Angora rabbits

#1 · May 24, 2001, 12:43 pm

Posted by: graceandjoy <graceandjoy@...>

I just wanted to give yall a little update on my litter of Angora kits. According to "Completely Angora", you cannot count on any kits surviving until the 5th day onward after kindling, because the weaker usually succumb by then. Well, we had 6: one large, three medium and 2 small. They were all doing fine, until day three, we lost the two runts. Then the evening of day four, the smallest of the mediums died. The three that are left are large and active, so Lord willing these three will make it. Last year somehow our nesting box got flipped(not a sturdy one), and all of the babies but one wiggled out through the sides of the rabbit cage, and fell to the barn floor 🙁 We raised the last one for three days on goat milk but yes, on the fourth day, he breathed his last. We have very much enjoyed raising Angoras; they are gentle and beautiful, and so far, we have never lost one to wool block. I feel our secret to this has been 1) not overfeeding 2)regular alfalfa hay feedings 3)feeding apples on a regular basis as well. 4)regular removal of their wool(although we have not done as well on this score this year; we had many irons in the fire (not to mention 23 goats!) We have had Angoras for two years now, and we now have a Holland lop as well. Our main challenge is keeping them *cool*, not warm, here in Texas. It is also a little tricky getting them to produce more than one litter per year because of the heat. Last year after our loss, we immediately bred her back. She took, but halfway through the gestation, she reabsorbed them; why, I am not quite sure, except we had gotten a new LaMancha doe that loved to bump her cage to make her food fall down so she could get to it:)
Blessings to all,
Kim