# Experimenting...



## ~Wind~ (Aug 18, 2011)

So I decided to see what would happen with raising some does/litters in a colony style enviroment. 

So we built a 4ft by 8ft cage, we currently have 3 does in it who are all bred and due Saturday. 

The does are from the same litter and get along great, have never had any aggression towards each other so far, this may change after the kits are born, we shall see. We put in 3 nest boxes two days ago and a bunch of nesting material. I was very surprised to see that they have made a nest in one box together. They pulled all the hay out of two of the boxes and stuffed it into one box and are using the other two boxes as litter boxes. I am very curious to see where they will have their litters and if they will still think sharing is a good idea at that point.

I have cages that are empty that they can be relocated to in case things start going south, but as long as they continue to get along they will stay together. I have a feeling that they will all have their litters in the same nest and will take turns feeding, because right now they take turns jumping in and out of the box. 

Anyways stay tuned for the results...


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## greymane (Aug 18, 2011)

Just a quick question, are these pets?  I am assuming you are not raising purebreds for show since you will have no way of telling whose babies are whose, right?


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## ~Wind~ (Aug 18, 2011)

Guess I should have added a bit more information lol

They are meat rabbits, a mix of a lot of breeds to make a nice compact meat brick. Some go to pet homes, I always post them for sale as pets. They stay for sale until its time to go to the freezer. Usually about half the litter will sell as pets the other end up as meat or are held back for future breeding. All of our rabbits are sold with the option of them being able to be returned should things not work out or situations change that they can no longer keep as a pet. This avoids the chance that they will be mistreated, or released into the wild. Rabbits that are returned are then posted for sale as pets and if not sold after 2 months back they head to the freezer.

I keep my own version of pedigree's to avoid any inbreeding, but outside of our farm the papers wont mean much to anyone else.


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## MrJeff (Aug 19, 2011)

~Wind~ said:
			
		

> Guess I should have added a bit more information lol
> 
> They are meat rabbits, a mix of a lot of breeds to make a nice compact meat brick. Some go to pet homes, I always post them for sale as pets. They stay for sale until its time to go to the freezer. Usually about half the litter will sell as pets the other end up as meat or are held back for future breeding. All of our rabbits are sold with the option of them being able to be returned should things not work out or situations change that they can no longer keep as a pet. This avoids the chance that they will be mistreated, or released into the wild. Rabbits that are returned are then posted for sale as pets and if not sold after 2 months back they head to the freezer.
> 
> I keep my own version of pedigree's to avoid any inbreeding, but outside of our farm the papers wont mean much to anyone else.


Rabbits aren't people. Why would you avoid inbreeding? Livestock lines are maintained by inbreeding and line breeding; Outcrossing and cross breeding is like taking two steps back most of the time. You never know what you will get.


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## greymane (Aug 19, 2011)

Yeah, I don't think I would worry at all about pedigrees for meat rabbits, unless (and it sounds like this might be the case), you are trying to "perfect" your version of the rabbits.


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## ~Wind~ (Aug 19, 2011)

I am trying to get a good strong line that will last longterm. So by avoiding first and second generation inbreedings I wont have to worry about strengthening any weeknesses. Crossing the lines wont be completly avoided so long as it is for a good quality bunny.

Anyways an update on the colony...

Two of the three had their kits last night. In the same nest box in two different corners. There were a few on the wire that needed to be relocated, but out of 16 bunnies only 3 didnt make it. The third bunny is currently making a new nest in another box, so still waiting to see what happens with her kits. Now these three girls are sisters from a litter a friend had, they are smaller than my other does and I really didnt expect them to have more than 3 or 4 kits each. These are their first litters and they seem pretty clueless about them. They are spending their time playing around the cage jumping into the nest box to eat the hay. So hopfully they dont squish all the kits... I guess thats all part of experimenting.


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## ~Wind~ (Aug 19, 2011)

Okay so all three Does have finished.  I hope... may still drop a few more.
In total there were 19 kits. There are 15 alive and well in the nest box plus one coming back from the edge warming up in my bra lol. Moms are all in the nest box nursing and cleaning at the same time.


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## norcal (Aug 21, 2011)

Sounds pretty cool.   I never would have thought of it.


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## ohiogoatgirl (Nov 3, 2011)

i know this an an older topic. i was wondering how things were going with the experiment. if it's still going on


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## Ms. Research (Nov 4, 2011)

Interested as well.  Considering the two Neutered bucks I have had to be separated due to a dominance issue, I would love to hear if your experiment worked.


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## ~Wind~ (Nov 5, 2011)

Things went well, the moms co-parented the litters. Once the kits were 6 weeks old we took the does out. When they were 8 weeks we split the males and females into their own big cages. They are still going strong and will soon be ready to go to freezer camp. There have been no fights so far and things are working out great. Deffinatly was worth the try.


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## Ms. Research (Nov 6, 2011)

Truly glad to hear your experiment went well.  Wishing you continued success.


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