Best Animal for Small Fiber Farm: Tour My Angora Rabbitry

Great things come in small packages. Read on to discover my top reasons why angora rabbits are the perfect choice for a small farm and beginner homesteaders.

Shortly after I learned how to spin yarn, I started looking into raising my own fiber animals. I’ve always loved animals and have wanted a farm for as long as I can remember. We only have two acres, but I figured there must be some kind of small animal we could raise. I started searching for the best animal for a small fiber farm. Maybe goats, or a couple sheep.

As I researched, I quickly stumbled upon information about angora rabbits. I knew vaguely about angora fiber, and I even owned a thrifted sweater that was 10% angora, but I didn’t know anything about the animals themselves. I don’t think I even knew they had long hair. But I quickly realized that they require very little space to raise, and would be the perfect fiber animal for a small farm like mine.

The moment I learned about angora rabbits, I thought, “This is exactly what I want.” I had pet rabbits as a kid, so I knew some of the basics already. Their size (much smaller than sheep, or llamas, etc.) wasn’t intimidating. Two acres was more than enough space. I continued my research, and the more I learned, the more I liked.

Pretty quickly, I decided to get two. I had read that rabbits do fine on their own, and even might fight when housed together. Not to mention that they can reproduce and multiply very rapidly. But having two angora rabbits in cages next to each other would provide them with some measure of companionship, while also letting them each have their own safe space. Besides, with two rabbits, I would get twice as much fiber.

Why Angora Rabbits are the Best Animal for a Small Fiber Farm

Income Per Year

I brought my first two angora rabbits home in early 2021, and since then, I’ve owned dozens. They are the best animal for a small fiber farm, provided you are willing to put in the work to keep them groomed and healthy. They reproduce quickly. If you get pedigreed, show quality stock you can sell the offspring for as much as $200 per rabbit. Just one average sized litter of show quality rabbits could potentially earn you $1000 in income. (Note: finding or producing show quality angora rabbits is not an easy task!)

A well groomed, properly sheared or plucked angora rabbit can produce between 12-20 ounces (or more) of angora fiber per year. Valued at $10 an ounce, that fiber can bring in $120-$200+ per year without any additional processing. And from a homestead perspective, rabbits who have less desirable attributes can be used for meat for the family.

Angora Fiber Requires No Processing

In contrast, a five pound raw sheep fleece could perhaps be sold for around $60 to fiber artists. If it’s extremely clean and desirable wool, maybe $100. It still needs to be scoured, picked, and combed/carded before it can be used for fiber art. Other animal fibers, such as llama or yak, might be a bit more valuable, but they all will require additional processing. One of the main advantages to angora rabbit fiber is that it is usable immediately, right out of the shearing basket, which keeps the cost of production extremely low. Of course, angora that is processed via carding, dyeing, etc., has a higher value than raw fiber. But it’s not strictly necessary. I enjoy dyeing and blending angora fiber to sell to handspinners. Check out my shop.

No Acreage Required

Angora rabbits are also perfect for small fiber farms because they don’t need much space. You don’t need a pasture to raise rabbits. You just need a small barn, shed, garage, or lean-to that will shelter them from sun, wind, rain, and predators. I personally have found that large wire cages, paired with regular time in a rabbit run with a cement floor, keep my rabbits clean, healthy, and safe. These are the cages I use.

Wire floors allow their waste to fall down and keeps their long fur from getting soiled and matted. Without wire floors, angora rabbits are at risk of ingesting parasites, getting sore hocks from urine scalding, and fly strike. However, I know a couple fiber farmers who raise angora rabbits “colony style,” in a safe enclosure on the ground. These rabbits have a more natural lifestyle. The tradeoff is that they might require more grooming, due to digging and playing or fighting with each other. Much of their fiber might be unusable, and they are at a higher risk for disease and injury.

Small Animals Are Easier to Handle

Sheep look sweet and docile when they’re way out in a pasture. But if you’ve ever seen them up close, you know that many sheep breeds are huge. Like, the size of a small pony. And some of them have huge horns. Llamas are tall enough to look down on you, and spit in your face. Goats are notorious for breaking out of their fences and getting into trouble. If you’re not used to being around them, larger animals can be very intimidating. I’ve considered raising all of these animals, and I still might someday. But for now, the baby step of managing a herd of rabbits seems wise.

Angora rabbits are small, about the size of a chicken. They can be held in your arms or on your lap. If you need to restrain a rabbit to administer medical help, it’s not hard to do so, even by a child. Yes, they can struggle, kick, and bite, but they are small and manageable. I found that after less than a year of working with my first two rabbits, I felt confident enough to start breeding them and raising more. If you are new to raising animals, be wise and don’t get in over your head. Start small!

Downsides to Raising Angora Rabbits for Fiber

• You need a lot of rabbits to make just a little fiber, but adding more rabbits increases your labor significantly. Each and every rabbit requires regular grooming and cage cleaning. It adds up. In contrast, adding a few more sheep to a flock adds just a small labor cost. It still adds up, but not as fast.
• Expensive cages. Each rabbit needs it’s own cage (unless you choose to us a colony setup.)
• Grooming. You will spend a lot of time grooming and shearing. These chores are not optional and your rabbit’s survival depends on you keeping them clean, matt-free, and free of loose shed hairs. If they groom themselves and ingest loose hairs, they could die of “wool block” within days.
• Loss and heartache. This goes with raising any animal. Sometimes you will do all you can and an animal will still get sick and die. And sometimes you will make a mistake and an animal will die because of your incompetence. We don’t like to admit it, but none of us are perfect at this. The more animals you add to your homestead, the more you will experience death. It’s all part of the territory of animal husbandry. These are the days when you will really want to quit.

Conclusion

On that cheerful note, I will conclude. Raising angora rabbits has been very rewarding to me. It’s definitely not a get rich quick scheme. In fact, I have not made a profit yet. (The main reason for that is I keep buying cool fiber art equipment….) But I have harvested pounds and pounds of beautiful angora fiber. I’ve dyed it, blended it, spun it, sold it, knitted it, felted it, and woven it. My garden is fertilized with piles and piles of rabbit manure. I’ve raised many baby rabbits, and that brings me a lot of joy. I’ve been responsible and culled when necessary, even though I hate it. And I’ve made some delicious, healthy rabbit meat meals for my family.

Angora rabbits can produce a small income for a farm. They are easier to handle than large animals, and require less space. Their fiber is luxurious, clean, and ready to craft with or sell. Angora rabbits are a great choice for a small farm.

I’m currently writing a blog post about my best tips and equipment for raising angora rabbits, so be sure to stick around. Get a sneak peek of the work involved with angora rabbits in the video below!