Giant angora mix?

[messybun]

So, does anyone know what would happen if you mixed an angora with a Flemish giant? Flemish tend to have corse hair compared to other rabbits, at least mine did, but what would happen if you crossed them? Would you get a giant with usable fiber or unusable fiber you’d have to shear? Has anyone done this before?

 

[Kusanar]

I THINK that the wool gene is recessive so you probably wouldn't get a lot of fluff from a cross.

 

[wolf]

I would think crossing, and then line-breeding for what you want out of those offspring - would eventually get you what you want. That's a big rabbit with usable fiber, right? I'd think you'd get big offspring with that first cross, and maybe a few will have some "sign" they're carrying the fiber-gene you want - then cross those offspring and select again out of those to mate with each other. Never hurts to try. Ages ago, I had one Cochin-hen to act as a broody, when I started with Peruvian Araucanas - because I wasn't sure if the Araucanas would set their own eggs. Then one day, holding a bisque-colored egg in my hand, I wondered to myself "Hmmm... wonder what's in here?" She was my only Cochin and all my roos were Araucana - so I popped 'em in my incubator, just to see... First hatch I got chicks that were rumpless, had ear-tufts, AND the feathered feet! First attempt - never would'a guessed! So who knows? Maybe you'll get lucky - or maybe you'll have to put in a few generations of work. Would be cool! Can always freezer-camp the ones that don't make your criteria.

 

[messybun]

I’m not able to have rabbits right now, mom's allergic and my outdoor ones have really not done well, or I would have already. So I’m on here for my rabbit fix lol. And I wondered because can you just imagine long-eared hopping sheep?

 

[Niele da Kine]

To get the long wool of an angora, you need a double recessive 'll' gene. (That's two lower case 'L's) First generation they would all be shorthaired but they would all have the ability to have longhaired offspring. HOWEVER, the resulting F2 longhaired offspring later would most likely be a disaster.

I've run across a couple of NZ 'angoras' because a lot of the meat breeders will add in some angora to get a denser coat on their meat & pelt buns. Occasionally, one would show up with the longer wool, not just the denser short coat. They didn't have the full angora coat structure, though, so all they did was mat up. Before they were even finished being groomed, they'd start matting up. I've only met two of them, which is a small sampling so maybe it will work out better for you with a Flemish instead of a NZ.

I've tried an angora x angora cross (English angora crossed with a 1/2 Satin - 1/2 German) and the offspring from that had matting issues, too. Unless there's some sort of really compelling reason to cross breed, I'd not recommend it, There is a Giant angora breed out there if you want a large fiber producing rabbit.

Although, if you're willing to cull heavily and eat a lot of rabbit, maybe you could get a Flemish angora breed. Which type of angora would you use? There's a Giant, which is already large although their fiber isn't the softest. The French & Satin have the fiber that makes a lot of halo when spun into yarn. Not the softest, but has a lovely halo. The Satin has the Satin sheen to it, that's a lovely thing. The English have the softest fiber, although not a lot of halo and they're the smallest of the regular angora breeds. There's the German which is larger angora breed, as well as the Chinese angora which is the coarser 'commercial' type of angora fiber.

 

[messybun]

I didn’t know that giant angoras already existed!
I like the idea of a French cross. It does make me wonder about crossing with an astrex animal for matting. I know my curly bun doesn’t Matt like the other lion heads did, but she has the softest fur. It also sticks together well when I just groom. Curly Flemish would probably be harder to fine with their naturally coarse fur, but it’s a thought.
I love the face tufts of the English, but their hair seems like it would definitely be too much of a pain. It would be interesting to see how the genes would play out.

 

[Ajohnson1124]

I breed my Flemish Giant female with my Giant Angora male and they had beautiful babies. From what I’ve seen so far in the past 4 months the Flemish (gene) has been more dominant. From what I’ve been told their fur can change multiple times in the 1st year. The size is unbelievable, male mixes are already bigger than both parents.