should happen 3 or 4 times a year. When the coat starts to shed you can grab the end of the fibers between your thumb and fingers and just slip it away from the new coat growing underneath. There should be at least ž” of new growth under what you’re removing. This process is called “plucking” and does not hurt the animal. Young animals, not used to being held still or plucked, should be done over several days to prevent stressing the animal. Older rabbits will generally sit quietly for an entire plucking.

Clipping the fibers can be done with either hand scissors or electric clippers using a skip tooth blade. There are three drawbacks to clipping. One, you’ll be cutting off the color tips of the new growth underneath, which leaves the fibers full of little nubs we call “second cuts.” Two, cutting leaves a blunt, slippery end that often works back up out of the yarn, usually in uneven tufts. And three, unless you’re very, very good at this, nicks and cuts to the rabbit are common. But clipping is certainly faster than plucking.

French Angoras can live a long time with good care and nutrition. Rabbits that are kept for fiber production and not bred to raise litters will live longer than actively breeding rabbits. The life span of a breeding French is around 6 years. Non-breeding French may live as long as 10 years.

Twin Willows Farm - French Angora Rabbits