Blackhereford boy
Ridin' The Range
Hi i was wanting to see every ones indoor and outdoor pens big or small any will do
thanks
thanks
Rabbit pen thred
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ohiogoatgirl
True BYH Addict
right now i have 3ft by 5 ft cages that i am working on filling with pairs of does to keep them together that way. but i'm also hoping to set up a small colony pen of sorts. its not set up though.
here is a video of what i have now (i have a new video i just havent uploaded it yet
)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7wKpyomyNU&feature=plcp
here is a video of what i have now (i have a new video i just havent uploaded it yet
)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7wKpyomyNU&feature=plcp
- Thread starter
- #3
Blackhereford boy
Ridin' The Range
thanks those are nice
treeclimber233
Loving the herd life
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Just wondering why you want to keep does together. Are you going to try to breed them?
ohiogoatgirl
True BYH Addict
@ treeclimber
yes i am going to be breeding them next month
@bossroo
not nessecarily, no. these are sisters from the same litter. they have always been together, never lived seperately. most of the reason rabbits become agressive and so territorial is because they are seperated and never learn how to act with another rabbit other then breeding and caring for their own kits.
and when born and live together their whole life then they can sometimes be kept in a large cage together and be fine together. sometimes they will get territorial with each other and fight. in which case i have a cage that i can seperate them.
if you read about colony set ups you can find more on that
yes i am going to be breeding them next month
@bossroo
not nessecarily, no. these are sisters from the same litter. they have always been together, never lived seperately. most of the reason rabbits become agressive and so territorial is because they are seperated and never learn how to act with another rabbit other then breeding and caring for their own kits.
and when born and live together their whole life then they can sometimes be kept in a large cage together and be fine together. sometimes they will get territorial with each other and fight. in which case i have a cage that i can seperate them.
if you read about colony set ups you can find more on that
After raising hundreds of rabbits... I found that even full sister and/ or male littermates will kill, maime, and destroy the looser of a fight. When I first started to raise rabbits, I too did the colony thing with a group of full sister littermates. Ended in total disaster with blood and fir flying everywhere. The weakest sister had her entire hind end eaten off then screeming bloody murder when I reached in to take her out , and not to even mention the resulting huge vet. bill. Lesson learned... I switched to one mature female per hanging wire cage. Everyone was much happier that way. I can give you quite a few colony disaster stories from the years that I worked at a Univercity Vet. Medicine Teaching Hospital. Good luck to you !
pennylove
Chillin' with the herd
I've seen two colony set-ups (in person) that worked well. One is a large fenced enclosure, inside of a barn. The does are kept in colony at all times and the bucks are housed with them, but each in separate cages, spread throughout the area. I questioned placing the bucks in the area, thinking they might be sexually frustrated being kept in close proximity to so many does and that their presence might cause more territorial fights between the free-ranging does, but that wasn't the case. The owner claims she sees little difference in the amount of aggression the does exhibit to one another whether the bucks are nearby or not. However, with the does in close proximity, she has not been able to allow her bucks access to one another--even adjacent wire cages eventually led to fighting and biting through the wires.
In that particular set-up, she has separate quarters for does with litters and a separate pen for junior rabbits (separated by gender). Only her breeding bucks were kept "caged," the rest of the rabbits had large fenced enclosures to roam. The rabbitry owner has had the best of luck with introductions and bonding (i.e., preventing fighting) by introducing AT LEAST two rabbits of similar ages to the colony at the same time. So, if she purchases a new doe, she keeps her caged away from the other rabbits until she has another doe or two and then introduces them to the colony at the same time.
I'm sorry I don't have pictures to show you, but there was nothing elaborate about the set-ups. Long, rectangular pens of varying sizes enclosed with wire fencing. Straw was used on the floor and she used the deep composting method, with free-ranging ducks to control flies in the summer. As someone who purchased rabbits from this set-up, my only complaint was that the rabbits' coats hadn't been as carefully groomed as I would have liked, but then, you're probably not looking at raising Angoras, either: )
The second set-up involves large cages for each rabbit and a mutual free-range area. All of the rabbits, separated by gender, have access to the free-range are at one time, meaning it never becomes any one rabbit's territory, so there is very little fighting. It works on the principle that you introduce rabbits only on "neutral" grounds--what belongs to everyone remains neutral. The rabbits are caged at night, either separately or in bonded pairs and allowed to free-range for most of the day. When the does are out, the bucks are in and vice-versa.
In both of these examples, adequate space for every rabbit is key. The minimum standards for livestock breeding and raising are really not adequate by rabbit standards. If you want to prevent fighting, the rabbits need plenty of room to interact with one another (or not, as the case may be). There also need to be nearly unlimited resources--plenty of food, water, shelter, etc., for each rabbit, all the time.
Also, in both of these colonies, fighting is at a minimum. There are occasional fights and every now and then someone suffers a bite wound, but nothing like Bossroo has described.
In that particular set-up, she has separate quarters for does with litters and a separate pen for junior rabbits (separated by gender). Only her breeding bucks were kept "caged," the rest of the rabbits had large fenced enclosures to roam. The rabbitry owner has had the best of luck with introductions and bonding (i.e., preventing fighting) by introducing AT LEAST two rabbits of similar ages to the colony at the same time. So, if she purchases a new doe, she keeps her caged away from the other rabbits until she has another doe or two and then introduces them to the colony at the same time.
I'm sorry I don't have pictures to show you, but there was nothing elaborate about the set-ups. Long, rectangular pens of varying sizes enclosed with wire fencing. Straw was used on the floor and she used the deep composting method, with free-ranging ducks to control flies in the summer. As someone who purchased rabbits from this set-up, my only complaint was that the rabbits' coats hadn't been as carefully groomed as I would have liked, but then, you're probably not looking at raising Angoras, either: )
The second set-up involves large cages for each rabbit and a mutual free-range area. All of the rabbits, separated by gender, have access to the free-range are at one time, meaning it never becomes any one rabbit's territory, so there is very little fighting. It works on the principle that you introduce rabbits only on "neutral" grounds--what belongs to everyone remains neutral. The rabbits are caged at night, either separately or in bonded pairs and allowed to free-range for most of the day. When the does are out, the bucks are in and vice-versa.
In both of these examples, adequate space for every rabbit is key. The minimum standards for livestock breeding and raising are really not adequate by rabbit standards. If you want to prevent fighting, the rabbits need plenty of room to interact with one another (or not, as the case may be). There also need to be nearly unlimited resources--plenty of food, water, shelter, etc., for each rabbit, all the time.
Also, in both of these colonies, fighting is at a minimum. There are occasional fights and every now and then someone suffers a bite wound, but nothing like Bossroo has described.
- Thread starter
- #9
Blackhereford boy
Ridin' The Range
those sound cool
thanks
thanks
bjjohns
Loving the herd life
This isn't really a rabbit pen so much as it's a rabbit tractor:
It's 5'x10' and the bottom is 2"x4" welded wire. The sides are 2' chicken wire. We put the rabbits in at 3-4 weeks of age. It gets moved 2-3 times a day. You have to be careful to not put it over holes when the rabbits are still really small.
It's 5'x10' and the bottom is 2"x4" welded wire. The sides are 2' chicken wire. We put the rabbits in at 3-4 weeks of age. It gets moved 2-3 times a day. You have to be careful to not put it over holes when the rabbits are still really small.
