Satin Angora – information and facts about the Satin Angora Rabbit Breed. Learn more about Satin Angora Rabbits in this article. Breed photos are included.
Considered as the royalty of the Angoras, Satin Angora is a product of the crossbreeding between a Satin and a French Angora. Named after the high sheen of its wool, which is usually described as “satinized”, the Satin Angora has a hair shaft that has a semi-transparent outer shell. This results in a light reflection of a deep color, high luster, and soft texture of its wool.
The satinized wool of a Satin Angora is what distinguishes it from the rest of the Angora rabbits. The Satin coat is produced by a recessive gene, which causes the hair pigment’s casing to be translucent in order for the light to pass through. On the contrary, a normal fur would just be opaque. Another effect of the Satin gene is reducing the size of the diameter of each hair, smaller than that of the normal wool. In effect, the Satin Angora takes pride for having the finest wool of any rabbit breed. While it produces les wool than the other rabbit breeds, many breeders think that the wool’s special texture is enough to make up for the small volume.
Satin Angora Rabbit Facts
1. History
During the late 1930s and early 1940s, John C. Fehr, a legendary rabbit breed, developed the first Satin Angora. However, the wool of the breed turned out to be so fine, prompting him to stop the project with the idea that it might now have any commercial value.
Another breeder from Canada, named Leopoldina Meyer, is cited for developing the Satin Angora breed that we have in the status quo. After obtaining a Satin that has longer-than-the-normal fur, she crossed the breed to a French Angora.
After years of selective breeding, the American Rabbit Breeders Association accepted the rabbit breed that she developed in the year 1987.
2. Characteristics and Appearance
A Satin Angora would weigh from 6.6 to 9.9 pounds (3-4.5 kg). Basically, the standard calls for a size smaller than 9 ½ pounds.
Satin Angora closely resembles the French Angora in many aspects. Starting with the size, both the Satin Angora and the French Angora belong to the large side of four-class rabbits. Both of them also have a commercial body type.
Similar to the French Angora, the Satin Angora has no furnishings in the face, ears, or feet. These areas are clean, which means that they are covered with the normal fur instead of the wool. Because of this, rabbits that have heavy furnishings on the ears, or wool found below the breed’s ankle or hock, are disqualified. This close resemblance poses a problem for youth breed ID contestants. However, there are major points of reference to fully distinguish a French Angora to a Satin Angora.
Firstly, the Satin Angora is slightly smaller compared to the French, having only a maximum weight of 9 ½ pounds. The French Angora could weigh as much as 10 ½ pounds. While the broken color pattern is being recognized in French Angoras, this is not the case for Satins.
Satins have a sheen that is difficult to see in the wool. The head and ears would be good places for identification of the rabbit’s color since in these areas the wool is dense and short. In terms of pigmentation, each hair on the head would be packed with the same amount of pigment, and being spread out over the 2-5 inch long wool fibers.
Aside from these comparisons, the Satin Angora is also easy to groom especially when compared to the English Angora.
While the soft texture of the fur is beautiful, it also makes matting an issue to factor, which is why daily combing is recommended, it not necessary. The wool of a Satin Angora is of high quality. It is softer than that of a French Angora. It’s strong enough that it is deemed to be stronger for spinning compared to the other Angora varieties, although it also has to be accounted that it gets more difficult to spin with the Satin Angora’s wool as it is more slippery.
The accepted varieties for Satin Angora are agouti, pointed white, self, shades, sicked, and wide band.
Satin Angoras are shown at ARBA shows using the types “white” and “colored”. The broken variety was not yet approved. The toenails of the rabbits should also have consistency in the color. Generally, Satin Angora’s color is determined by the color of its head, feet, and tail, all of them having the same color.
Despite the appreciation for its lustrous fur, Satin Angora does not produce as much amount of wool compared to the other Angora breeds. Through the process of selective breeding, Satin Angoras are improved in order to produce more wool. Other than that, the goal of achieving a silky texture, high luster, with good guard hair foe ease of maintenance, is also being highly factored in.
3. Personality and Traits
Satin Angoras are gentle and friendly minded. They are also described as robust and attentive. Satin Angoras, with their good temperament, can also be excellent pets to have. And with more acquaintance to its owners, as well as to other people, they can be sociable and interactive.
Satin Angoras will not be considered as the royalty of the Angoras for no reason. They are incredibly beautiful with a unique appearance. Sure enough, the Satin Angora has made paved its own history in the rabbit industry.