I think what really motivated me to breed the Satin Angora were two things: The wool and the personality.

 

Let's start with their wool:

Oh my lord, it is just GORGEOUS. I keep wishing they could give a little more per shearing but that's okay. The lovely sheen of the coat makes up for that factor, mostly. If kept up well you will get some of the most beautiful fiber ever! It's really fine, so spinning it can be hard; but all you have to do is mix it with sheep wool and it shouldn't be much of a problem. I'm still learning how to spin and dye Angora so I can't list my full experience yet. Let me just say I'm excited to learn how to do it.

 

Another thing I love is how many colors this breed comes in! Yowza...there's a ton! Not all of them are ARBA recognized, but a lot of them are. And they develope into these color beautifully. The colors seem more vivid on Satin Angoras than the other Angoras...mostly because Satin's have shorter wool. Not everybody is going to like the vivid wool, but I think it's just plain awesome. That way I don't need to dye their fur all the time just to get "red". You can get a vivid-red color naturally off a Satin Angora!

 

I keep trying to think of ways of how we can make their fur longer. If you've seen the "Our Rabbits" page, then you would know that I am very interested in doing a German Angora x Satin Angora breeding program with one of my Satin Angora bucks and my REW German Angora doe, Ruby. I don't know if I will get larger rabbits with shiny coats or smaller rabbits with matte coats. Colorwise, I don't know how they'll turn out. This should be an interesting experience...if I can make it work with Ruby; she's an older rabbit so breeding her might be a bit of a pain...but who knows? We'll see!

 

Let's discuss personality:

Most Angoras show themselves as social, playful, clownish, and fun. This is not a stereotype. It's true! I think Angoras are the sweetest and nicest rabbit breed out there. The reason? I believe it's because Angoras are bred to live a long life giving wool and being held, so they get accustomed to being held by other people when they are young, which helps! Most meat rabbit breeds never come out of their cages and are butchered at 8 weeks old, so they don't seem to show as much compassion and affection.

 

Satin Angoras are just like the other Angoras: playful, loving, and a lot of fun. When I go to some shows, young kids (as well as cool adults) will ask to hold my Satins. If there are no show restrictions, I let the kids hold them and pet them. The Satins will just sit calmly in their laps of lay sleepy in their arms. It's a wonderful feeling to have kids smiling while petting and holding your animals without frights and having to worry about being bit. I love it so much!

 

I'm glad I get to work with these animals as my job, and I'm glad that I have happy, healthy rabbits that have given me happy, healthy babies. I really have been lucky with this job. To me, this has been a big accomplishment that has taken me far...and I'm still going!