Livestock achievement
P and P animals!P and P animal ... no technical term, but one that occurred to me when designing this site and thinking about the question "What does represent the German Angora?" ... Pet and Productive animal simultaneously - because I have never experienced "stable rabbits” that are so friendly, trustful and calm when you deal with them, such as the Angora. It is very interesting to find how persistently one Angora looks for goodies in the pocket when sitting on the lap, even though it was never socialized as, for example, a dwarf rabbit that lives in the apartment. This tame and quiet nature is owned by all Angoras and it is founded by the fact that the most uncomplicated animals were the easiest to shear and still are. A fidget on the shear desk was simply not viable and has been excluded from breeding. Why I describe Angoras as performance animals should be clear ... it has ever since been known as the "Queen of rabbit breeds” and the most economical rabbit at all because it is the only rabbit that provides his owner a yield in the form of wool during his lifetime ...
WoolThe wool – outstanding performance of each Angora. The German Angora rabbit wool is with 5-16 microns finer than that of the Merino lambs or Alpacas. It should have a share of about 3% of kemps (stronger guard hair) as they play a supporting role. The wool is growing continuously, so that the rabbit needs to be shorn every 10-12 weeks. The wool is then about 6-8 centimetres long and -as the pro says- ripe. Overripe wool felts very quickly and it is not good for the animal to have the wool longer than necessary. With an appropriate diet and regular shearing a yield of up to 1500-2000g of wool per year can be assumed! An Alpaca brings in a yield of about 4 kilograms of wool.
At regular intervals Angora performance exams are conducted to have control over how the performance in the breed develops under constant conditions. For more information, just use search like google.
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MeatThe Angora rabbit does not only set records with a view to its wool, but is also relating to meat quality and carcass yield multiple "champion". Of course it will be for one or the other strange that one in terms of an endangered animal breed also talks about slaughter, but that has always belonged to the rabbit, too ... Breeding, and also conservation breeding, means that the animals have to match the standard and all related requirements. Therefore, these animals are also used as it was from the beginning, the really good to remain for breeding or for wool production and the less suitable to be fattened. But now to get to the point ... When testing the "carcass yield and meat quality" of different rabbit breeds, the German Angora was able to achieve remarkable results und outshines the well-known breeds such as the Vienna Blue or high yielding hybrid breeds like the Zika rabbit. Angora meat is with an averaged shear force of 2.2 kilograms by far the most tender rabbit meat at all. As a comparison, for the Vienna Blue it was 3.8 kilograms, for the Zika 3.2 and for the Dutch 3.3 kilograms.
With a carcass yield of 56% and an average carcass weight of 1900g, the Angora plays in the top league (Zika had the best yield with 56.8%!). Also, the low and evenly distributed fat content of meat and the lowest loss at drip and grill (roughly speaking, the weight loss during the preparation of the meat at all) allows the German Angora to leave the ring as the winner when animal achievement in the area of meat production is compared! More detailed information about Angora and meat can be found here (in German):
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