I've noticed some trends here as the girls breed and sell their rabbits, a total of twenty rabbits so far. Here is the run down on who buys French angoras, in our limited experience.
One trend, of course, is expected. And that is that spinners buy angora rabbits to have their own supply of fabulous angora fiber to spin. Nine of the twenty have been sold to people who identify primarily as spinners.
What has been surprising to me is the number of homeschoolers who buy French angoras. Another nine of the twenty have been sold to people/families who identify primarily as homeschoolers. I think it's because homeschoolers tend to be a bit more practical as a group and like to see their "pets" have a practical purpose in life besides companionship. Not that companionship is not important--it's just that pets can be so much more than just companions. And homeschool families also aren't worried about the time commitment of caring for an angora rabbit. (Not that there is a huge time commitment--it's really not more than 2-5 minutes more per week than for their short-haired counterparts.) But because life revolves around the home, there isn't the concern that a busy schedule will result in neglect of the rabbit.
One was sold primarily as a pet. Because of a very slight, but critical, defect he could not be a show bunny.
In all of this, however, there is usually at least one secondary reason for choosing a French angora rabbit. Twelve of the bunnies went to homes where they will be involved in 4-H. Based on my conversations with the new owners, I suspect that at least six of our rabbits are becoming part of the urban homestead or prepping trend. At an average weight of nine pounds, French angoras are considered a dual purpose rabbit. Also, rabbits are the most efficient of animals at converting feed to meat, and rabbit manure is fabulous for the garden. They fit in very well with the prepping lifestyle.
Where do we fall? Pretty much all of the above.
French angoras are the quintessential rabbit.
We heard back from one of our buyers. I had counter her as a non-homeschooler, but I found out I was wrong. So there you have it--50% of our buyers are homeschoolers.
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