Wanting to do fiber rabbits

[animalgirl12]

I am wanting to do fiber rabbits and I have a few questions.

What age do you first harvest their wool?
Can you use American fuzzy lops for spinning?
How much do fuzzy lops produce?

I am a knitter and want to make my own yarn. I am wanting English angora or American fuzzy lops. I also want to know how to prepare the rabbit wool for spinning.

I want to know anything you can tell me about this!!

Thanks!

 

[GD91]

Haven't a clue, but I used to own an angora mix & I recall having to clip her every 6 weeks or so in warm weather.
She was a very broody rabbit & would adopt anything small & fuzzy. Unfortunately she was never able to raise a litter on her own. Her 2nd litter died completely after we handreared her first litter.. We took her the vet & he said she couldn't produce milk for her kits, so we would take them out & handrear them, then put them back.

There's nothing sadder than seeing a non-lactating fluffy doe trying to clean & care for a litter of dead kits. Even after they died she kept trying to care for them.
When we took them away, she was heartbroken. Many people on here do not like to "romanticize" animals & nor do I, but this doe pined for weeks.
In the end we bought a tiny guinea pig & she took to it immediately & it imprinted on her & would follow her around the garden & scream if it couldn't find her. When it screamed she would check it immediately. She lost half of one of her ears fighting a cat off from one of her adopted babies & was blinded in one eye. After that we would give her baby birds, guinea pigs, weaned rabbit kits.... she would brood anything, even gerbils that were put in her hutch (temporarily) .She also raised moorhen chicks, blackbird fledglings & some baby hedgehogs.

She was a very valuable doe & we were so sad when she turned blind & lost the use of her back legs. We had to put her down.

 

[CaraBY]

I used to raise Fuzzy Lops, in fact, I had the best of breed winner at the first ever fuzzy nationals. Yes, it really was that long ago. To answer your question, it will depend on the bunny. Some fuzzies have a longer "wooly" coat like an angora and some have sleeker, shorter (relatively speaking) hair. I would go for the longer wool. Quantity-wise, they won't give you nearly what an Angora will. Probably well under an ounce per shearing or plucking. They are super sweet though, a joy to own.