The hair of a rabbit can be divided into three types: "longer, rectrix guard hairs, stiff at the base; the more numerous tectrix barbed hairs forming the magor part of the coat, which share a hair follicle with the third type-the shorter hairs making up the undercoat." Colloquially, these types are called •
guide hairs: external hairs, long and rough •
guard hairs (also called "barbes"): four guard hairs surround each guide hair, sealing the coat •
down: make up 90–95% of rabbit hair; they are very short and barely visible, and serve to insulate the rabbit. A
selectively bred rabbit from the 1900s, the
Rex rabbit, has guard hairs of the same length as the down, but this is an atypical recessive trait that is relatively rare in wild rabbits. Rabbit hair is commonly considered a byproduct of the ordinary process of breeding rabbits for meat, and as such is manufactured in vast quantities in
England and
France; more than seventy million
pelts a year in France alone. However, the quality of fur from these rabbits tends to be low, as the rabbits are slaughtered before reaching twelve weeks old and still have the infant coat. The lower quality hair is sometimes used for felt. In temperate climates, the highest quality furs are obtained in winter from rabbits over five months old, when the thickness of the fur is even; at other times of year, varying degrees of hair shedding causes uneven patches in the fur. The coat is also at its thickest at this time of year. The highest quality pelts are suitable for
clothing, and typically constitute less than half of all pelts collected. The hair of the
Angora rabbit is plucked or shaved and used as fiber, rather than as pelts. Rabbit fur products have a tendency to shed more easily than some other furs and might not have the same longevity. ==Use in the fur trade==