The Gentle Art of Plucking an Angora Rabbit
by Pegg Thomas

Plucking results in the most desirable angora fiber for handspinners.  Sheared angora has its place in the spinner’s menu also, but prime plucked is just that, prime.  Plucked angora needs no other preparation to spin.  It will flow into a beautiful yarn almost by itself.

There are two common mistakes made by beginning pluckers.  

1)    Too Timid – this beginner is usually afraid of hurting the rabbit.  Plucking requires a certain amount of time in which the rabbit much be held still.  Rabbits, particularly young rabbits, are not overly fond of being held still.  Therefore, many have been known to struggle and even squeal on occasion.  The too timid plucker will then over react by not completing the job.  A couple of weeks later the ‘sort of’ plucked rabbit is a matted mess.   Of course, the problem is now worse, not only has the fiber been lost but the rabbit must be held still even longer to have all the mats and mess cleaned off its body.  The good news for the too timid plucker is that rabbits do seem to settle down and even enjoy plucking as they get older.

2)    Over Zealous – this beginner doesn’t want to miss a fiber to be had off the rabbit.  The problem arises when the rabbit isn’t ready to give it all up.  Don’t ever force fibers off your rabbit, if it doesn’t easily pull, and it isn’t matted, webbed or felted, then it just isn’t ready to come off.  While most rabbits have a 12 – 14 week wool growth cycle, every animal is an individual.

When to Pluck
Before you can pluck a rabbit, it has to be ready.  Rabbits always give several signs when they are ready.  There will often be ‘trailers’ of wool following the rabbit around the cage for a week or so before it is ready to pluck.   There may also be tufts of wool loose inside the cage.  The wool over the shoulders will usually start to molt (shed) out and maybe the hair on the face.  Most important, on a colored animal, when you blow into the coat you can see the new coat growth ¾” to 1” from the skin.  The new growth is easy to spot on the colored animals due to the intense color of the guard hair tips.  The new guard hairs may show up on a white animal by their shine.  If you’ve waited too long before plucking, the coat will look dull, lifeless and probably be full of mats!  Always pluck the coat when it still looks shiny and healthy, a dead coat makes a dead yarn and wastes your time and energy.front

How to Pluck
As mentioned earlier, plucking takes some time so make sure you have a comfortable place to work.  Sitting or standing is your choice.  I prefer to stand and have my grooming table four feet high.  This allows me to groom and pluck without bending over.  If I’m more comfortable I’m happier and I’m less likely to get grumpy so the rabbit is better off too.  Also, make sure you have all your grooming tools and wool containers within easy reach but not in a position to be knocked over by the rabbit.  

There is no “tried and true never-can-fail” way to pluck a rabbit.  I like to blow the coat out before plucking to separate the hairs and clear out the extra dust and dander.  I start by plucking a strip right down the backbone.  This allows me to see a clear reference from either side where the new growth is.  Other people like to start with the rump or sides where plucking is sometimes easier.  Try everything once and find what works for you.

These photos show a rabbit that is half plucked. Notice that the rabbit has no bald areas. There is a nice undercoat that is grown out to about 1 1/2" and will keep this rabbit plenty warm even in the winter months. No rabbit in good health should pluck bald. Baldness can be caused by poor health, overzealous plucking or excessive matting (which causes the undercoat to be pulled away with the mats).


back Always pluck the hairs by pulling in the direction that the hair naturally grows.  Grasp the tips of the wool between your finger and thumb and slide that lock right out of the coat.  It really is that easy!  Be careful not to reach down deep into the coat or you may strip off the new growth underneath as well.  I can usually strip out 5 or 6 locks before I need to empty my hand into the wool container.  This just takes practice.  Be sure while you are stripping out the locks that you keep them all nice and straight, don’t wad them up in your hand.  Don’t try to take too much with each pull, small locks slip out easier.

Rabbits shed all their wool so you need to take it all off.  I find it easy to sort while plucking instead of sorting later.  Three containers make shorting handy; one for prime, one for shorter fibers from bib, belly and britch area, and one for mats, webbed and felted locks.  Dirty areas get thrown away.

Some wool grows on areas harder to reach than others.  For instance, wool growing on the bib is very hard to remove unless you change the position of the rabbit.  I like to turn the rabbit over using the conventional hold of “neck scruff with ears” while plucking the bib.  Your hand is quite close to some very sharp teeth while plucking here and I can’t see taking needless chances.  While I have the rabbit turned over, I also do the belly and lower sides.  Make sure the rabbit’s powerful back legs are not aimed at you.  Kicks can hurt!

Reaching the wool that grows on the hind legs and around the tail is easier if the rabbit is setting on the grooming table.  Now slide your arm under the rabbit’s body, place your hand between and under the hind legs and lift.  The tail will usually drop down, out of your way, to make plucking around it easier and the back legs are now extended so you can see and reach the wool back there.

Expect to spend about 45 minutes on each rabbit as you start out.  With practice you should be able to finish a rabbit that is ready to pluck and not matted in about 20 minutes.  Young rabbits take longer as they are often flighty and nervous, also the baby wool can be harder to pluck due to its very soft texture being harder to get a grip on.  Don’t give up, remember, with plucking you can; 1) completely strip the animal 2) sort your fibers and 3) produce a useable end product in 45 minutes or less.  Compare that to shearing which goes faster but leaves you with the tasks of sorting and carding which take more time later.  Good plucking!

All articles are copyright protected and may not be copied for any use without the author's written permission.

Home Page
Cross Stitch Page
Knitting Patterns Page
The Sheep
The Article Library