Free range/pastured rabbits

[Stark]

How quickly to they propagate? I raised cage rabbits as a youngster and have been considering getting back into but more of a warren type arrangement like you seem to be doing...but my one concern is over breeding of the females.

I suppose I could keep the buck(s) separate if needed and only put them together for breeding...

 

[PuppyBantamCochin]

I really want to do a colony arrangement...but I have no place to do it.
@Stark
rabbits, as long as they are healthy, can have litter after litter, after litter---basically, I think a doe COULD kindle every month, but that's definitely not a good idea. Maybe 5 litters a year tops on good food.

 

[BoldogKennel]

Rabbits in the wild breed every season, so not sure why domestics could not as well if fed well and allowed to exercise?

We have domestic rabbits in my neighborhood which have lived wild for years and years, and breed, but not excessively, and despite a LOT of coyotes, seem to thrive.

The saddest thing in the world is a rabbit stuck in a cage. They are happy, vigerous animals when allowed to be. The past few years I have bought old, bred out does from the auction, the big ones that have never been able to hop more than one length in their life, and turn them loose in my chicken yard. It is sad but rewarding to see them learn to hop more than one lenght of their body. They are just so amazed and happy. They generally don't live a long time, as they are all used up but at least their last days were pleasant for them.

 

[NottinghamChicks]

Quote:
Hook us up with some pics of thise cute bunnies. I would love to see your arrangement also

I use to raise both French and mini Lops and love rabbits. I almost took one home from TSC on Wednesday, but I refrained. I figured I would just live through your cameras, so have at it

 

[Stark]

Quote:
Erm well ours were in 3' x 4' multi-levels cages and given time outside individually, either on a leash or in a larger pen (yeah I made a rabbit leash/harness). Not saying it's ideal but not exactly a "one hop" life either.

Anyway that was ages and ages ago and I'm just gathering info nowadays. What I don't want is a couple rabbits living happily turning does constantly kindling and a population explosion. So I'm trying to figure out the best way to balance that.

 

[NewHopePoultry]

Once I get my camera fixed, I'll take some pictures

The main pen I use is half a circle (its up against out house)
Its roughly 16 feet round and 4 feet high (plus 1 foot dug underground)
The top is netting like on my chicken run.
Their house is an old dog house, I also have a few hides (crates) in the pen.
I rotate the buck every few months.

I also have a few small pens, I mainly use them for a doe and her litter or of I need to take the buck out.
Ive never had a problem with the buck trying to kill his offspring, but I do take the babies out once they are weaned and either sell them or put the girls in a pen without a buck.

 

[Corona~Barb]

The biggest thing is to make sure the ground you want to put rabbits on has not been populated by wild rabbits, which I do have here (several diseases that your rabbit can pick up) or dogs (tapeworms, fleas, etc). My rabbits are in cages and I can make sure they do not come in contact with diseases that way. My cages are hanging in unused concrete dog runs...makes clean up a breeze. No worries about raccoons or possums breaking into their enclosure. The coccidia in rabbit droppings become active after 24 hrs and can infect rabbits that are constantly exposed to old droppings. I give my rabbits lots of attention and treats and I have an unused run that I can disinfect, for them to get some 'hop' time. My does probably have 2-3 litters in the winter/spring and maybe 1 in the fall...too hot in the summer here. And I don't want to push my does any harder than that.

Barb in So Cal
Silver Laced Wyandottes, Ameracauna Easter Eggers, Orpingtons, Light Brahma
Turkeys in a variety of colors, Silver Fox Rabbits

 

[AuroraSprings]

Quote:
Totally off subject but : DIANE!!!! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU ON A FORUM IN YEARS!! Well since you steered away from the PitBullForum. I miss you and your knowledge of bulldogs!!! Okay sorry to divert, back on topic now.


There is a "Colony Rabbit Raising" yahoo group. They all talk about how to raise rabbits in a "pasture/free-range/ large pen" environment. From what I've read, most domestic rabbits don't have the immunity necessary to survive long on the ground. LOTS OF coccidia problems, the young don't grow as well or as fast. Many young don't survive. So if you're breeding for meat production, then not a very productive idea. But if you're keeping them for show or pleasure then you won't mind only a few surviving (the strongest). They are also more prone to predation by all sorts of creatures. But, it can be done. So you just have to weigh your options and see if you're okay with the results.

 

[NewHopePoultry]

Ive never had a problem with my rabbits being in the ground. And the guy I got some of them from had the same buck for 6 years on the ground.

 

[RiverOtter]

I'm building cages to get back to my favorite system which is kind of a combo. I do have rabbit cages - for their safety, to keep breeding under control, because rabbits fight and will kill each other's babies (not pretty - and has "cured more then one person from colony keeping" and especially to keep them safe.
Then I have really big ground cages of a chicken tractor type. I use these for breeding; a buck and doe share one for a few days. It's big enough they can get away from each other if they need to.
Then the doe goes back to her (big, roomy, hay filled) cage to have her litter. At about a month old, the doe and her litter are moved to a ground cage for a month. I make these so they can be moved to fresh ground all the time, kind of a bunny tractor. After a couple of weeks, the doe goes back to her cage for a well-earned rest and the babies stay in the big one. Some go to my freezer, some stay and go into the rotation and I almost never sell one without a big hutch I made so I know they've got roomy quarters.

Some of my rabbits LOVE the ground cages. Some, generally older or shyer rabbits - do prefer their hutches, as long as I bring them the weeds and green grass they'd get on the ground. You can tell these because they don't relax, when they do move it is to nervously graze and they barely stray from the sheltered area. If you put them in their hutches with a great big handful of greens, they explode with joy, grabbing the greens and tossing their head and bouncing around the hutch.

You do have to worm them if they are either on the ground or getting greens and weeds from your yard. No big deal - maybe 3x a year.