Angora rabbits can be both a fun and rewarding pet, or the gateway animal towards a small homestead and self-sufficiency. There’s nothing like the novelty of raising a “fiber animal” from the comfort of your own apartment. If you’re already thinking about raising rabbits, here’s 5 reasons to consider raising an Angora.
1 – Fluffiness
Ok, lets start with the obvious reason. Fluffy things are undeniably cute. Angoras are by purpose remarkably soft because they were bred for that simple purpose. As a fiber breed, the quality and softness of their coat is paramount. While you’re cat or dog may also be fluffy, angora fluff is both valuable and useful. There’s also something to be said for an animal whose sole purpose in life is to produce fluff.
2 – Docile Nature
Don’t get me wrong, Angora rabbits are a lot of work. They do need daily grooming and affection to keep them in top condition and feeling appreciated. It took many generations of breeding to make a rabbit docile enough to both appreciate and tolerate this much handling. If you’re looking for a lap rabbit, look no further. While many other rabbit breeds were developed for meat rather than temperament, angoras were breed specifically to enjoy petting and grooming.
3 – Low Food Consumption
Though they may not seem like it, angoras are relatively small rabbits. Under all that fur there’s an animal that’s barely larger than a guinea pig. Most are only a few pounds, and once you harvest their fir you’ll be amazed at how tiny your little guy is under all that fiber. They have very slow metabolisms, and they’re mostly going to sit around growing floof and begging for love.
Our little guys eat only a few tablespoons of food each day, supplemented by treats such as apples, carrots, bananas and clover.
4 – Speed
Or lack there of…our little guys are free range in the yard on nice days. While many traditional pet and meat rabbit breeds are lighting fast, angoras just plod along. Even with all that free range and exercise time to build up muscle, I can still walk faster than they can run. After about 20 feet of angora “running” they tend to stop for a breather, huffing and puffing.
This animal was not made to survive in the wild, but luckily they don’t have to.
5 – Profit
If you’re going to keep a pet, it’s always a nice benefit if they can earn their keep. Most angora rabbit breeds produce between 16 and 20 ounces of angora wool per year. If you know how to market angora fiber, you can sell that fiber for $10 to $12 an ounce. With a little value-add, like making your own felted wool hats, you can increase that considerably.
Because they can be income producing, angora rabbit kits generally sell for around $50 each, meaning that even a small breeding operation could be quite profitable between harvested fiber and kits sold.
What do you think? Are you ready to add angora rabbits to your homestead?
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