Northern California Angora Guild: 6/19/11

Babies, Babies, Babies

Baby bunnies are so cute, just wish they would stay this way but realistically we know they will grow up, therefore the wish would be for them to grow up healthy and to develop solid bodies and full show coats.

Visitors From The Wild

April and English Angora tort doe Bubbles were spending quality time together; they looked out of the window in the master bedroom and that's what they saw: mama bear and baby bear on the railings.

Though the pair were very cute, they were not as cute as Bubbles. For more about Bubbles, see http://ncag.blogspot.com/2011/06/is-bubbles-puppy-or-bunny.html

Chris O Prepares Corriedale Wool

Our long time MA member Chris O shares her recent adventure of wool prep with us.

Chris O bought several bags of Corriedale wool from a local farmer.

The same wool view from the skin side.

Chris weighs one pound of the Corriedale wool.

Wash and dry the wool.

Put the wool in the bench picker to separate the wool.

A pile of nice fluffy wool.

The dirty stuff are left in the picker. The blower for rabbits is as good for cleaning the bench picker.

The clean wool is dyed and being dried.

Some beautiful dyed corriedale locks.

The dyed clean wool is fed through the motorized Patrick Green carder.

Here are two small batts of the dyed and carded Corriedale wool.

The batts nice and smooth. The three plied yarn made from this batt is also nice and smooth.

For more about Chris O's fiber information, visit
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Moondance-Color-Company/234967028462

Youth And Juvenile Rabbit Shows

Youth rabbit show and Juvenile rabbit show, what's the difference? "Youth" is the term used in the US, the exhibitors have to be between 5 years to 18 years old. "Juvenile" is the term used in New Zealand, the exhibitors have to be under 18 years old.

Kerstin sends photos of her daughters Elly and Vivi showing in the juvenile show last weekend. Elly's rabbit wins "Best Juvenile in Show" and Vivi's rabbit wins "Reserve Juvenile Best In Show."

A close up look of rabbit Sammy, the winner of Best Juvenile In Show.

A close look of Vivi Sue, the winner of Reserve Juvenile Best In Show.

Kerstin does not do too bad herself, her English Angora Ayok wins Reserve Best In Show.

For more about Kerstin and the wonder world of rabbits in New Zealand, visit her blog. Link is on the right side. Click and you'll be entering her world.

Kitties love Hay Too

I wish I were a rabbit.

Let's have a roll in the hay.

Finding kitty in the hay pile.

What happened to my hay?

Hay For Angora

On the recent Yahoo "AngoraRabbitList" there were quite a bit of discussion about different kinds of hay. Betty says, "I happened to have picked up some sample hay from a vendor during the WCC weekend in Reno and I also have some hay from my local store; I took some photos for comparison."

This is from a sample bag of oat hay from a vendor during the WCC weekend in Reno. It's very nice. The listed price on the vendor website including shipping is 10 pounds for $25.95 and 20 pounds for $31.95 if shipped to western states; add $8 each if shipped to eastern states.

This is my favorite hay: wheat hay. It is purchased from my local store (see photos yesterday). One bale that is around 100 pounds, give and take 10 pounds up and down, is between $10 to $15 depending on the season. Shipping is not available, of course.

Both oat hay and wheat hay are nice, they provide lots of roughage for rabbits, the difference is how the seeds are formed. The top shows the oat florets/seeds and the bottom wheat.

When an English Angora is in show coat, the dried oat florets cause a lot of problems. They are easily broken from the main stem and they could stick to the wool; also they could work their way to the skin. It takes a lot of time and effort to get the oat florets off a show coat. Though wheat florets could also cause some issues for an English Angora show coat, they are smoother and not easily broken from the main stem. Therefore it takes less effort to get it out of a show coat.

The top grass hay is from a sample bag of hay that has a price tag of 10 pounds for $25.95 or 20 pounds for $31.95 while the bottom grass hay is from my local feed store, a bale for $10-15. Can you tell the difference?

Alfalfa hay from my local store. Rabbits tend to like it a lot. I use it as a treat than putting it into the regular feeding. It is advantageous to have some good alfalfa hay in hand; when a rabbit loses appetite for pellets, alfalfa hay is a good substitute.