I am getting a communal rabbit hutch!!

[warmfuzzies]

Umm, they will probably all be put down, because we will be eating them. Sorry to be blunt, they are livestock for us.

I will make many places for the rabbits to hide and play in, to get away from the bucks if they want to. And if we notice they seem to be needing a break, like I said, we will be putting them in another cage for a few weeks.

The bucks wont fight, they live together already. They were raised together. They are brothers, and even when we put the does in with them, they dont fight. They all three just go eat together.

Very different from a puppy mill:

1. they will never be unwanted.
2. They are not housed in dirty, tiny cages, alone, and with no stimulation. That part sounds more like a traditional rabbit hutch.
3. wild rabbits from europe, which are the ancestors of modern domestic rabbits, live in warrens together.
4. I am not trying to make any money.

 

[warmfuzzies]

Oh, and I thought that the wild rabbits breed again right away, just like they will in a colony, and that studies have shown it to be no more stressfull on the does then waiting?

 

[Feathered Wings]

Quote:
I 100% agree!

All my rabbits are in large wooden rabbit hutches separate from each other.
I would never think of allowing a buck 24/7 access to a doe at anytime.
My does are placed with a buck for one breeding and removed.

As far as wild rabbits they do not live in colonies or groups.

 

[warmfuzzies]

Wikipedia:

The European Rabbit is well-known for digging networks of burrows called warrens, where it spends most of its time when not feeding. Unlike the related hares (Lepus), rabbits are altricial, the young being born blind and furless, in a fur-lined nest in the warren, and they are totally dependent upon their mother....

Rabbits are gregarious, social animals, living in medium-sized colonies known as warrens. Rabbits are largely crepuscular, being most active around dawn and dusk, although they are not infrequently seen active during the day....

The rabbit mating system is rather complex. Dominant males exhibit polygyny, whereas lower-status individuals (males and females) often form monogamous breeding relationships. Dominance hierarchies exist in parallel for both males and females, although dominant females are usually the mates of the dominant male. Males show considerable investment in the welfare of young, although much of this aspect of rabbit behaviour is poorly understood.

Even in my short time with rabbits, I have quickly come to respect the doe's ability to say "no". If she doesnt want bred, she makes it known, they may keep trying for a bit but eventually they leave her alone. That is what happens with mine anyway!

I lot of people do it, and I while I appreciate your input, I really dont do things without researching them a little first.

 

[Jessika]

Quote:
Do the females attack the bucks? I only put the does in "his" cage. I thought does were to potective of there "space" to breed. I have seen some nasty rabbit fights when the buck gets moved instead of the doe. How did you fix that? (I'd love to hear more...good thread!)

 

[RabbitMage]

I wouldn't do this either, but I'm slowly coming to realize common sense advice involving rabbits is often overlooked here, so...sure, have at it.

 

[warmfuzzies]

Quote:
That was unnecessary. Some of us are actually trying to have a commen sense conversation.

 

[warmfuzzies]

Here are some links I found. It seems to be something a lot of people critisize without actually trying, so it is hard to find information about it either one way or the other that is not hypothetical.

http://rabbitgeek.com/articles/clny_valerie.html

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/colonyraisingrabbits/messages

 

[RabbitMage]

I've actually done a bit of reading on colony keeping because I find it interesting from a historical prospective. But as Valarie's article proves, there is more to it than simply stuffing a bunch of rabbits in a small space and letting things happen.

Inbreeding will occur, and can bring out negative traits already lurking in these rabbit's backgrounds that are quality of life issues. Does will happily breed the instant they have a litter. Do they do it in the wild? Sure. How long to wild rabbits live? Not very long. Is this a humane method of breeding? Probably not. Not without a break, anyway.

In addition you have an increased worry over parasites, so what's your plan for dealing with those? What about the possibility of fighting? The increased possibility of disease transmission?

 

[Feathered Wings]

Quote:
Do the females attack the bucks? I only put the does in "his" cage. I thought does were to potective of there "space" to breed. I have seen some nasty rabbit fights when the buck gets moved instead of the doe. How did you fix that? (I'd love to hear more...good thread!)

I take the doe to the buck let them mate then remove the doe back to her hutch.
No they don't fight it's like a 5 minute thing you can't blink or you will miss it.

I'm still not in agreement i know from 8 years of experience how rabbits interact with each other.
They are much happier and healthier liveing in separate hutches.

People like to romanticize that rabbits like being in colonies or family's nothing could be further from the truth.
I have witnessed males abusing eachother as well as females abuseing each other.

You say the doe's will have places to hide "why" should they have too.