# Californian Cross?



## Farmer Jenn (Nov 5, 2014)

This is Cookie. She was sold to me last month as a pregnant Californian doe. The picture the owner used in the ad was of another rabbit. Being new to Californians, it has just come to my attention that she has white rather than coloured feet which would lead me to believe she is not a purebred Californian. I would naturally think possibly a New Zealand REW cross but in comparison to my NZ REW's she is huge. I have not weighed her but at 6 months it would not surprise me if she is 12lbs or more even after delivering 8 kits. A few weeks after purchasing her I found out the previous owner had gotten her from another farm and was unsure of her parentage. With her size could Flemish Giant be the reason for her size .... And huge appetite. What about the white feet? Would she have to be a cross of the three breeds for all these features to be present?


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## secuono (Nov 5, 2014)

Are they white or very pale grey?? What about the tail? Cali's color is sensitive to temperatures, hotter it is, the more pale their color is.


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## Farmer Jenn (Nov 5, 2014)

I guess they are a very pale grey. She's hardly got any color in the feet. The kits have grey feet, tails and noses but the buck was very dark and had all the normal Californian markings


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## Farmer Jenn (Nov 5, 2014)

We live in Eastern Canada and at this time of the year it is definitely not hot


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## secuono (Nov 6, 2014)

She looks like a pure Cali to me. Some just get pale points, it isn't a DQ in showing and allowed. Normal. 
BTW, just so there's no surprises in the future- Kits are born all white and if chilled, they will go grey all over, but it molts out later on. Kits raised in winter tend to have darker points until summer molt. Summer kits tend to have lighter points. Points start to come in around 2wks of age, sometimes a bit later. 

Here are my past pedigreed, pure californians


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## Farmer Jenn (Nov 6, 2014)

secuono said:


> She looks like a pure Cali to me. Some just get pale points, it isn't a DQ in showing and allowed. Normal.
> BTW, just so there's no surprises in the future- Kits are born all white and if chilled, they will go grey all over, but it molts out later on. Kits raised in winter tend to have darker points until summer molt. Summer kits tend to have lighter points. Points start to come in around 2wks of age, sometimes a bit later.
> 
> Here are my past pedigreed, pure californians


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## Farmer Jenn (Nov 6, 2014)

Thanks so much for the info. Fun to watch them change colors


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## CrookdBeak13 (Jan 13, 2015)

Old thread, but here are my 2 that are cali/REW NZW crossed. They were born in August so I will post summer pic and December pics for color comparison.

Doe (In December)




Doe Kit (In December)




Buck Kit (December)




Doe and Kits (August 2014)


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## Farmer Jenn (Jan 13, 2015)

Wow they look Cali and not a cross. I have Cali/NZW kits right now that are five weeks old . They have light grey ears and a light grey spot on the nose. My supposedly pure Cali kits were much darker. Of course if they weren't pure Cali, they are even more diluted now.


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## CrookdBeak13 (Jan 13, 2015)

I should have added, and didn't think about it until now, but the dam is pure cali and the sire is FlemishxNZW. Here he is:




They are beautiful so instead of processing them I kept both of them back to see how they will be as breeders.


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## CrookdBeak13 (Jan 14, 2015)

Well....I have been checking the "doe" weekly for sexing because the buck was clearly a buck a month ago...and it turns out so is "she" just a little late in the development. So even though they are beautiful, I will be processing them. I thought about keeping one of them for breeding, but I would prefer to keep a buck out the litter that is 11 weeks old instead. There is just better genes for breeding, just hoping that they gain as fast.


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