| The life of a Wooly's coat |
| By Laura Sturdevant A Jersey Wooly will go through many coats as it matures, beginning with its junior coat, then molting, and after several months, will emerge with a prime senior coat. If an owner is lucky, the coat will not be lost to the summer heat and molting to quickly, and the rabbit will have it's day on the table to show it's beautiful coat. The young juniors will begin to be shown at around 8 to 10 weeks with a very smooth, nicely textured, junior coat. It will be somewhat shorter and smoother then the more matured juniors, but should not be overly "frizzy" and flyaway. The coat at 8 to 12 weeks will lie nicely and have a heavier topcoat. Although not as course as a senior, you should be able feel and see the texture at this point A prime junior coat is generally found between the ages of 12 to 15 weeks of age. The color at this age will be very good, and should show excellent color and texture for a junior. This coat, as it ages, will go through several changes. The first sign of molting for a junior will be seen in the head. The nose, eyes and ear bases will molt and will grow in new wool very quickly, because it is so short. This is usually accompanied with, or followed by “blowing the wool cap”, which is when junior will lose it’s “wool cap”, usually all at once, leaving a very funny looking bunny staring back at you. This will be followed by the junior coat dying off; stretching out, drying out and will become “frizzy.” A new coat will be growing in at this age, and should emerge within a few months. By blowing into the coat, you may see tell-tail signs of a new coat emerging at the base of the old coat. Once the juniors hit this stage, usually past 15 to 16 weeks, they are left home to molt out the "baby" coat. Some breeders have recommended plucking the coat out as it dies and reaches this stage, others clip it, and other do nothing. There are pros and cons to each, and that decision remains with each breeder. Colors on the coats will also go through changes as the coat ages. A beautiful coat with nice color and intensity will be the newer coats, those in prime condition. This stage of a Woolies coat generally lasts for only 1 to 3 months. After that stage, when the coats begin to die, they will fade, dry out and look frizzy and dead. The colors and intensity will be lost, and it’s course texture will be replaced with frizzy dead wool. A REW or Pointed will show their worth at this point as they have no color on the body to fade and look “dead”, so they tend to show longer then the colored varieties. Differnt color groups do, as a generally accepted fact, tend to have longer or shorter coats. Agoutis have a shorter coat, and will have a coarser texture. REW's tend to have the longest coats. Regarless of the variety, the standards call for a minimum of 1 1/2" in lengh, allowing for a shorter wool on the underside. 3" is the idea lenght of coat. The lenght is to be measured to the tips of the guardhair. Each rabbit has its own predetermined way of molting, some will molt out the guard hair, and later molt the under coat, while others will molt everything at once, be totally naked, and leave you with the “Michigan Hairless” rabbit. Some will molt so lightly that they can continue being shown. Those are few and far between though. Regardless of what stage the coat is in, matting, webbing and cleanliness should be considered as part of the overall coat. Together, they give the Jersey Wooly the appearance that sets them apart from all other breeds. |
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