About Jersey Woolies
♥ "The Fluff of the Fancy" ♥
The first Jersey Wooly was introduced at the 1984 ARBA Convention in Orlando, Florida by Bonnie Seeley of Highbridge, NJ. In 1988 at the A.R.B.A. Convention, in Madison, Wisconsin, it became a recognized breed.
Bonnie originally developed the breed in order to produce a small pet rabbit with wool that was easy to care for. Today, the Jersey Wooly is that and much more, as one of the most popular breeds of rabbits exhibited around the country with a club membership
of over 700 worldwide.
Info & Picture Credits
General Type Description: Information & pictures are from the NJWRC Guide Book and the ARBA Standard of Perfection.
Jersey Wooly Wool: Special Thanks so Susie from Wooly World Rabbitry and Amber from Wonder Woolies Rabbitry! Great info and photos!!!
Showing: Information from the NJWRC Guide Book and the ARBA Standard of Perfection.
Recognized Varities: All images are from the NJWRC site. Each photo has its own credit to the breeder.
Breeding: This information is from Brightsides Woolies Rabbitry
General Type Description
Jersey Wooly Wool
Drag & drop image right above the address bar or Right click, properties and copy/paste link in addres bar to see bigger image
Good guard hair, texture, length.
Lacks in underwool. You can see he has the guard hairs, and that too gives him texture, but without good underwool you lack in density.
Good guard hairs protect the tons of density and underwool she has.
Circled, you can see the crimping in the wool. Some judges DO look for this!
He was dense, but way too cottony for his age, lacked guard hairs, matted at skin.
Showing
General Type .......................58
Body ............30
Head ............16
Ears ............10
Eyes ............2
Feet & Legs......0
WOOL .....................................27
Texture ............14
Density ............8
Length ............5
COLOR ..................................10
CONDITION ............................5
Total Points ........................100
Show Room Classes and Weights
Senior Bucks and Does --
6 months of age and older, not over 3½. Ideal weight 3 pounds
Junior Bucks and Does --
Under 6 months of age, maximum weight 3 pounds. Minimum weight 1½ pounds.
Breed Wool
White and Colored classes
NOTE: No animal may be shown in a higher age classification than its true age. No animal may be shown in a lower age classification than its true age.
Recognized Varieties
The Wooly is shown is groups!
(Pictures: Help from NJWRC)
AGOUTI
Chestnut:
Owner: Cavalcade of Cottontails
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Chinchilla:
Owner: Jodi Oswald
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Opal:
Owner: Roseline Bunnies
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Squirrel:
Owner: JD Farms
AOV (Any Other Variety)
Pointed White (Black):
Photographer: Pat Hanbery
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Pointed White (Blue):
BROKEN Brokens are accepted in any variety that is recognized, provided it Photographer: Pat Hanbery SELF
has the appropriate characteristics; Eyes, ears, nose and body color,
no less the 10% and no more then 50%.
Black:
Owner: Fancy Furballs'
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Blue:
Owner: Hare We Go Again!
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Chocolate:
Owner: Marcia Hinkelmann
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Lilac:
Owner: Summer Breeze
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Ruby Eyed White (BEW):
Owner: Hare We Go Again!
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Blue Eyed White (REW):
Photographer: Pat Hanbery
SHADED
Siamese Sable:
Owner: Hare We Go Again!
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Smoke Pearl:
Photographer: Pat Hanbery
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Seal:
Owner: Tessa Erb
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Sable Point:
Owner: Leapin' Laura's Jersey Woolies
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Tortoise Shell (Tort.):
Owner: Hare We Go Again!
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Blue Tort:
Owner: Hare We Go Again!
TAN
Black Otter:
Owner: Fuzzykritters
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Blue Otter:
Owner: Sugar Creek Farm
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Black Silver Marten:
Owner: Bunnies of the Meadows
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Blue Silver Marten:
Owner: Fuzzy Critters Rabbitry
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Chocolate Silver Marten:
Photographer: Pat Hanbery
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Lilac Silver Marten:
Owner: Amy Masterson
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Sable Marten:
Owner: Tessa Erb
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Smoke Pearl Marten:
Owner: Tessa Erb
Breeding
All breedings here begin at the kitchen table, where we take a look at the pedigrees and decide who will be bred to whom. It is a good idea to consider sticking with a program of linebreeding animals which all go back to the same outstanding ancestors. Staying within this family for the most part will give you better and more predictable results than "outcrossing" rabbits from several different lines. An occasional outcross will insure keeping a certain degree of "hybrid vigor" in your herd, however, so should not be out of the question…you might consider bringing in a rabbit from another line which has strength where your lines have a weakness. |
Also look at color genetics. For most new breeders it is best to stay with color crosses that will ensure the highest amount of "showable" varieties in the litters. We usually stick with breeding: ◊ Selfs to: selfs, shadeds, tans, and (sometimes) agouti and pointed ◊ Shaded to: shadeds, selfs, and (sometimes) tans, ◊ Pointed to: pointeds or selfs (preferably blacks and blues), ◊ Tans to: tans, selfs, or (smoke pearl or siamese sable) shadeds, ◊ Agoutis to: agoutis, selfs (rews, blacks) ◊ And always BEW to BEW only! ("blue-eyed white") Crossing agoutis to shaded or pointed may give you "martinized" (with ticking and white markings) shadeds and pointeds. BEW crossed to anything but BEW will give you babies with white splotches in various places ("Dutch" markings). Neither of these would be showable. Of course these are not the only crosses you can make, and the top breeders sometimes make some wild crosses with an eye toward what they'll see in a couple generations down the road. But for us, with limited space, these are the crosses we usually stick with so we can depend on the results. |
It is wise to take a good look at the animals' strengths and weaknesses. Try to match a breeding pair that will balance each other out to produce better offspring than themselves. For instance, take long ears to short ears, narrow heads to broad heads, long bodies to compact bodies, etc.
You need to be sure that at least one of the parents is a dwarf animal. (Under 3.5 pounds for Woolies) It is common to use non-dwarf brood does in a breeding program. They have less breeding problems and have larger litters. But if you breed a big old brood doe to a big old buck, all you'll get will be big old bunnies! Breeding dwarfs to non-dwarfs will give you 50% dwarfs, and 50% non-dwarfs, statistically. Breeding dwarfs to dwarfs will give you 50% dwarfs, 25% non-dwarfs, and 25% lethal double-dwarfs ("peanuts"). |
Prefix
Our prefix is now "Breezy's"
Recent News
- OCTOBER/NOVEMBER -
I updated the pictures of the Percy X Brandy litter! Check out the nursery page to see my cute little Chickadee baby! :D
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We are getting rid of quite a few woolies and other bunnies. Most are pets, but some are for showing. I have a black junior buck and my orange netherland for sale.
We are going to be breeding self, pointed white and possibly the occasional shaded. We are also going to get a hold of a chestnut to start our agoutis up again. :)