Winter shearing can be tricky, especially if you take off all the wool like I do. Right now, it’s not that cold here, but cold enough that I leave a light on over the cage and coat the rabbits. I also put lots of hay or straw in the cage so they aren’t sitting on cold wire.
Here is Konrad in his new berber coat!
Klaudia and the Siamese, Kimi are checking each other out. I had Klaudia in the house for awhile to take the chill off.
I sheared both Klaus and Klaudia at 60 days instead of 90. They are only six months old, so really these are baby coats. But look at that crimp! They both had good length and amazing density. I try and keep records of the babies every time I shear them. This litter was born in May and I started shearing them at about 6 weeks, and then once every 4 weeks during the summer. Keeping records helped me decide on who to keep from the litter. Klaus and Klaudia were the top wool producers over a four month period. Keeping my litters that long gives me more time to evaluate them. At eight weeks, they really aren’t developed enough to tell and they haven’t been sheared enough times for me to evaluate any shearing data. I weigh each clipping from each bunny and put it in an Excel spreadsheet. That way I can see over time how much wool each bunny is producing. Yesterday, at six months, Klaudia produced about 350 grams over a 60 day period. Klaus produced 320 grams over the same period. Their wool production has continued to impress me. By the way, by keeping the litters longer, I can also better evaluate body type as well as wool production and texture.
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and the new batts and rovings are beginning to arrive. Here is a new color, “Betty Prior”, a delightful combo of reddish pinks and purples with a touch of orange tossed in. The batts are light and fluffy–easy to spin and great for felting. It’s a luxurious 50/50 blend of German Angora and Superfine Merino (80s).
This is also a new color, “Labradorite.” It’s jet black, blues and purples Angora/Merino blend. Contact me if you would like to order any or you’ll be able to see it for yourself at my booth at CNCH 2010 Conference in Santa Clara, April 9-11. I will have spinning and felting batts, rovings, angora yarns and kits. Hope to see everyone there!
