# Raising rabbits in one big pen



## uncleotis (Mar 14, 2005)

Can someone help me out with some of my questions. I put all my does together in one big pen and put the buck with them. One of my questions is this. Can I leave the buck with them all the time, even when they have babies?
I know you should limit their feed, but how do I do it when they are all together? will they learn to come to the feeders and all eat together? Also, how do I do it when a couple of them have babies and you want them on full feed? how do I limit the rest of the does that are all in this pen and haven't had babies yet?

Thanks


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## crystalniche (Apr 4, 2005)

One lady here did that and it worked out very well. She has a dairy farm and one of the buildings on it is an old chicken coop with cement floors. She decided on the area she wanted her rabbits to live in, closed it off from the rest. She then covered the floor with several inches of good hay and placed several whole square bales of hay here and there to give the mothers some private places to have their litters. She added the rabbits and let them go! She had a huge feeder always kept pretty full and always water for them too. When the does were settled in she added the buck. I think she did remove the buck at times to give the does a rest not because he harmed the bunnies. The windows were large and wire covered---even during the winter. Plenty of ventilation. Rabbits were comfortable tho because they were dry and had all that hay to nest in. She gave up on this project because she was doing too much and needed to cut back a little. I was there several times and all the rabbits and bunnies looked good and happy to me. She always had lots of babies.


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## LizinNH (Feb 2, 2003)

Hi, I have rabbits in cages, a tractor, and in a large pen. In the large pen my five does and buck do very well. I keep two or more bowls of feed out at a time. They are always nearly or completely empty at the end of the day. I also make sure there are plenty of alfalfa cubes out for them to nibble on. I always roll a few into the underground burrows when I knoew there are babies down there getting ready to start eating solids. I have noticed that my rabbits don't eat everything all at once. they spread it out over the day. A nibble here and there. I also thow cut grasses and weeds into the pen.
I do take the buck out a regular intervals as well. but I keep him right there inside the pen where they can see and be near each other. That way there is no territorial fighting when I put hi back on the ground. So far, colony style raising is working well for my meat rabbits. I have two litters, about three weeks old just starting to come out of the burrows in time for the next two does to have theirs.

The rabbits living in the tractor is a new setup. so far I have noticed they are eating less pellets and water. They are moved once or twice a day to keep them on fresh clovers, plantains and grasses. I also make sure they have a few alfalfa cubes.

I hope this helps.
Liz in nh


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## Thatch (Jun 25, 2002)

I've got some of my rabbits in a colony setup. The bucks are in with the does 24/7. I'm a month out from the latest delivery and their interactions are interesting at this time. The does after delivery were VERY stand-offish to the bucks not allowing them anywhere near them during the first month. The kits have just come above ground in the last few days and while still not open to advances the does are becoming less quick to run off and the bucks are getting more insistent in their demands for their attention

As for food. I have a large chicken feeder filled with pellets in the pen at all times and I supplement with various greens as well as regular flakes of timothy hay. They seem to in fact eat less now than they did when caged. The supplemental feed certainly has some impact on that I believe it also has to do with the fact that they are constantly "doing" something. They do not sit and eat (not that they had unlimited feed before... it was measured, but if they would of been given unlimited food, they would of eaten it) they run around, dig tunnels, chase each other... what have you. The eat what they need and no more.

As for starting the young on feed. Right at 4 weeks they are all out in the open eating mostly hay but I have seen them at the feeder as well. They've all just sort of gotten what they needed without any direct intervention from me. I've not gotten a hard count on the litter size but this one seems to be in the 6-7 range. There could be more, they're small, move fast, hide often and are all similarly marked... makes for a difficult count.

Best of luck with things.

J


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## Rosarybeads (Oct 21, 2004)

I don't think you need to limit their food, if they breed back constantly (they should do, because of the buck in there), they will need good calories, and they will also be more active in a big pen rather than a small cage. 

Yes, leave the buck with them, unless he is a problem. If he is a problem get a tame, nice buck!


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## LizinNH (Feb 2, 2003)

Here's a picture of the latest set of kits born in the colony setup. They were born 5/21 and 5/23


http://community.webshots.com/scripts/editPhotos.fcgi?action=viewall&albumID=376257495

Liz in NH


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## rzrubek (May 13, 2004)

LizinNH said:


> Here's a picture of the latest set of kits born in the colony setup. They were born 5/21 and 5/23
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Link still doesn't work. Try using photobucket, it works great, very easy.


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## Thatch (Jun 25, 2002)

rzrubek said:


> Link still doesn't work. Try using photobucket, it works great, very easy.



Well in the mean time here's a pic of 3 of the latest batch of 10.


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## animal_kingdom (Mar 31, 2005)

_those are beautiful babies! The mama looks like one of my rabbits....she should have babies any day now. Second try at it. Hopefully we'll be blessed with such beautiful babies soon...just a matter of time...
Thanks for sharing_


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## LizinNH (Feb 2, 2003)

I think I fixed the problem witht the link.

http://community.webshots.com/user/nyghtwulf

liz

Trying again


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## animal_kingdom (Mar 31, 2005)

_link still doesn't work for me...keep working on it, I would love to see a pic!_


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## Siryet (Jun 29, 2002)

animal_kingdom said:


> _link still doesn't work for me...keep working on it, I would love to see a pic!_




http://community.webshots.com/user/nyghtwulf


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## Siryet (Jun 29, 2002)

LizinNH said:


> Hi, I have rabbits in cages, a tractor, and in a large pen. In the large pen my five does and buck do very well. I keep two or more bowls of feed out at a time. They are always nearly or completely empty at the end of the day. I also make sure there are plenty of alfalfa cubes out for them to nibble on. I always roll a few into the underground burrows when I knoew there are babies down there getting ready to start eating solids. I have noticed that my rabbits don't eat everything all at once. they spread it out over the day. A nibble here and there. I also thow cut grasses and weeds into the pen.
> I do take the buck out a regular intervals as well. but I keep him right there inside the pen where they can see and be near each other. That way there is no territorial fighting when I put hi back on the ground. So far, colony style raising is working well for my meat rabbits. I have two litters, about three weeks old just starting to come out of the burrows in time for the next two does to have theirs.
> 
> The rabbits living in the tractor is a new setup. so far I have noticed they are eating less pellets and water. They are moved once or twice a day to keep them on fresh clovers, plantains and grasses. I also make sure they have a few alfalfa cubes.
> ...


_Are the wood posts treated? Not a good idea in case the rabbits decide to eat the posts_.


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## rabbitgal (Feb 12, 2005)

Wow, great pic. My Cals and Creme D'Argents are caged, but I am experimenting w/ putting the litters in a tractor at weaning (8 wks.). All of my rabbits are free-fed unless they start looking a little fat. Your does should be fine if they're free-fed since they're using so many calories raising babies. I would also keep the buck separated so the does aren't harassed constantly. 

Best of luck,
Hannah


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## LizinNH (Feb 2, 2003)

Siryet - None of the wood I used is treated. The large pieces on the ground are chunks from a tree that fell on the chicken coop last year. I used untreated pine to build the tractor and feeding platform. I give them the prunings from trees to keep them from doing major chew damage.

rabbitgal - I've got the sweetest buck. He doesn't pay any attention to the girls when he knows they are pregnant. When the does are lounging around on the ground he will go over and lie next to them or groom their faces. He is very good with the kits as well. He is the dark grey rabbit in the left hand corner of the picture. He's nose to nose with one of the kits. Everybody is eager to eat when I go out in the morning wether the bowls are empty are not. They all greet me at the gate to see what I'm bringing them.

I have noticed one of my does doing something new. She dug her own burrow, not very long, the kits are just beyond arm's reach. Every day she covers over the entrance to the burrow after she has fed them. She digs her way in closing the hole behind her, then digs back out again. I went over and dug it out to see what was down there and she promptly came over and started to cover it back up. Has anybody every seen this behavior before? I'm wondering if she will stop doing this as the kits get bigger. This is her first litter as a colony style doe, she was raised and lived in a cage till this spring.

Liz


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## animal_kingdom (Mar 31, 2005)

_Those are beautiful babies and rabbits! I'm glad you got it fixed. Thanks for sharing!_


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## Siryet (Jun 29, 2002)

LizinNH said:


> Siryet - None of the wood I used is treated. The large pieces on the ground are chunks from a tree that fell on the chicken coop last year. I used untreated pine to build the tractor and feeding platform. I give them the prunings from trees to keep them from doing major chew damage.
> 
> rabbitgal - I've got the sweetest buck. He doesn't pay any attention to the girls when he knows they are pregnant. When the does are lounging around on the ground he will go over and lie next to them or groom their faces. He is very good with the kits as well. He is the dark grey rabbit in the left hand corner of the picture. He's nose to nose with one of the kits. Everybody is eager to eat when I go out in the morning wether the bowls are empty are not. They all greet me at the gate to see what I'm bringing them.
> 
> ...


*Sorry LizinNH, 
I was looking at the picture Thatch Posted. I apologize for my mistake*​


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## Thatch (Jun 25, 2002)

Siryet said:


> *Sorry LizinNH,
> I was looking at the picture Thatch Posted. I apologize for my mistake*​



Ah, well then. No. None of the wood is treated. Actually that pen was an inherited pen from the previous owners of this property. It was left with some of the rabbits. The chewing that has happened was all during captivity. I cut the legs off of the pen and put it in the enclosure to provide shelter for the rabbits, thinking that they would climb inside as needed. The reality is that they crawl undeneath it and almost never inside it. THat turns out to be alright as I can still see them through the bottom wire on the cage if i need to get a count or find a particular one. 

Interestingly there is no cage chewing now that they are in the colony. Seems there's other things to fill thier days than knawing away at thier home. 

J


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## Siryet (Jun 29, 2002)

Thatch said:


> Ah, well then. No. None of the wood is treated. Actually that pen was an inherited pen from the previous owners of this property. It was left with some of the rabbits. The chewing that has happened was all during captivity. I cut the legs off of the pen and put it in the enclosure to provide shelter for the rabbits, thinking that they would climb inside as needed. The reality is that they crawl undeneath it and almost never inside it. THat turns out to be alright as I can still see them through the bottom wire on the cage if i need to get a count or find a particular one.
> 
> Interestingly there is no cage chewing now that they are in the colony. Seems there's other things to fill thier days than knawing away at thier home.
> 
> J


we just went to the colony type arrangement also. they seem much happier this way. looking at the condition of your rabbits I can see it works. they are very healthy looking.


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