I raised all breeds of angora rabbits over the past 20 years. I started with English angoras which are irresistible with their full head of furnishing and wide range of colors. I also collected some French, Satins, and Giants along the way. It was not until I had to shrink my rabbitry to 6 rabbits that I realized that I needed an animal packed with wool who could produce twice the amount of wool as the other breeds but fitted into the same cage space. The answer was the German angora. While a good English or Giant can produce 6-8 oz of wool, a French 7 oz, a Satin 5 oz, the German rabbit will produce at least 11 oz of prime wool per 90 days interval.

In fact the International Association of German Angora Rabbit Breeders (IAGARB) stipulates that for an animal to be worthy of registration, it is rigorously tested for body conformation on a 100 point scale system AND must produce at least 325 grams (11.4 oz) of wool over a 90 day shearing period. To be evaluated, a tattooed animal will have a witnessed shearing at a “shearing party” where the animal will be shorn to the skin. Ninety days later, the same animal returns, is weighed and evaluated by an IAGARB judge, then shorn to the skin again. The animal must earn at least 80 points and produced 325 grams of wool to be registered. The animal’s name and lineage will be part of a permanent registry which will help future breeders evaluate potential excellent stock lines.

Thus, I have diligently registered as many angora rabbits as I could. As of 2018, I have registered over 70 animals since 2008, accounting for one third of the total pool of registered animals in North America!

It is this very diligent process of objective evaluation that has appealed to my scientific nature, along with sound research-based animal husbandry techniques that have convinced me to pursue the noble cause of carrying on the breeding of such valuable animals.

For more information, please visit the IAGARB website:

http://www.iagarb.com/