Angora rabbits - total newbie

Hello!

I bought two fluffy French/German Angora crosses for wool production, with the intent to learn to prep and spin my own yarn for knitting. Well, now they have lovely luxurious fur and I'm at a loss. I can definitely pluck the fur instead of clipping, but I see mixed opinions regarding the two. It would seem that for spinning purposes having short fibers mixed in would be undesirable,  and when I've clipped the bunnies there's tons of short unuseable fiber. There didn't seem to be a good way to easily remove these fibers... I have hand carders, but no comb. Is there a good solution for this?

I know people who have/ had them, and they very gently brush &/or pluck the fur, rather than clipping. If you consider it 'bonding time', (and who doesn't love to snuggle up with such a soft, fluffy critter?), it will be more pleasurable for you and your buns, plus it's far safer for them, than clipping, and - as you've already discovered, clipping shortens the fibers, substantially.

With an ultra-fine fiber, like Angora, the fiber length makes all the difference in the world, especially for a new spinner, but if your bunnies are indoors, the prep will be rather easy, compared to bigger, outdoor critters. You've kind of jumped into the deep end of spinning, but we've a few of us here who would be happy to help, as much as we can. I have Nigora goats, and they produce a superfine fiber, as well (maybe a very few microns heavier than your Angora), and I've not even tried to spin their fiber, yet. Then again, I've buried myself in wool and alpaca fibers, to practice with, before the challenges of the superfine fibers like silk, angora, and cashgora - an option that you might also want to consider. .

Thanks for the reply! Yeah, after trying to card the fibers I think brushing will be a more fruitful enterprise.

I learned to knit by getting bored with my washcloth and deciding to knit mittens in the round, so deep end is my style! I am attempting to use a drop spindle on some Merino, once I get the hang of that I might try the Angora...

Good timing.  We've got a thread about using Angora fibre.  https://permies.com/t/178132/fiber-arts/Angora-spin-weave-knit

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks! I'll check out the videos! I've been impressed by what I've found on YouTube so far, it's made the learning curve a lot easier.

I save short cuts for felting and hold some for my girls who don’t pull enough belly fur to keep kits warm ( or when I have to clean out a yucky nest box!).

Many spinners prefer plucked angora fiber to shorn angora fiber since when plucking it is all long wool.  

To keep the short hairs out of the wool harvest when shearing, the buns are usually shorn when the second or third coat is just beginning to come in.  Then there's no short tips to be shorn off and mixed in with the longer wool.  You can part the coat and look down near the skin.  If it's a colored bun, it's easy to see when the new darker coat is starting to come in.

Not all angora breeds and not even all within a 'pluckable' breed are pluckable.  If they are from show lines, frequently they prefer the non-pluckable ones since they hold their coats longer and look better for a rabbit show.