Blowing Coats

--another post from the old blog:

I blew out ALOT of coats today in preparation for this Saturday's show, so I thought I would write something about this subject tonight since the use of this particular piece of equipment is a fundamental part of angora husbandry today:).

First of all, before I begin, blowers are NOT necessary to raise healthy angoras. It is perfectly acceptable never to use anything but a slicker brush on your bunnies, provided you don't mind the work and the extra time it may take to get a brush down to the bottom of the densest coats. Also, it is not 100% necessary to even purchase a 'standard' blower since something like a shop vac on reverse flow will work just as well, and is far less expensive. Some breeders use a blow dryer on the cool setting, and while this will fluff up the coat somewhat, it is unlikely that it will penetrate down to the roots, which is the function for which a blower is designed to begin with.

I own a standard 4.0 HP Metro Airforce Commander model blower with the high/low speed setting available from Klubertanz and most other cage companies. I use the Low speed for Junior coats, and the High Speed for seniors. When I want to blow out an FA coat, I place the rabbit on the grooming table (after brushing the underside of the bunny by hand first with the slicker), and then I turn on the blower while holding the nozzle straight up in the air and away from the rabbit for the first few seconds. This gives the bunny time to get accustomed to the noise (especially if it is young or has not been blown out often). As soon as we are ready, I turn the nozzle onto the backside of the rabbit directly above the tail and concentrate on blowing that area out first. I hold the nozzle at least 6-10 inches away from the wool so that the airflow does not blow the coat "in" on itself, and I hold it over any webbed areas until the sections "melt apart" and I can see the skin clearly. The purpose of blowing is to untangle a coat clear down to the skin, invigorate the skin, and blow off any loose wool that is stuck to the coat to keep it clean, open, and lively looking.

The parts of a coat that you will find need the most attention are the shoulders, dewlap (front and sides), rear end above the tail, and the skirting (base of the coat), especially in the armpit areas. Be sure to keep your showbunnies ivomeced during the show season or employ some other method of mite control to avoid complicating grooming, and keep up with a regular schedule once you start.

There are many different methods of using the blower, but I usually begin right above the tail, and then work my way around the skirting of the bunny on both sides. The bottoms of an FA coat are the most critical to keep straight and untangled, to avoid creating the illusion of an uneven coat and disrupting the characteristic oval shape of the breed. You always want to pay very strict attention to the 'baseline' of an FA when you are grooming:).

After concentrating on the bottom half of the rabbit, you then want to move up both sides of the coat 'line by line' until you finish up at the very top of the coat-----at the wool along the spine. Always hold one hand over the bunny's head and ears as you blow to avoid upset and keep the rabbit from jumping off the table (which does happen with FAs from time to time, particularly the younger ones:( ). Once you've finished, turn the blower off and flick off loose strands that remain with the slicker or steel comb. At some point you may also want to go over the baseline again with the slicker brush to straighten out any bunched up areas and make the wool even all around. All in all the entire grooming process should take no longer than 15 minutes----5 minutes for the underside, 5 minutes to blow out the topcoat, and (maybe) another 5 to go over the tips with the brush and comb.

As to how often to blow out an FA, that is something I am still experimenting with:). This breed can certainly get along with very little or NO blowing at all, but it also depends on the rabbit, the density of your coats, and your personal care preference. I recently heard that blowing a coat frequently will NOT dry it out, so blowing more often likely won't do damage provided you give each bunny about a 5 minute blast, and stay on top of your coats so that nothing gets irreversibly matted in the first place:).

SO anyway, I guess that's about it for today. As always this entry is just my own personal opinion and many other excellent breeders have methods of caring for their coats that work as well or better than what I have presented here:). The next time I do some blowing I will see if I can find an assistant to take some photographs of the process, LOL, and then maybe post them here as an addendum to the original 'Grooming Demo'.