Are you thinking of raising fiber rabbits? We have French Angoras on our homestead. They are cute and fluffy, but serve as purpose as a fiber rabbit. Raising them isn’t difficult, but they do require a few additional steps in their care.
First of all, fiber rabbits are very hairy. Their hair gets long and matted. Daily or biweekly brushing is important to keep matted fur to a minimum. It’s important that when you brush them, you do it as thoroughly as you can to get all the loose hair.
Loose hair not only gets matted on the rabbit, it can clump in their cages, making it hard to clean out. Their poop and pee will get stuck in the matted hair on the cage and create a horrific smell.
Bathing the rabbit isn’t necessary. In some cases, it can be harmful because the rabbit can get too cold when it’s wet. If you need to wash the hair, do it after you have clipped it from the rabbit.
Weekly clipping of their nails is another must. Their nails can get so long and then they get stuck on a wire in the cage and even rip off. Keeping them trimmed up will help avoid that. To clip, simply take an animal nail clipper and just cut the tip off. You don’t want to cut past the quick, or the rabbit can bleed furiously. If you DO happen to cut the quick and hit a blood vessel, hold a dry cloth on the nail for about 2 minutes, applying gentle pressure to stop the bleeding. Applying an herb like plantain or yarrow can also help.
Raising Fiber Rabbits
With fiber rabbits, their primary purpose is fiber. To collect the fiber, you will need to cut it from the rabbit at least once a year. We 
like to do this in the early summer, to remove the old coat before it gets too hot. To cut the fiber, you will simply take a very sharp scissors and follow along the rabbit’s body line. Don’t cut too close, or you risk cutting the rabbit. Sometimes, it’s helpful to have a second person hold the rabbit and cover their eyes when you are doing this. That will help to calm the rabbit and keep them more still.
Feeding requirements for a fiber rabbit is the same as other rabbits. We feed ours a blend of rabbit food from the feed mill, along with high quality timothy hay. They also get plenty of water. Treats are kept to a minimum and it’s usually a carrot or an apple ½. Too many treats can cause the rabbit’s blood sugar to rise and make them sick.
Toys are necessary as well. They need something to chew on to keep their teeth ground down. Rabbits are also playful creatures. Adding in safe rabbit toys for them to play with can help alleviate boredom. We put in small stuffed animals for them to “mother”. Even our male rabbits, called bucks, play or cuddle with their babies. It’s rather cute, to be honest. And, no, they don’t chew them up. We thought they would at first, but were pleasantly surprised they didn’t.
Fiber rabbits are also very large. They will need some type of resting board to allow their paws to be off the hard wire cage from time to time. Your local animal supply place should sell them. They are a hard plastic that is comfortable for the rabbit to rest, with holes to allow excrement to fall through. If you can’t find the hard plastic, an old scrap of carpet works wonders. We have also put non treated wood in there for them to rest on, but they chewed that up quickly.
As you can see, taking care of fiber rabbits isn’t difficult at all. They are fun, friendly, and can be a great source of yarn for the knitter/crafter in your family.
Have you ever raised fiber rabbits? What breed did you raise?
Heather and her family live on 1/4 of an acre in Northern Indiana where they raise chickens, ducks, turkeys, rabbits and 75-80% of their own garden produce. Join her and their crazy adventures at:
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Great post! I’m wondering though, how much fiber do you get from one rabbit? Do you process it into yarn? Do you sell it? How many rabbits do you keep?
I followed the rule of one rabbit=one sweater per year. Of course, a
lot of that depends on spinning thick or thin. Time involvement is great but worth it!
I raised French angora rabbits for about a year and had about 6 of them. But I had never had rabbits before that and half of them died mysteriously. I think maybe something scared 2 of them to death, and the sudden change of food also might have had something to do with it. They produced amazing fiber though, but I had a hard time shearing them, it seemed to take forever. I found the last 2 rabbits homes because we had to move but I want to try it again sometime. I think my children would love it- but now I can’t find any angoras in this area. You should do some more posts on this, maybe on what you made with the yarn, or if you sold it- how much you sold it for, is it worth the cost of the feed and cute pictures of baby angoras…
very interesting but I would never shut these beautiful creatures in cages! free range is the way for me!
Miranda, free-ranging is how domestic animals are killed. There’s a difference between domesticated and wild animals. One of these is that domesticated ones can live in cages. That said, all animals should have large, spacious enclosures so they can run and play, but still be safe. These can and should mimic their natural environments, so they can burrow and such.
Free-ranging, on the other hand, is like waving a giant sign screaming, “FREE FAST FOOD!” to foxes, weasels, hawks, and other predators. And it is not “your way.” You aren’t the one who is forced outside in a world of predators waiting to eat you. Imagine if your parents allowed you to run free in a neighborhood of villains, when you were only three. Forced you to sleep outside at night. To play in the dangerous alleyways. But perhaps they only thought, “I don’t want to shut my beautiful child up in the house! This way is best for me!” Bet that suddenly doesn’t sound so delightful.
That’s essentially what people are doing when they choose to allow their domesticated animals run around without safe barriers.
Yes, it’s lovely to see chickens out in a meadow. It’s nice to see a flock of sheep grazing on grass in a field without fences. I agree. I’d love to allow animals the freedom to explore unchartered territories. But there’s a reason why the fences exist, and a reason why shepherds stayed with their flocks, yet I don’t see homesteaders choosing to sleep outside with their free-ranged animals to keep them safe. No, they sleep inside in their warm, cozy beds while the animals face the elements and predators. If whole flocks of large sheep are prey animals, how much more so are tiny defenseless rabbits and chickens?
Natural, spacious enclosures rich with toys and comfort areas are the safest way to keep animals, while keeping them happy. Chicken or rabbit tractors are also great for this.
Supervising them outside their enclosures is all right. Allowing absolutely no protection for them is not.
I think she meant free roam inside the house. Mine play outside for an hour everyday but otherwise have free roam the upstairs of our home the same way a pet cat or dog would. You must bunny proof the same way you would with a dog or cat or 2 year old.
Actually, you need more “proofing” as a dog, cat, or toddler won’t eat through electrical cords, but rabbits will!