It is one of the oldest rabbit breeds in the world with its origin being Ankara, Turkey, historically known as Angora.
These species eventually made their way to America before 1939, and there was only one kind of wholly rabbits which was known as the “Angora Wooler.” During the same year, Angora Wooler got re-classified into two types of rabbits, the English, and French variety.
Subsequently, the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) in 1944 officially divided these into two breeds, that is the English Angora and French Angora Rabbit.
General Description
Usually, these compact and small rabbits have a broad, flat head, plenty of wooly furs, short ears, as well as having hair on their faces, and unlike other Angora, they have wooly feet.
Coat
It is the only Angora which has facial furnishings, meaning that this rabbit has thick bands as well as the side trimmings, therefore, making its entire body, feet included being covered with a fur coat. Often, when the coat of this rabbits is in perfect condition, they are referred to as “round balls of fluff.”
Additionally, this rabbit breed is woolly, dense, and silky in texture and frequent grooming even during off-shedding is essential to prevent the fur becoming matted, tangled hence unpleasant.
Therefore, whether you are raising this rabbit to be a pet, for its wool production or as a show rabbit, it is vital always to keep their coat free from tangles.
To do this, utilize a pet grooming brush that has wire bristles like that used with cats or dogs once or twice weekly, and always make use of shears or groomer in case your English Angora is a pet since its coat continuously grows.
For those who keep English Angora for its wool, they report shearing the rabbit’s wool approximately four times annually, proving this rabbit produces plenty of wool, while still not forgetting to shear in case of mats.
Furthermore, after keeping an English Angora rabbit as a pet, give them what is commonly referred to as a “puppy cut” which consequently makes grooming a lot easier.
This type of cut involving shearing all the rabbit’s body such as faces and body ensuring the coat is short but leaving the coat quite long on its ears and feet. Therefore, the rabbit ends up resembling a small poodle.
Colors
English Angoras come in many different colors, with the Agouti group of English Angoras being classified as Chocolate, Chestnut and Lynx.
The Shaded Group English Angoras are Blue Tort, Black Tort, Lilac Tort or Chocolate Tort, with the Self Group having Chocolate, Blue, Black or Lilac and the Show Class classification’s showing it has a white coat and ruby eyes.
Last is the Pointed Group English Angoras which either has white wool with brown spots on its legs and nose (Chocolate Pointed White), white wool with black spots on their legs and nose (Black Pointed White), white wool with their legs and nose having light grey spots (Blue Pointed White).
Care Requirements
Due to their dense and wooly coat, these rabbit bread necessitates plenty of care and attention, hence require regular brushing once or twice in a week using a comb that has wire-bristles. Additionally, shearing needs to be done about four times annually to ensure their coat is mat-free.
Therefore, if you are a first-time owner and are not willing to dedicate as much time as possible, this rabbit breed is not recommendable for you. English Angora rabbits need a diet which comprises of 70 percent hay just like most rabbits, with the remaining 30 percent being vegetables and fruits.
Moreover, high-quality pellets are crucial to ensure your rabbit gets the much-needed nutrients, proteins, and vitamins needed to grow, with “kits” or baby rabbits requiring a different diet. Kits that are younger than three weeks should only drink their mother’s milk, with those between 3-4 weeks being given pellets and nibbles of alfalfa.
Once the kits reach 4-7 weeks, you should provide the kits with lots of alfalfa and pellets, before switching to hay and unlimited pellets once the kit has reached seven weeks to 7 months old.
Finally, after reaching 12 weeks old, gradually introduce your rabbits to vegetables to get a better understanding of which they favor.
English Angora rabbits are friendly and docile; thus it is crucial you often take them out of their cages and have lots of play times either indoors or outdoors.
Furthermore, in case you reside in a home that has no fenced backyard or in an apartment, you should let your rabbit roam inside the house, and this will provide it with a lot of exercises. Nevertheless, these rabbits love to regularly go outside and feel some grass beneath them as they catch some rays.
Health
The most troublesome health issue English Angora rabbits face is the possibility of woodblock, with rabbits being clean animals which frequently groom themselves.
Unlike the Sating Angora rabbits, the English Angora rabbits have long and dense wool and thus can accidentally while grooming itself inject some fur.
Typically, this far passes through the rabbit’s digestive system and if it does not, it creates a furball, and different from cats, rabbits cannot regurgitate to get rid of this hairball hence keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Due to the growth of the hairball so much, the rabbit’s digestive system gets blocked completely thus cannot eat or does not eat since it believes it is full.
Therefore, it is evident woodblock is a real and dangerous problem when you own a rabbit which has thick and dense fur.
Some of the symptoms of woodblock include decreased activity, decreased appetite or completely not eating, less frequent droppings which may be strung together by wool. Thus, if you see any of these symptoms, immediately consult a veterinarian.
Luckily, there are various ways of preventing wool block in your rabbit and diet is the best way to do this, thus, ensure you’re your rabbit’s meal is high in fiber as well as grooming regularly your rabbit.
Also, once a week, most owners also supplement their diet with papaya tablets or pineapple chunks.
Behavior
These rabbit breeds are even-tempered and enjoy spending quality moments with their human handlers, and since they need a lot of grooming, they mostly bond with the individual who frequently grooms them.
It is mainly the case if that is the same person who plays, pets and feeds the rabbits, and since they do not have ill-mannered tendencies, it will not be hard introducing them to kids.
Whereas these rabbits often do not require constant attention, their personalities mostly flourish when they interact with humans, or they are out mostly, hence showing why this breed is ideal for couples and singles who want a pet.
When these rabbits are enjoying outdoor moments out of their cages, guarantee you have a few toys which they can chew on, and apart from the wool block, other rabbits due to poor diet develop large teeth.
So, you need to feed your rabbit vegetables, pellets and a balanced diet of hay, and having overgrown teeth must not be problematic since you will offer them something to chew on such as dog toy which will not hurt it and keep it entertained.
Additionally, other rabbits like chewing on wood pieces, with some also known to eat on their wooden cages, thus providing them with a bit of rabbit-safe wood is acceptable for entertainment.
