Rabbit colonies?

[Connorrm]

You would also have a hard time knowing which kits belong to which mother after they begin to hop around. It would be easier, safer, and more practical to raise them in individual cages.

Colony breeding would work well with large tracts of land/space with animals primarily used for meat. I couldn't imagine anyone wanting a "show rabbit" from a colony. Remember, just because it has a pedigree doesn't make it show quality. It just means it's pure-bred.

 

[babyrnlc]

Quote:
Our two does have been in the same cage together since we got them. We had a male cage (just one male) and a female cage.

As they mature, they may start at each other. I can't put my does together at all, not even for a minute before they start fighting. And they are housed right next to each other!!!

We thought we had 1 more week until one of ours had kits, both girls were together when she had kits. they have never fought

 

[babyrnlc]

Quote:
Here are the parents and thgeir pedigrees.

www.lopsbyleah.com

The lady that does the colony I talked to has it worked out well. If she had kits the same color from different does, she marks the paw of one of them with nail polish. And we will pull the babies when they wean into a separate cage, that way they will not have the chance to breed etc.

 

[bagendhens]

colony breeding is much more common in the uk and it can work given some rules.
1: your girls all shoudl be raised together...introducing older does to eachother is asking for trouble.
2: personally i would never keep the buck in the colony, not enough control over who kindles when or rebreeding... give him his own hutch or rabbit ark, hell be much happier away form hormonal females anyway lol
3: you need to have enough space...whats perfectly big enough for a caged rabbit isnt even 1/4 of the space they need in a colony setting i would personally house no more than 3 does in a 100sqft area, go bigger if you plan to leave the kits in wth them untill weaning

rabbits in warrens are typically very closely related, new rabbits are very rarely accepted into "the family" so getting a trie of does all around the same birthdate (or form the same litter) would be the best chance of good results...and if you ever want to bring new lines in youd have to have a seperate colony for them as its very unlikley an existing warren will accept a newcommer.

that being said some people colony raise large groups, bucks with does ect, and manage to integrat new blood with old does sucessfully on a regular basis...
but for someone just getting into colony raising id start with the very basics.

 

[babyrnlc]

Quote:
Thank you for all the information. The girls we have have been together since they were little and we have no issues so far (they are a month different in age) .

We are considering getting one of the doe's mother, but I am not sure now. The breeder is selling her to me really cheap (she is keeping a daughter of hers). She is 18 months and a grand champion. She is very pretty and not related to the male and she is more experienced mother, so the other breeder thought she might be able to show the other girls what to do. Now I am not sure. Would she remember Ebony is her daughter? I know she would take her back if there were issues, but these girls are so laid back, should we chance it though. I would definitely watch them closely.

And we considered keeping one of the female kits when we get them. Everything I have read says it is ok to do father daughter, or mother son (wont have that though) but not brother sister. I would imagine that would not be a problem since it would be raise with them, or am I wrong?

The bunnies also "free range" several days a week and the cage is moved every few days and it is on the ground so they get to eat grass. We finished wiring the bottom of the cage and let the girls in there today (they were in a much smaller cage before) and they LOVED the new one. The girls already picked out their favorite nests (both on the bottom coop/hutch).

 

[bagendhens]

if you want to bring the mother in id start off by putting her in a cage in the larger run with the 2 younger does running loose and see what happens...leave her caged in their presence for a while id give it a couple weeks minimum, and then when you decide your going to try introducing them take all 3 to nutral ground and watch closely. (never introcuse them inside the colony run as then its very likley to cause territory issues. personally id have them hang out together on neutral ground a few times before trying to have them live together full time and even then id watch closely. drama can errupt at any point so its always better to be proactive.

when introducing them all to the same colony run make sure to clean it well and rearrange any furniture first, theyll be so busy checking out the new digs that there less likely to fuss with eachother.

id still keep the buck seperate though just because they are indiscriminate breeders and wil rebreed a female almost imediatly after giving birth (not healthy for her) also if you ever do decide to bring in a new male (you may decide your not comfortable line breeding so closely) then you dont have to worry about an established warren killing a new buck...
if space is an issue you could put the bucks cages in the colony pen so the females can use area under the hutches as shelters.


i personally plan to colony raise some meaties one day, and ill be keeping the bucks seperate, theyll each have their own arcs that will be moved around the yard for pasture.
Kits will also be seperated out into movable arcs for grow out too...


i do think the key to making a colony work is giving them enough space and making sure eveyone has their own little hidey space.

 

[babyrnlc]

I thought I would update everyone.

We did decide to get the mother and when we went there we could not decide between her and another and she gave us both (needed cage space). So we now have 4 does and a buck in the colony. They love it. They groom each other, they cuddle. They seem so much happier. We have not had any fighting AT ALL. (Even with adding the 1-2 year old does) The girls all have a nest area on the bottom floor and our male sleeps up on the top. We will probably remove him when they get close to having their kits and keep him out a couple of months.

We will have a couple of cages for the kits until they are sold. We have a huge one that would be great, but if they take to long to be sold, I want to be able to separate the males and females.

I am super happy with our choice and so are our bunnies!

 

[bagendhens]

thats awesome news, personally i prefer to keep them as naturally as possible and a colony is very natural as long as the dynamic is right and thers enough space.

congrats