# Hi, new to rabbits, need help with communal housing



## desertskynm (Sep 1, 2011)

Hi all!

I got bit by the homesteading lifestyle a few years back.  I am starting a new project now- meat rabbits.  Now, please don't take offense- but I just get heart sick when I see a lonely, solitary rabbit in a cage by itself, and all the rabbits lined up in a row- so they can see each other, but not be with each other.

I heard about a European approach, community housing.  As fate would have it, someone I lent my 2nd hutch to has not returned it yet.  So my 1 buck and 2 does have been living together for a month.  And surprise, the females feel very heavy (pregnant).  

There has been no fighting (in fact my one rabbit, Love Muffin, seems to be rubbing off on the other rabbits I place with her.  Shy and/or aggressive rabbits have turned into love sponges themselves...  

But now that I am pretty sure the 2 females are preggers, I am concerned that I don't know more about how this group housing works.

Can anyone help me out?  Google seems to have very little to offer on the topic.

Thank you very much in advance.

DesertSkyNM


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## Ms. Research (Sep 1, 2011)

from New Jersey.  

Don't think your mean regarding your views on how rabbits should be raised.  To each their own.  I'm more the row of cages myself, with an outside run.  I've never looked into anything like what you are describing.  

I did a little research in the Rabbit archives here, and don't know if this is what you are looking for.  But could help.  

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3333

Hope this helps.  Good luck in your new venture.


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## desertskynm (Sep 2, 2011)

Thank you Ms. Research for both the warm welcome, as well as the pasturing idea.

Wow...  That is definitely intriquing, just not sure about keeping them from digging out- my veggie garden is very important to me.

But yes, that is communal living.

Thank you.




			
				Ms. Research said:
			
		

> from New Jersey.
> 
> Don't think your mean regarding your views on how rabbits should be raised.  To each their own.  I'm more the row of cages myself, with an outside run.  I've never looked into anything like what you are describing.
> 
> ...


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## Legacy (Sep 2, 2011)

What you are looking for is info on rabbit colonies. If you use that term to search, you can come up with more feedback.

I used to think like you. I even had a colony for a while and I plan to have one again but cages are not as bad as you think.  The condition of the rabbits is a lot better in cages. I  have found their mood is just as good too.  I have come to realize that not liking to see rabbits in cages is more about me than about them.  

And some rabbits are just more suited to cages.  

When I had my colony, we had an empty chick brooder in the pen. I had one rabbit that just stayed in that thing all the time. She would come out to get food and water and go right back in. She was very shy and timid and obviously preferred  safety over freedom.  Once we put her in a cage, she was the happiest, most energetic thing and always greeted us. But in the colony, she was terrified of us.

We had another rabbit that came from a colony before we got her. She was terrified of people and movement. She stayed hidden all the time. She only came out to eat at night.  We caught her and put in her in a cage. For the first few days, she continued with shy behavior. After about a week, she opened up and became the most loving doe. She loved people!

That being said, we had a buck in our colony and when we decided to go cages instead of colony, he was very upset. He moped and moped, visibly moody and sad. He sat in the back corner of his cage and wouldn't move. Even after a couple of weeks he  still just sat there, not letting anyone pet him or acting excited about treats at all. I let him go back in the colony pen and at the moment, he is the only rabbit in the colony because that is where he is happy.

One of the biggest reasons we chose cage over colony is comparison of the condition of the rabbits and the size of the babies.  All of them just seemed healthier in cages.  The babies I had born in the cages were always big fluffy, fat n sassy things. They colony one were skinny, underweight, & they fur was dull without luster.

I think the answer for us is somewhere in the middle.


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## Snowfie (Sep 6, 2011)

I recently got my first rabbit (a young buck I named August) from a lady who had a set up similar to what you are talking about.  She had large covered...I don't know what you'd call them....They weren't cages, though they had wire walls.  The floor was a peice of lenolium on the ground and the ceiling was a sheet of plywood (approx 4 x 4 feet).  All the dwellings had multiple rabbits and they all had lawn clippings as "litter".  She didn't even have nesting boxes, does would just dig nests in the grass clippings.

It had a very natural feel to it but it seemed like a royal Pain in the behind to keep clean.   I decided on all galvanized wire cages with steel litter pans and my rabbit really likes it.  It's big enough for him to run little laps around (and when he gets excited he does just that) but wire shavings in the litter pan keep the odor down and they're super easy to clean.  My rabbit doesn't even want to come out of his cage!  but as long as I give him his daily massage (he loves being petted.  he's like a dog!) he's happy.

My new doe, Prissy is a pedigree Californian and grew up in all wire cages but never in one as large as what I have so she seems content, if...prissy.  Heh.


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## Hickoryneck (Sep 14, 2011)

I raised rabbits years ago and they were caged. we had wonderful cages but they are now gone and I want to get back into rabbits on a small scale I plan to have a trio to raise bunnies for meat for my family and I am planning out a colony pen. I have 1 cali doe now she came to me in a tiny cage so I put her in a empty dog lot she had the time of her life digging and jumping she would run and jump up kicking her feet it was the coolest thing but I had to use the dog lot for ducks and she is in a 3x3 pen she misses the freedom.


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