I have two seven week old litters of rabbit kits right now, one are purebred Californians and one are Creme d’argent/Californian hybrids. The hybrid kits are actually a day younger than the Cals.

Well today was sexing and weighing day. Visually, the purebred kits were a lot smaller to me. I have heard that Cals can look smaller while still making weight so I was interested to see the results. Both litters have been on the same diet, with the Cals being a litter of 8 and the hybrids a litter of 9.

Well, chalk another one up for hybrid vigor because the mixed kits are a LOT bigger than the purebreds.

Californian kit weights: 918g (buck), 952g (doe), 966g (buck), 975g (doe), 1015g (buck), 1035g (buck), 1077g (buck) and 1098g (doe). Average weight per kit: 1005g.

Hybrid Cal/Creme kit weights: 1127g (buck), 1153g (doe), 1180g (doe), 1229g (doe), 1270g (doe), 1287g (doe), 1327g (doe), 1346g (buck) and 1357g (doe). Average weight per kit: 1253g. That’s 248g more than the Cals who are a day older. That’s nearly half a pound heavier each!