# the new colony



## DarayTala (Sep 15, 2012)

Today we added four more rabbits to our herd.  Up until now I've raised my rabbits in hutches or cages, but I've decided to try these new ones in a more colony-like situation and compare how they do to my other bunnies.  

The colony area is about 9 by 11 feet, with some added square footage of things they can climb on.  The have three different sized "tunnels" for shelter, and two other structures.  Its built on the framework of a room in my garage by adding four foot plywood pannels to the studs that were already there.  I'm planning adding another couple feet of wire to the top as soon as possible, just in case they decide to escape.  I have one big tin for water and three smaller ones for food, although going to add a second water one soon.

The bunnies we got are three does and a buck.  There is a otter satin doe who is about five months, a blue satin doe who is about ten months, a californian doe who is about seven months, and a californian buck who is about four or five months.  I hope to know exact ages soon, as we are expecting the pedigrees in the mail.

We let the buck explore the colony first and get accustomed to it, that way the does would think it was his territory to start and be a bit less likely to scuffle.  He seemed to like his new home, and after much hopping and exploring, settled down in a corner.  Once we let the does in, he immediately bred with the californian doe.  After a lot more hopping around and exploring, he tried to breed with the blue who would have none of it.  She humped him a few times and there was a bit of chasing, but no real fights.  He also tried with the otter and almost succeeded, but was interrupted by the cali doe leaping right into the middle   Poor guy, he seemed so confused.  They all seem to be doing a little bit of chasing, and then a lot of relaxing, but getting along well so far for the most part.  

I'm wondering if the one breeding of the two cali's will lead to some pretty kits in a month.  I do hope so 

I'll try and put up pictures and updates as things progress.

Does anyone else raise rabbits colony style?  Do you do so indoors or out?  We decided on indoors because of predator problems and nosy neighbors, but will be feeding them fresh forage once they adjust.  

Any advice or tips for improving our foray into the colony life?


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## Bossroo (Sep 16, 2012)

Most rabbit colony situations will sooner or later require an  alert to the Banker as he will be transfering quite a bit of  funds for emergency treatment to the local Vet.


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## Bunnylady (Sep 16, 2012)

I've never done a colony on the ground, though I have set up groups of  2 or more small breed does and a buck in a large cage, similar situation. These were always older does, and an older, experienced buck, animals whose temperaments I was pretty familiar with. Sometimes I found I had to remove a doe because she was just to dominant, and was giving the other rabbits too much grief. I've had bucks that I would never put into that situation, because I knew they were just too aggressive, and a few does, too. 

I'm curious - do you have a "maternity ward" where you can put a doe that you know is about to kindle where she can raise her babies? Most of the people that I've heard discuss colonies separate out the obviously pregnant does, though some only put the buck in the colony for a couple of weeks at a time to control breeding. There have been a few times when I got distracted, lost track of the passage of time, and I wound up with a doe kindling while the buck was still in the cage with her.  A doe hits a fertile peak immediately after kindling, and a buck can be relentless in his pursuit of her at that time. He's like "WOMAN!" (think the Muppet character Animal) and she's like "My babies my babies my babies!" While I've never seen the buck pay any attention to the kits at all, they certainly can get stomped and killed in the chaos. And  if  the kits don't get killed, the doe has most likely been bred, so she's nursing one litter with another due in 31 days. That's a lot to ask of her. Do yourself a favor, and be smarter than I have been - keep track of the date!


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## DarayTala (Sep 16, 2012)

I've quite thoroughly researched doing things colony style and talked to many people who've done it before.  Its actually very rare to have a situation where I rabbit is hurt badly enough to need vet care (excluding kits if you aren't careful) if you make sure you give the rabbits enough space and make sure to watch introductions and pull any who just can't seem to get along.  I know its a chance I'm taking though, even if a very minimal one.  From everything I've learned from people who have tried raising colony style, at least for me the benefits of this venture make it worth it to try.  One of the most interesting aspects of all this will be seeing how it compares to raising rabbits in hutches or cages.

As far as pregnancy goes, I have also heard that there are sometimes problems with the buck trampling kits when he tries to re-breed the doe.  I plan on seeing how my buck does during the first litters and going from there.  If I do need to pull him, I will likely put him in a 8' x 3' room next to the one I built, and cut away some of the wall between them and replace it with wire so they can still mingle through that and will accept him back after.  My goal would be to eventually replace the buck with one who was gentle with the does after kindling though.  With this group, I plan on breeding for good colony traits as well as what I normally look for.  I also am still debating on how long to keep the buck out and away from the doe.  Most people I know who do this keep him out for anywhere from one week to three.  As far as re-breeding too fast, again, I will just have to see how it goes.  I know often bucks go sterile in the summer, and does will sometimes refuse to breed in winter, making their own breaks to rest.  I will be constantly checking my does condition though, and if it drops with the frequent breeding, then I will be sure to keep the buck out longer.

All in all, things are going well so far.  The rabbits have done a little bit of chasing and humping to establish dominance, but otherwise seem pretty at peace with each other.  I honestly expected a little more scuffling before the pecking order was sorted out, but of course that may still very well happen.  The blue doe, who seems the most dominant, is a bit more anti-social with her fellow buns then the rest.  All the others have snuggled up to each other at points and groomed each other.  It is quite rewarding to watch when they seem content like that.

I will definitely continue updating how this goes, and maybe it can help others who are curious about trying this method of raising rabbits.  I do hope to hear from others who have tried this as well, as I know theres always a lot more to learn.


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## DarayTala (Sep 19, 2012)

Well, its been five days now, and so far everything is going smoothly.  The does haven't seemed to have any issues with each other, and I frequently see them snuggling up together or grooming each other.  The cali doe got along with the buck from day one, and they spend a lot of time laying next to each other and seem quite content.  The otter satin sometime ran away from the buck at first, although also snuggled up to him a couple times the first day.  At this point, she seems to have no issue with him, though I haven't seen them breed at all yet.  She is the youngest doe of the bunch though, so she might not be ready yet.  The blue satin did hump the buck a few times, and chase him off a lot at first, so I watched her carefully.  Shes settled down a lot, and while I haven't seen her let him breed her, I have seen the two of them grooming each other and she no longer chases him off whenever he comes near her.  There have been zero fights so far, and I am very pleased that they all seem to have a very calm temperment, both with people and each other.

So far, they are very curious whenever a human enters, and do a lot of feet sniffing and rubbing their chin on shoes and pants.  They will hop away when reached for, but if they are caught they don't kick or react badly to being held.  I'm glad they are more laid back then my NZW bunnies, who haven't been very sociable since the day I got them and are difficult to hold to clip their nails or check if they are ready to breed.  

I definitely have high hopes for this group.  I am also planning on adding another six or nine cages, in case we need to separate growing litters or any other rabbits having trouble getting along.


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## ohiogoatgirl (Sep 20, 2012)

sounds like an awesome setup  cant wait to hear more about it along the way.
i'm hoping to try a colony once i get the space and some materials i need. 
best of luck


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## secuono (Sep 20, 2012)

My rabbits all live in colonies out in open pasture setting. Later in the fall, I may add netting on top to keep hawks out, but otherwise, it's open top and open floor. 
The trios chose their own friends by escaping into their neighbors pen and getting along. So they ended up together, met as full adults back in June. The last two groups were growers, so introduced as 8 week kits. 
I have one trio; 2.7yr buck, 2.3yr doe and a 1.9yr doe. 
Then another trio; 5.7mo doe,  4.8mo doe and a 3.2mo buck. 
A 5 rabbit group; 3x 3.6mo does, 2x 4mo does and a 3mo buck. 
Lastly 3x 2mo does and a 2mo buck.

There are no fights, no arguments, nothing. They have a lot of room for each pen. 20x40 for the 5. 20x20 for the trios and 15x15 for the little quad. 

So it's totally possible to have healthy and safe colonies. But to find the right mix might take awhile and you need space for them to get out of the way of the other rabbits.


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## DarayTala (Sep 21, 2012)

Mine don't have nearly as much space at the moment, but I have been thinking about expanding it.  There are studs already in place to make a room next to the one I've set up so far, they make a space thats about 3' x 9'.  I'm not sure if I want to open up the colony and add that space, or make it into a separate area in case I need to separate the buck come kindling time.  I could also expand further into my garage if I added more studs or built some sort of extra run or pen for them.  If I did that, I could likely add another 9' x 9' to the existing area, maybe more if needed.  So far they are doing great in the 9' x 11' enclosure though.  This morning I found the buck and two of the does all curled up together in one of the makeshift tunnels.  They seemed a bit surprised when I peeked in to find out where everyone was hiding 

I think the real test at this point will be seeing if the does get territorial when they are closer to kindling.  Also hoping the buck doesn't try to re-breed them while kindling, I've heard of that happening on rare occasions, and I would have to take him out if that happened.  Other then that, I'm happy with their temperaments and whole well they are all getting along.


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## Hickoryneck (Sep 25, 2012)

I love the colony idea but I would do a outdoor one and haven't figured out how to build a pen they can graze in but can't dig out of any suggestions secuono? Would love to see pictures of everyone set-ups even the indoor ones


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## secuono (Sep 25, 2012)

I'm going to add an issue I am working on.
My eldest buck has gotten very territorial about his colony and if I bring in a doe for him to breed, I'm holding her to keep the other does away, he will actually attack her. 
I am working on adding new individual buck pens. 
So, if you want to use that buck for other does in other colonies or something like that, I would separate the buck first and then bring the doe to the buck's new temporary cage.


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## DarayTala (Sep 25, 2012)

For building outdoor pens but preventing digging, I've heard of a lot of people putting down 1" x 2" wire, so they can graze but not dig through.  If you don't plan on moving the colony around, you could actually put the wire a bit underground, so they can make small hollows but not dig out of the pen.  I would say, try wire and see how that works for you, and alter it as needed.  The important thing is to provide something borrow-like for them, if you aren't going to allow them to create there own borrows.  Usually something about three feet long works fine for that, though I'm sure they'd appreciate something even longer as well.

I can post pictures of my setup if you'd like...just need to figure out how to on this site 

Good info about territorial bucks, I was wondering if that would be a problem.  Actually, I was more worried about the does being territorial if I brought a doe in to breed, so I planned on taking the buck out if I wanted to breed him to an outside doe.  I never thought the buck would be the territorial one though, thats interesting and I'll have to watch out for that.  I'm curious though, if you take out the buck and breed him to another doe, will the does in his colony attack him when he returns because they smell her scent on him?


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