Spinning Angora Rabbit Fur

I guess I'll get rid of all the rest of the Germans. I have 3 more English bunnies coming, and I want to make room for their babies. I have some nice German crosses, with 3 outstanding Eng/Ger crosses. I didn't really want to part with them, but I'm not continuing the line, so might as well give them up. I'll have plenty of the softer textured fiber now with all these English. Each one seemed to have something special to offer, so I sort of went wild. My Chu pair remain the King and Queen of the rabbitry, but each of these new little ones brings something special too. I'll post pictures when I get some.
Donna

If anyone knows where "Old Moscow" is, it is where this show takes place. Poodles are so smart, and not only that, they are sooooo congenial, easily fitting into almost any lifestyle. I only wish I had discovered them long ago. Love 'em.

Not to be outdone, here is another amazing performance, this time by a human
http://my.opera.com/tibipop/blog/2009/09/20/amazing-performance?cid=10261504

How can you reduce the grief and expense and mess of dying wool & angora fibers? Do it outside!
I became fascinated with the idea of Solar ovens recently. For cooking. Since the materials are things you probably already have and want to dispose of (cardboard boxes, etc), I started to make one.

My first one was a disappointment. It only got to around 200º. So I made another, that one was better, 250º or so. My third one was the final design for cooking and it gets over 300º on a good, clear sunny day. I started to tear apart the other 2 when it hit me, hey, that temperature was ideal for dying! I have not done so yet, but I will very soon. Cake dye is what I usually use. I have other dye, but every time I think of using it, I don't want to create a vessel that cannot ever be used for regular cooking again. I might have trouble getting pictures of the ovens in use. I recently changed my main computer over to Linux and my camera (old Sony) isn't recognized, so I might have to put it on my work computer and network it over to the play (Linux) one. My cell phone is totally unpredictable, some pics are great on it, and some are horrible and I can't seem to predict which.

Meantime, here are some solar oven links:
http://www.uberpest.com/cooker.html
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/radabaugh30.html (this is the one that finally got above 300º)

If I made any more, I'd use mylar mirror film on the reflectors, and barbeque grill paint on the interior off the cook box. (I used tempura on mine, came off on first attempt to use it.) I have a double layer (separated by 1 thickness of cardboard) of turkey cooking bag material on mine instead of glass. I've been informed that you must use strong glass or it will break from the temperature differential, so I skipped that. But if I use it very often I'll get the right kind of glass for it.

Since clouds reduce the heat, I think I could dye in the "good" one too, on a partly sunny day. Usually you would not want to try to cook in it on a day like that, because the temperature drops every time a cloud goes by. More later, hopefully pictures too.

An interesting aspect of fiber growing came up on a rabbit list recently.
I decided to calculate my actual cost per ounce.

My pure Germans ate 1 cup per day on average, some more. My English eat 1/2 cup per day (I used to overfeed them, but Betty Chu, whom I purchased them from, advised me not to.) My crosses eat something inbetween, let's say it is 3/4 cup, but I'm not so sure of it.

Being generous, let's say the Germans give 12 ounces every 3 mo. (most don't meet this bar, 11.5 oz or 325 grams is the registration bar, and most don't meet that). Now, they won't give that unless then are on very high quality feed. Around here, King feed costs about $18.99/50 lbs. If I fed the Germans Manna Pro, they would not give that much fiber. A german will eat around 2.7 bags of it over a years time, so that is around $51. That means the fiber costs me about $1.06 per ounce

My English give 8 oz every 4 mo, so that is 24 ounces a year. (Mine probably outperform most, mine are from Betty.- Actually one doe gives over 9 oz in less than 4 mo, but the other one doesn't.) They only eat about 1/2 cup, or about 1.35 bags per year. But they produce that amount on less expensive feed, MannaPro, which is only $13.99 per bag around here. So the total cost is around $19.00 per year. That is around 78¢ per ounce! Even if they were not wonderful producers and only gave 5 oz every 4 mo (easily attainable), they'd still be in the same ballpark as Germans per ounce, just over a dollar per ounce.

My crosses also eat the less expensive feed, so I can figure the cost, but estimating production is much harder. I have a couple who give pure German type of numbers and a few that give English type of numbers. The larger ones eat more, but aren't necessarily the best producers. So I won't venture a guess, but since they eat less expensively, I'm guessing it is between the 2 above.

Both animals get the same treats, so I'm not counting that, but I suspect the ratios would be very similar.

I was delighted to figure out that my favored fiber actually costs less to produce too! Of course, if the goal is to produce the maximum amount of fiber in the smallest space, Germans are the breed to go with. However, since the fiber is superior, it is good to know that English fiber doesn't cost any more (in fact not as much) as German fiber does.

Cheers,
Donna

Well I've been a critic of dog clubs and conformation showing for a very long time now. I think it is a silly pursuit, and of little to no use at all. I believe in trials, such as hunt trials or herding, etc. Those are the acitivites the animal was bred for and conformation will naturally follow. An ill-formed dog would never excel at the acitivity. I see no need or value to the conformation shows.

The same goes for the rabbit breeds, imo. The club creates a "standard". In the case of the rabbits, I think the club's standards are mostly arbitrary, and again, of very little value to someone raising the animals for their fiber. When I first joined the German angora club, I thought it was different. Their competition is the so-called shearing record. But after a while, I began to realize that no matter what is emphasized for compeitition's sake, all the other attributes will probably decline as the animal undergoes breeding that takes it closer and closer to the "standard". In dogs, silly traits in conformation can win in the show rings, but are totally useless for their true work & purpose. Hunting dogs with too much coat, dogs that are supposed to be fast and lithe with too much bone, etc.

In rabbits,the texture of the coat in Germans has been sacrificed in the name of wool production. I had reason to spin some old, pure English angora recently. It is far superior to the German, and I had very good German fiber, silkier than most. This was all done in the name of winning a shearing record. Nevermind that the yarn made from all that fiber is no softer than regular fine wool. So what is the point? Sheep are easier to keep and you get more fiber for less labor.

But, and here is the real reason it prevails, IF one disagrees, other club members won't entertain their ideas at all. They merely label them as "wrong" and "troublemakers". There is a social price to be paid for any diverging opinion, and IF one speaks out about it, then people start to get a little mean to the "odd person out". And so, the (often arbitrary and counter-productive) standard remains and the person who correctly notes it is counter-productive is shunned and eventually leaves. This is true in almost every animal club I've ever heard of. It recently happened to a friend who raises goats. It seems the goat clubs are rewarding only goats with very fine micron count now days. Good for spinning, not so good for animal keepers. She has beautiful reds, but keeps her micron count at a soft, but sane level. She has spoken out, and now is an outcast of the club.

So sad, but true. I have to wonder if all animal breeds might have been better off if there had been no clubs & no competitions, and every person merely selected the best animal for their own purposes. I think animals in general would be superior to what we now have, healthier, and sounder of mind,than they are now, with the clubs dominating the scene. In the case of fiber producers, the best quality/production/ease of care ratios would have already been maximized. As it is, only a few traits are considered "worthy" and so the decline of all animal breeds goes on.

Just some points to ponder.