Is anyone raising rabbits in a colony?

[Hummingbird Hollow]

[QUOTE="... is this a good method of raising them? i mean its better for the animals but what about health wise, i here they can get nasty parasites... .[/QUOTE]

I'm completely new to this so I'm not the best person to ask. I've had rabbits since mid-February and they've been in this habitat for three or four days. However, those six females have been housed together in my 4'X10' meat-chicken coop for several months without problems. I'll need a separate pen for my juveniles when they've been weaned as they grow to butchering size...perhaps two pens, one for males and one for females in case butchering is delayed for some reason. That's next.

 

[boskelli1571]

Mine have been in an 8x12 shed for around a year now. I have not had any parasite problems as yet. I use sticky flypapers to keep down skeeters and filth flies. I 'muck out' about once every 6 weeks or so, sooner if needed.
I do not medicate on a firm basis - if there is a problem I treat it, if an animal looks sick, I isolate.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

Mine have been in an 8x12 shed for around a year now. I have not had any parasite problems as yet. I use sticky flypapers to keep down skeeters and filth flies. I 'muck out' about once every 6 weeks or so, sooner if needed.
I do not medicate on a firm basis - if there is a problem I treat it, if an animal looks sick, I isolate.

thank you, sounds like a good way of raising meat rabbits.

[QUOTE="... is this a good method of raising them? i mean its better for the animals but what about health wise, i here they can get nasty parasites... .

I'm completely new to this so I'm not the best person to ask. I've had rabbits since mid-February and they've been in this habitat for three or four days. However, those six females have been housed together in my 4'X10' meat-chicken coop for several months without problems. I'll need a separate pen for my juveniles when they've been weaned as they grow to butchering size...perhaps two pens, one for males and one for females in case butchering is delayed for some reason. That's next.[/QUOTE] thank you. if i every raised meat rabbits i would have to cull them all before summer as it gets really hot here, (yet winters are brutally cold)

 

[Mylissa Conner]

We raise rabbits. We use cages though. When breeding we always take the doe to the bucks cage. Does can be very territorial and could harm your buck. I have talked to several people that do colonies and they seem to do well. We also show our rabbits so they need to be kept clean.

 

[Starlings and dogs]

we have french angoras that we are rehoming

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

An update on my rabbit colony. I came out one Friday morning 5 weeks ago and thought to myself: "Wow, when did my little buff female get so big?" and then realized "Wait! That is my big buff male! How did he get in there?" He had escaped the bachelor apartment and was in with the females. I put him back in his hutch not knowing whether he'd been loose for 5 minutes or 9 hours. 31 days later I had three does kindle, #1 with ll kits, #2 with 10 and #3 with 7. The first one kindled her litter right where I wanted her to in the little next box burrow I had opened for her several days before. #2 and #3 I had moved into individual cages in the garage because I didn't want my first experience with colony litters happening all at once.

At the 7 day mark all litters are doing well. I took one kit from the mom with 11 and gave it to the one with 7 and so far have had no losses. I can't say I wanted all these babies at once, but I've learned several things. First of all, that 1) Mr. Buff Buck is a determined fellow, because he broke out two nights after the first time and I had to completely change the type of latch on his hutch, and t) Mr. Buff Buck is fertile and has a winning personality with the ladies, and 3) that the colony seems to be a happy, healthy place.

 

[BYCforlife]

Question: we had a Dwarf Lop-eared rabbit, (sorry if I butchered the name!) That we fed entirely on carrots, lettuce and other things. We statred giving it pellets. The next day it was dead. Coincidence, or did we do something wrong? We changed abruptly, so.......

 

[boskelli1571]

Question: we had a Dwarf Lop-eared rabbit, (sorry if I butchered the name!) That we fed entirely on carrots, lettuce and other things. We statred giving it pellets. The next day it was dead. Coincidence, or did we do something wrong? We changed abruptly, so.......

It's possible the abrupt change was responsible. Rabbits have a very delicately balanced gut, so rapid change isn't good. Next time start them out on pellets with a small amount of greens etc. and gradually increase.....sorry for your loss

 

[boskelli1571]

An update on my rabbit colony. I came out one Friday morning 5 weeks ago and thought to myself: "Wow, when did my little buff female get so big?" and then realized "Wait! That is my big buff male! How did he get in there?" He had escaped the bachelor apartment and was in with the females. I put him back in his hutch not knowing whether he'd been loose for 5 minutes or 9 hours. 31 days later I had three does kindle, #1 with ll kits, #2 with 10 and #3 with 7. The first one kindled her litter right where I wanted her to in the little next box burrow I had opened for her several days before. #2 and #3 I had moved into individual cages in the garage because I didn't want my first experience with colony litters happening all at once.

At the 7 day mark all litters are doing well. I took one kit from the mom with 11 and gave it to the one with 7 and so far have had no losses. I can't say I wanted all these babies at once, but I've learned several things. First of all, that 1) Mr. Buff Buck is a determined fellow, because he broke out two nights after the first time and I had to completely change the type of latch on his hutch, and t) Mr. Buff Buck is fertile and has a winning personality with the ladies, and 3) that the colony seems to be a happy, healthy place.

Yah - they are determined little buggers aren't they? I have them separated into 2 pens far apart....congratulations on being a Mama!

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I may have to post this on a new thread, but for those raising rabbits in a colony I have a question about a doe's behavior. I had a doe kindle about 9 days ago in one of the nest box-burrows I created (see photos earlier in the thread). They are doing well, but she (I'm assuming it is the mom) has been burying the entrance to her nest box and in the process burying about half of the nest box itself. I can see the value in blocking the entrance to keep her kits safe, and they are obviously being fed, but I worry about the next few days as their eyes open and they want to move around more. Do you think she'll stop as they get older?