Found this little six-day-old Californian kit out of the nestbox today so decided to carry him around while I did my chores to warm him up. He snuggled right into my hand contentedly. So cute.
Category Archives: rabbits
Californian/Creme d’Argent Hybrid Kit Colors
At two days old it’s obvious that the Californian and Creme d’Argent hybrid litter are not all agouti. There are a few agoutis in there but the majority of kits are pure black. Not what I was expecting at all.
The explanation I found is that Californian rabbits are actually genetically black, despite their predominantly white pelts. Rabbit genetics are so interesting.
Hot-Pink Kits Mellow Out
It’s day two for these purebred Californian kits and they have already lost their shocking magenta tone. The white fur is developing very fast and gives them a much more pleasant appearance. They remind me of tiny piglets.
First Californian/Creme d’Argent Hybrid Litter
Right on schedule, we have our very first Californian and Creme d’Argent hybrid litter. Esther did a fantastic job as usual and kindled nine healthy kits in the box. Not to mention she pulled enough fur for ten nests.
Strangely enough, the kits from this litter appear to be almost identical in coloration to the Creme d’Argent and Silver Marten hybrid litters. I find this unusual because our Silver Martens are black but Californians are white! It will certainly be interesting if they all turn out to be agouti colored like the other hybrid kits. Time will tell!
Hybrid Kit Weights – 7 Weeks
These are just the loveliest kits, so sweet and friendly. Here are the recorded weights for week seven: 1332g, 1309g, 1239g, 1233g, 1192g, 1160g, 1121g and 995g. Total weight of 9581g (almost 10 kilos). That’s an increase from last week of 1471g. The doe I’m considering keeping is 1239g.
First Californian Litter
Newborn Californian kits
Today marks the date of our very first purebred Californian litter. It was also Samphire and Scorch’s first litter and things couldn’t have gone more smoothly.
Samphire ripped her prepared nest box to shreds when it was put in (I should have known better than to line it with a paper feed bag!) and so I replaced the shredded bag with a new cardboard liner and she went to work getting it cozy. I use wire nest boxes so they need a new liner every time to hold the wood chips and straw inside.
Yesterday afternoon I noticed that she had started pulling fur, which is a first here. Generally all the moms here pull fur immediately before kindling and not a minute sooner. Fur in the nest box means kits in the nest box. I was pretty sure from all this motherly activity that Sam was going to do a great job.
Today I woke up to eight very pink and fat looking kits, all born in the nest box. There was one uneaten placenta that needed to be removed and a few kits had some scratches on them, but other than that things went perfectly. Now if I could only get the person who sold me these rabbits to finally give me their pedigrees. I’ve paid for them and I would like to have them, it’s been months now without any reply. Very frustrating.
Esther, my Creme d’Argent, was also bred to Scorch at the same time, but she has a habit of kindling on day 32. She looks huge, so most likely we will have even more new kits tomorrow. Yay!
Hybrid Kit Weights – Week 6
Boy it’s getting hot out. The hybrid kits have now been moved outside to their own pen because their mom is due to kindle in about a week. If all goes as planned it will be our first hybrid Creme d’Argent/Californian litter. In the meantime these guys seem more than happy to get out of the barn into the fresh air.
Here are the recorded weights for this week: 1088g, 1077g, 1073g, 1059g, 1056g, 983g, 966g and 808g. That’s a total of about 8 kilos (8110g) and overall increase from last week of 2659g. Nice! These kits at six weeks are pretty much the size of some of my smaller, purebred Silver Marten kits at ten weeks!
Poultry Swap Day
Well, the rabbits were packed up and trucked off to the swap this morning. As I predicted, there were plenty of admirers but no buyers. I did give out my number to a few people though, which will hopefully translate to some sales later on.
There were lots of things on offer, it was probably the best-attended swap I’ve been to so far, even though it was rainy. I managed to pick up a few excellent new additions to the homestead and only spent a grand total of $56.
My first purchase was something I’ve been wanting for a long time… Homing pigeons. Ok, I did want fantail pigeons, but I needed birds that could occupy the upper quadrant of the chicken pen and fantails are not great fliers. Plus, with homing pigeons you can drive them miles away and let them go and they find their way home. You can’t have that kind of fun with a fantail!
My five new homers
The second purchase was a pair of chocolate Muscovy ducklings. I know, the last thing I need is more ducklings but I really want the chocolate color, so hopefully they will stay on as breeders. The other, older ducklings will probably all be going to freezer camp at the 12 week mark, around the beginning of August.
Third purchase was another long-time desire of mine… Barred Rock chickens! Barred Rocks were the breed I wanted first when I moved here, but somehow it never worked out. Today I purchased a young pullet and cockerel pair from a lovely little girl who told me they have been kissed goodnight every day since they were born. They certainly are very friendly birds. I’m going to try making my version of a “No-Crow” collar for the rooster to see if it actually works. It’s just a little fabric collar that goes around the neck and prevents the rooster from getting a full big breath of air to let out a big crow. I’m skeptical but it sure would be awesome to hatch out my own chicken chicks!
My final purchase for $6 was a dozen pastel green Ameraucana hatching eggs. They’ll be going into the incubator with the latest clutch of quail eggs in the next few days. I’m very excited to see what develops!
Hybrid Kit Weights & Sexing – Week 5
Week five already! I decided to sex the kits while I was at it to see who was who. Here are the results: 800g (buck), 755g (buck), 708g (doe), 697g (doe), 674g (doe), 653g (buck), 615g (buck) and 549g (buck). That’s a total weight increase of 1292g from last week. I wish the bigger kits were does, but they may still catch up. I’ll have to keep my eye on them. Both of the reddish-colored kits turned out to be bucks.
I’m planning to bring the older Rex and Silver Marten kits I have for sale to the Oceanside Poultry Swap this Sunday, July 6th. Hopefully I’ll be able to sell a few, but I don’t think rabbits sell very well at these meets, just from personal observation. It can’t hurt though, you never know. It will be my first time selling anything at the Poultry Swap, so that’s very fun. Not sure I would attempt it if I didn’t have my helpful boyfriend and his beautiful truck though. It’s hard getting over a dozen rabbits and their cages into a hatchback!
Hybrid Kit Weights – 4 Weeks
The hybrid kits are growing fast and are now a month old. The weights this week are: 490g, 590g, 483g, 567g, 529g, 531g, 515g and 454g. That’s a total increase from last week of 2130g which means they more than doubled in weight.
Abernathy's Rabbitry 