There are two different methods to harvest the angora fibers: clipping or plucking.
Each hair follicle (= hair producing organ) has its built in rhythm of an active phase producing hair and a phase of rest while the hair matures and falls out. The mutation to angora hair prolongs the active phase. This allows the hair to become longer. Plucking leads to synchronisation of the follicles. That means that all hairs mature at the same time. This is the reason why plucked wool contains only mature hairs and has always the same composition. Plucking is done during the rest phase of the follicles.
During the plucking the rabbit sits on the "hairdresser's" lap without being forced. It enjoys to get rid of its coat and to be able to lick and to nibble itself down to the skin. This shows that plucking at the right time (during the natural change of coat) isn't cruel and doesn't hurt the rabbit.
The other possibility to harvest the wool is clipping. This has to be done very carefully to get good wool quality and to prevent wounding the rabbit.
Both methods, clipping and plucking, must be shown in detail by the angora breeder.
The best time to pluck is as soon as the new fleece begins to grow. The growing fleece looks deeply black, the mature coat looks grey.
Satinangora bunny Abrax got the hairdressing over and tests the plants for their culinary worth. The plucked parts look jet black, the clipped parts look grey. This way the rabbits never get problems with their balance of body temperature.
Young angoras usually are clipped. At an age of 6-8 weeks I clip the baby coat the first time and I do another clipping at an age of 20 weeks.
Angora rabbits need to be clipped or plucked because the hairs get loose during the follicles rest but they are too fine to slip out of the fleece. They rather tangle and matt. The fleece can turn in a real sheet of felt and hinders the rabbit from free movement.
During plucking the wool has to be graded (prime wool for spinnnig; short wool and baby wool for felting; matted wool and stained wool)
Plucked or clipped rabbits need protection against low temperatures untill the new growing coat is long enough.
Each time the rabbit get its hair cut or plucked the claws have to be controlled and clipped.
© Ursula + Pascal Glauser 28. January 2006
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