female rabbit pulling off fur from male

Question
I have a pair of angora rabbits, which we keep outside in the cage in a 3ft(H) X 6ft (L) X 3ft(W) cage.  About 3-4 days a week I open the cage door and let it played outside in the garden.  This morning I notice that the female rabbit pulled out the fur of the male one, and there are already a considerably big patch of exposed skin.  We do have vet in my country but they are more for dogs, cats
and farm animal. Please advise me on this matter.  Thank you.

Answer
Hi Liza
How big is the patch? Is there anything underneath it? No scabs or anything, flaky skin? If a pair is fighting then they will sometimes pull fur out. When I had my pair living together I eventually had to separate them because when my doe was pregnant, she wanted nothing to do with the male bunny and was trying to drive him away from the nest. They would also pee and poop in front of the cage rather than going in their litter box. They are marking their territory. How do you know that your female isn't pregnant? It is preferable to separate them because rabbits can become impregnated twice because of the shape of the uterus. Sometimes when two bunnies live together, she'll mate with him and end up with an exceptionally large litter, quite often the rabbits body can't distinguish which bunnies should be born and which ones aren't ready and she'll have them all. Half the litter will be dead from being overdue and exposed to higher concentrations of feces in the uterus. Just like people. But then there will be a few babies who may be alive, but not for long because they are underdeveloped. The lungs aren't ready, just like in preemie babies. So if you want them to have a successful litter, then make sure they aren't related. I have heard mixed stories on this one but found out the hard way when I was young that litters with sibling rabbits quite often don't survive. If you are trying to have a litter, then put the male in a neutral room with the female since she is showing definite signs of territorial. Female rabbits are very territorial. Does she ever go after your hand when you change her bedding.. almost every female rabbit Ive had has displayed this form of aggressiveness at some point. Living with the buck seems to be bothering her to have ripped out that much hair. The female will chase him and mount him to assert her dominance. When they mount each other, they sometimes grab onto the fur with her teeth. Ive picked up quite a few chunks of hair over the years, so its not uncommon. And if theres no indication of another injury, the fur will grow back in about a month.
How long have you had these bunnies.. are they about 6 months old.. this would be the right timing if your bunnies are reaching sexual maturity. Females mature slower than males and the larger the breed, the slower it is for them to mature, so maybe theyre 8 months... under a year I am guessing...
So my suggestion would be to separate them, put a barrier if you can in the pen outside. As for the female angora, you can palpitate her belly to see if she is pregnant. Run your hand along the center of her chest down to just above her genitals. If you feel solid hard balls inside her, then you can bet on a litter. Chances are as well that an angora bunny might have a litter of about 10 bunnies. I answered a few previous questions on breeding and the health of the bunnies. So, if you do find a bundle of surprises, then read up on those.
Thank you Liza,

Alice