Starting to plan rabbit Colony: A Successful colony x2!

[samssimonsays]

8-20-15 Colony Update

Colony #2





Upon morning check this morning I found Charley and his Angels (Hehe see what I did there?) Roxy, Honey and Evey all snug together with Roxy drapped over Charley LOL. These 4 just crack me up. The level of content they have become since placing them together is absolutely amazing to me. I have seen the improvement in each of them with their personalities shining through even brighter than before.


Colony #1

The babies from Colony 1 are thriving and doing remarkably well for the age they have hit. Usually they will start to scuffle a bit at this age but have yet to do so with the space and levels they have to give each other their individual space.

 

[Smith360]

I'm glad your colony is doing good! Mine is just beginning and we are starting things slow. Currently we have two bucks. A broken orange holland and a palamino Netherland dwarf cross who we took in when the family couldn't care for anymore. As far as does, we have three that are living together. A blue dutch doe, a broken orange holland and a REW lionhead. The bucks are in seperate wire cages. My little sister was afraid something bad would happen to Rosco(mut buck) because he was housed outside, so in the night she put him in with the dutch (Blue) and the lionhead (Donald). I'm pretty sure that Blue is bred but not sure about Donald. And then we bought the Holland's and she bred Donald to Scotch (holland buck) and Blossom (holland doe) to Scotch as well. So we will be having a giant mess of mut bunnies in September! I'm hoping to have Rosco neutered because Blue and him are very bonded and I hate having to cage him up and seperate them. There is also currently 4 female guinea pigs who live with the does. They get along wonderful and eat the rabbit food. I give them list of hay and oranges and vitamin c drops I'm their water. Any thoughts on the setup? Not trying to back your thread Samantha Drawz!

 

[samssimonsays]

Oh I love your set up! It looks like there are visual blocks and three shelters, one for each doe, that I can tell from pictures which is perfect. My only concern would be can they dig out and can anything climb in? I can not tell from the pictures if there is anything on the ground to prevent that. Most rabbits will attempt to dig out, some will not Not to mention some things can dig in as well.

As for Guinea pigs, I have not raised them since 2007 so I am dusty on their info but I believe that they do need some guinea pig food available as they can't get all they need from rabbit pellets? But like I said, I am waaay dusty on my Guinea piggies The Vit c drops may be all they need from their food though. If you haven't already I would check into that to be safe.

I can not wait to see pictures of those babies by the way! mixes are super adorable! I started with mixes and built up from there to pedigreed Mini lops then to Pedigreed French Lops.

Mine are brand new to the Colony experience as well. I have tried with past rabbits that it did not work with but I have found each doe has a different personality and they need to match in order for them to get along. The one higher strung doe in my colony was an oopsie as she placed herself in there by breaking the latch to her cage and all has been ok since they established who is in charge (That would be Evey the Blue steel doe with no tail ) The Jr girls were placed together at about 12 weeks old and are now 4 months old so it is doing well but their is a chance they may fail in the end. My jr does usually do Hopefully this weekend when I clean the barn, weather permitting, I will have the time to build my pens for the colonies to be housed in. We will see... I may nee the master Carpenter skills of my dad for that though.

And don't worry about taking the thread I view this as a learning experience for people who are trying it, learning about it or doing it Anyone is welcome and I am still learning a ton about it so I am fine tuning my ways as I see and find other ideas from others Feel free to share here as you go.

 

[Smith360]

Thanks for the input! I talked to some vets and breeders and cavy and rabbit is basically the same. Cavies only require vitamin c. So the drops plus constant hay and grass is a good enough diet for them. Right now we have wire spread along the outsides of the run but it's mainly to keep things from digging in. And we are hoping to get a roof on the run soon. For now. I close the little door so that everybody is shut inside the building at night. We will be adding more shelters to the inside and outside. There is one thing I'm concerned about. Because they are on the ground and I put them out into grass pens every day, they are probably going to get worms. And I don't have a problem worming them. But what worker? And how much?

 

[samssimonsays]

Oh perfect! The wire out there will keep them in as well And I figured you had looked into it but it crossed my mind to mention it lol. As for the worms, I get mine specifically safe for rabbits at the vet but there is on eon Amazon you can purchase as well I just found. I also use Dietamatious Earth powder, food grade, and sprinkle it in the grass. It will dry up all of those sorts of things but it is bad to breath in so be careful while doing it and sprinkle while they are not out there. I use it in my rabbits water and goats as well and it will also strip them out as a preventative. If they have a heavy worm load already it will not work fast enough. I also get supplements online at this site called firmeadows and they have a really nice assortment of supplements. If you have questions on what is safe for your animals the gal will respond in a timely manner as well.

 

[Smith360]

Awesome thanks! Ill get some of the earth stuff. Two more weeks and my lovely Blue is due!

 

[samssimonsays]

Awesome thanks! Ill get some of the earth stuff. Two more weeks and my lovely Blue is due!

It is so exciting expecting new babies Good luck!

 

[samssimonsays]

Got a few photos of the Jr's this weekend. Alchemy and Iris absolutely love each other. Margo too but these two are usually inseparable. I missed the photo of Alchemy laying on her side with her arm around Iris by a second but it is still adorable! They crack me up lol.

 

[Smith360]

You have beautiful rabbits! So I'm a little concerned about Blue. She is due soon so I put her in her kindling pen. It's large enough for her to move around quite abit but I'm concerned that she will get stressed out over not being in the "colony". I put her in a week early to adjust her. Her pen is in with the other rabbits so they can see and smell her. Should I be worried?

 

[samssimonsays]

You have beautiful rabbits! So I'm a little concerned about Blue. She is due soon so I put her in her kindling pen. It's large enough for her to move around quite abit but I'm concerned that she will get stressed out over not being in the "colony". I put her in a week early to adjust her. Her pen is in with the other rabbits so they can see and smell her. Should I be worried?

I wouldn't be too worried about her stressing about not being in the colony. More about her stressing when she is returned to it. I have yet to decide what I will do when my girls are breeding aged and in the colony... I think I may try them raising their babies together but we will see :/