Northern California Angora Guild

Saturday, August 15, 2015

You Are My Queen

 
 
 
Morty purrs to his love: You are my love, you are my milk, you are my queen...
 

 

Be careful, my queen, don't fall off the table.

 


I am so in love with you, my Dairy Queen, I dream of you day and night.





 

Friday, August 14, 2015

Let Me Out, Let Me Out

 
 
 
 
Why are you trapping me?



Where are you taking me?


 

Let me out!

 

You are taking me somewhere?

 

Can I go now?

Yes, you can go.  
After this photo is taken, the squirrel is running loose somewhere in the neighborhood. 








 

Thursday, August 13, 2015

The Tangerine Sisters

 
 
 
Three chocolate tort sisters at 3 months old when this picture was taken.   The rich color resembles some kind of citrus fruits.  They are now older and their color is still rich and beautiful.  

 
 
One sister is named "Chu's Clementina", Clementine is a type of tangerine that is sweet and tasty.


 
One of the popular brand name of the Clementine tangerine is Cuties, and one sister is named "Chu's Cuties".

 

The third sister is named "Chu's Halos".   Halos is another name brand of the sweet Tangerine. 
 
 
 


 





Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Beautiful Catalina and Donnica

 
 
 
 
Two beautiful English Angora blue tort doe Catalina (left) and choc tort doe Donnica.

 

Catalina and Donnica have been competing with each other since they were juniors.


 

Though Catalina and Donnica are not sisters, they were raised by the same mother.





 

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Cutting the Underside Wool

 
 
 
 
 
We have posted many photos of an English Angora being cut down when sitting on the grooming table.   How does one cut the underside? 


English Angora are generally very tame and passive.  Here is Jason, a Grand Champion white buck on my lap.  He stays very still.  As you can see that I'm wearing shorts as there is no risk of being scratched.  

 
I cut him on the side...
 
 
More cutting on the side...

I cut his chest...




I turn him around to cut the other side...
 

More cutting on the other side...

 
The lower part of the body are all done, now I am cutting the wool on the shoulder.

 
Nice and clean, all done!  

 
 

Monday, August 10, 2015

A Bunny Blanket

 


Betty says,

Some time ago when sitting there watching TV, I took some lumpy yarn and made a bunny blanket.   I used #15 needles, casted on probably 12 stitches and knitted.     It's preferable to use large needles so that there will be some gaps between stitches to allow air to go through when using it to cover bunnies.    After it's made, it sat in my storage for quite a while as I don't breed often and when I did, the moms have been pulling wool for their bunnies.  

 

To give an idea of the size of the blanket in relation to the nest box, here is the blanket in the box.
 


What if the mama rabbit gives birth without pulling wool right after birth?   It happened recently.



 
The bunny blanket does a good job to keep the bunnies warm.  I make sure that the blanket is covering the bunnies but not tucked in too tight.  Mama's wool always have room for air so when using a bunny blanket, it's important to leave some space for the air to go down to the bunnies.





Eventually the mama rabbit plucks wool when her milk comes in and the blanket is no longer needed.    However, having the blanket provides an additional security measure to keep the newborn bunnies warm when needed. 









 

Sunday, August 09, 2015

The Maturing of a French Angora Coat

 
 
This photo of Fair N Square was taken in May 2014 when he was four months old.  As a junior, judges understood that his coat was on the soft side.
 
 
In September 2014 Fair N Square was around 8-1/2 months old.  Though he was a senior already but he was still carrying his first coat.   Guard hairs are visible in the photo but judges would comment that there wasn't enough guard hairs.   Not long after this photo was taken he had his first hair cut.

 

This photo was taken a few days ago in August 2015.    After the first coat was cut, he came back with a mature coat.   The second coat lost some density but judges like the texture a lot better.

A good quality French Angora has the ability to come back with a full coat with a proper texture.