English Angora Size
How big do they get? That is one of the most common questions I am asked by people new to the breed. An English Angora in a full show coat can be a very impressive sight and from that sight, one can easily conclude that these must be large sized rabbits. However they are not. Underneath that massive coat, a properly bred English Angora should have a short, tight, and compact body. Their heads are supposed to be broad with a wide and flat face which can add to the illusion, suggesting that there should be a large body behind that broad face.
English Angoras are considered a medium size breed. The ARBA standard for the English Angora calls for adult males to be 5 - 7 lbs and adult females 5.5 - 7.5 lbs. Keep in mind that this includes the weight of that impressive show coat which can weight around half a pound. Once you shave off all that wool, they can look surprisingly small, even shockingly small to some people who are used to imagining these animals as giant balls of fluff.
To give you a bit of a size comparison and perspective, I decided to take some pictures of a couple of my English Angoras next to Aiko, my chubby Mini Rex. At the time these pictures were taken, Aiko moved the scale to a whopping 4 lbs 9 oz. That's 1 oz over the limit for her breed standard but while Aiko is a bit too chunky for the show table, she is a perfect representative of the general size of most pet quality Mini Rexes. She is also similar in size to a Holland Lop, another very popular pet breed.
First up, here is Aiko next to Elway, a Black Tort buck. He weights in at 6 lbs and 10 oz and has about an inch and a half of coat on him. He would look even smaller if he had a shorter haircut. When you look at them from the side, their bodies are fairly similar in size. However when you look at them from the front, his head looks ginormous compared to Aiko's dainty little face. You can also see in the frontal view that she is disappearing into his coat. They are standing right next to each other and their bodies are touching. That's just how much his coat puffs out.
Next up, here is Bianca. Bianca is a REW (Ruby Eyed White) doe who weights 5 lbs and 12 oz. Her coat is about an inch long but isn't as dense as Elway's. Bianca could almost hide behind Aiko if only she tucked her head down and maybe wore a head band to keep all those fly away floofs hidden.
Here is another size comparison, Bianca next to a standard can of pop.
Finally, here is one of Bianca's 8wk old babies next to that same can of pop. This baby weights a little over 2 lbs and should grow up to be about the same size as her mom.
