I am about to take over a German Angora rabbit farm and want to know if there is any interest in the fur? I'm looking for bulk buyers, but would sell smaller lots for craft and hobby spinners if anyone interested?
Also, I want to make use of the shorter fur not good for spinning. I hear it can be made into duvets? Is there any other use for it? It seems a huge waste to throw it out!!!
Any help or feedback appreciated!
Yes! have tried a couple and they are not interested! but will keep searching for more buyers to try. One guy said they used to but don't have a supply now, and still wasn't interested when I said I had 100 rabbits!
Hi leonie,
Just googled them, so darn cute......a pretty specialized fibre, have you a standing customer list that comes with the business? if so I would try to build on that, you could also get it processed yourself blended with other fibres and sell it through a web site you set up, if it was me I would aim to get an "end" product and aim it at the tourist market. Get in touch with a local spinning branch and see what the interest is. I work as a fibre artist and would be interested in working with some, it would be new to me.
Would love to see some pictures of these wascally wabbits.!!!
Cheers Tess
The previous owner (well, she's still the current at the moment!) spins most of the fibre herself and knits up products. She had a team available to her when she had her business running in a shop that helped her do this. She's now retiring from the farming side and I will supply her with a bit of fibre for her hobby.
Funny you say to aim at the tourist market, because thats exactly what we're going to do! We are going to shear the rabbits as an attraction and I want to learn to spin and then create products like scarfs, beanies, booties etc that I can sell. The owner is going to teach me to spin, so I am very lucky there. I have been wanting to learn for years.
I will have excess that I won't be able to keep up with that I will need to sell. So I am prepared to sell in small lots to suit individual needs.
Send me a private message with your email address and I will send you a pic of my first shorn rabbit! Though I didn't get one of it before I clipped it!
Leonie, I'm excited for you, especially that you are a lateral thinker, you will make a success of your new business I'm sure. Any product that you can produce or create would be georgous next to the skin with a micron that low, wearables for sure. Will PM you.
Tess
Once you are confident with spinning - why not then teach spinning to others. You then create your own customer base and can also then have spinning wheels available at a discount price plus all the other bits they will need. You can then sell their products as well on your own website/shop and take a commission on those. Winning all around.
great idea! but i just don't have the time for that! Have my farm park up and running now and i have two shows a day shearing the rabbits. Yay! have taken over the rabbits, but not relocated them yet! so there's still alot of work to do. we are now known as Roselands Angora Rabbit Shearing, formerly known as the shearing shed and we are just down the road from it in waitomo at 579 fullerton road. come and check us out! $2 per adult and $1 per child under 16, under 5 free to see the shearing show and cuddle these gorgeous soft rabbits.
Hi Leonie,
It would be great if you could use your rabbit fur for making thermal wear and jumpers.
When I was 14 I had to go to boarding school in Melbourne (from the tropics) and Mum ordered me Angora rabbit fur thermals for winter from Germany. They were the softest, warmest thermals I have ever worn and I have never found any others like them since. The fur against your skin does not prickle or itch. It is just a warm cozy softness that stays warm without getting too hot.
I have also had Angora knitted jumpers that were really nice, fine and light but lovely and warm. Funny thing with an Angora jumper... people cant help themselves; they have to touch / feel / stroke the jumper to see if it is as soft and beautiful as it looks! The thicker the better!
I hope you do find a use for all that wonderful rabbit fur.
Thanks for your comment. I have a company interested in making such products but they cannot process the fibre! They need it already made into yarn. Touch yarns has bought fibre off the previous owner that she had stock piled from when she closed down. That should be out on the market soon. So I will see if they can do it for me.
Hoping to promote the angora yarn and get a bit of demand for it again. And of course getting the garments underway is my main goal.
The german angora rabbit has the lowest bristle count in its fibre. The higher the bristle count the itchier it is on the skin. The angora rabbits the chinese farm has the highest bristle count!
