# Info on my colony setup.



## LizinNH (Feb 2, 2003)

Hi all. I have had several quetions regarding my colony setup. So, I am going to attempt to answer publicly as many as I can. I apologize for the lenght of the post but it is going to take a bit to get it all in.

I wanted to get started with meat rabbits. Mostly for my own family and sell any extra. I started out keeping my first breeding trio in a large hutch 4'x8'. It was a pain to keep clean, and the wood always smelled like urine. The smell drew the attention of predators. My first herd was devastated, leaving me only three babies. Not learning the first time I resecured everything and tried again. History has a way of repeating itself and I lost them all again. :bash: 

I was doing some reading in the countryside magazine and there was an article on raising colony style rabbits. So I did more reading and internet research. I was very interested because they would have better predator protection, as well as, better heat in winter and cool in summer. Besides rabbits have been raising there kits in burrows for ages, it obviously works for them. 

So, into a chicken tractor they went. I moved them around for awhile to get them used to being on the ground. When they started digging holes I convinced my husband to let me fence in the area around the holes. The fence went up last year. Around the inside edges are tree pieces for them to climb on and gnaw. it also prevents them from digging out under it. 

Today I have six does and one buck in the pen. Some of the girls share burrows, some are very picky aboout the others getting to close to the kits. I have stopped taking the buck out. It caused to many fights when I put him back in. Jealous does are not a pretty sight.

The adults have bonded wonderfully. They snuggle up together, groom each other, watch over the kits as they start to come above ground. The buck is very gentle with the kits. He checks out all the burrows every day to see how things are. Sounds strange, I know, but he is very protective of his girls and kits. There are approximately 2 dozen babies in the pen right now. with two more litters due to come out in the next week, and two new litters born this week. I free feed them all the pellets, hay and alfalfa cubes they want. With lots of water sources available. The food dishes are placed in a raised cage, so I can remove rabbits as nessasary, by closing the door behind them when they go in. My kids love to throw grass into to them as well as the garden trimmings.

In thehigh heat of summer I put frozen two liter bottles on the ground to sleep against and hose the ground to keep it cool. I have learned to keep the snow levels down around the fence line. They learned they can jump out if the snow is high enough.

Well , I think that covers everything I can think of right now.
liz in nh


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## CurrentWave (Apr 2, 2005)

Thanks Liz, this is wonderful.


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## cathryn (Aug 7, 2005)

Hi Liz. This is my first reply!

Thanks for the info. It is good to know that your rabbits are OK w/ the NH winters. We hope to move to NH and I was thinking that a colony would be a good way to go for the rabbits.


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## 9Pines (Feb 25, 2003)

Yes.. thank you so much for the explanations. I'm worried about MN winters with this idea. Any advice?


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## LizinNH (Feb 2, 2003)

During the winters I make sure the burrow holes stay clear of snow. I also make sure the babies can easily get to the food and water by shoveling out the pen as needed. The winter time babies are extermely well furred when they come up above ground. So I don't worry to much about them.
liz


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## cricket (Dec 15, 2004)

Ok, I have some, well, stupid questions that I've never seen answered successfully. How do you clean out the pen? How do you catch the babies for slaughter? (guns are not an option for me) Don't they go under the fence? or is it buried 3' deep? What about smell? 

I would love to move mine to a colony as I believe it would mean happier bunnies. However, I've never been able to resolve the above issues. Does anyone have any links to some plans for a colony? I simply can't have them diappearing underground. I would simply have a duck. Thanks for the help...


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## Thatch (Jun 25, 2002)

Cricket,

I certainly can't speak for Liz but if you read this thread...

http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=94027

and all the links contained within it (it links directly to another dicussion which then has a couple other links from previous discussions of my colony set up) it will answer all the questions you have at least in how I run my colony.

Liz I'm sure will be around shortly to answer how she goes about it.

J


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## LizinNH (Feb 2, 2003)

How do you clean out the pen?
the does do most of the work, they are constantly filling in old tunnels with manure and old nest materials. Each new litter has a newly dug nest site in the underground burrows. Any old hay, feed and manure out on the ground I just rake out weekly.

How do you catch the babies for slaughter?
Inside the colony fence I have a 4'x4' raised feeding station. There is a door on it that I can shut behind them when they are inside. This allows me to pull out any rabbits I need. I also use a havahart trap for babies that get out side the fence. The fence mesh is 2"x4" so new bunnies can easily slide through the fence. The babies getting out has never been a problem. My kids love to pick up and play with the babies out side the fence.

Don't they go under the fence?
I have had rabbits dig at the edge of the fence to get the grass roots that they can reach. But they have no intention of going under it. No, my fence is not buried under ground at all. I placed a few logs around the inside of the fence line for them to stand and chew on. All the burrows they have dug extend well beyond the fence line. None of the tunnels have ever surfaced on the outside of the fence. I have dug down in to the tunnels from the outside to remove a dead bunny. I just filled the hole I made back in and let them reopen it underground. 
I periodically let them loose on to the grass in the yard. They enjoy the extra running room and the fresh grass. they never go to far and return to the pen for their pellets and water. When everybody is inside I just shut the gate behind them.

What about the smell?
I have not noticed any odor from my colony setup. Manure is buried or removed. Urine soaks into the ground and is washed away in the next storm. I do ocassionally dust the surface with lime and work it in with a rake. When adding lime always do it right before a storm or hose the area down after. You don't want them to be inhaling to much lime.


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## cricket (Dec 15, 2004)

Well, makes sense. Thanks... I appreciate you taking the time to answer the questions and to give me the link. I really would like to have them where they can run and be bunnies.


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## LizinNH (Feb 2, 2003)

Snip
Also, I have a couple questions. In the book "The Private Life of Rabbits" (I believe that is the title) it talks a lot about how territorial rabbits are and says how the dominant female won't let anyone else have a litter until she does and will even kill the babies of other does. Um, then how do colonies work? Do they have to have enough space that they don't feel like they have to do that?
snip

I have seven does and one buck in my pen now. Dalila is the alpha doe. She will chase and fight with other does but nothing very serious. She has her own burrow that she does not share with other does. There are 5 other burrows that the lesser does share as they are having kits. Of course there is the occasional litter of kits under the mudroom.:grump: My alpha doe has never bothered another litter of kits. 

LIZ in NH


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## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

What a great thread, and I love your photos!

My daughter has been researching raising rabbits. Can you believe we haven't come across anything about raising rabbits in a colony? Well, if she *has* come across it, she hasn't mentioned it. I'm going to encourage her to give this some thought.

How much thought did you give to your location as far as drainage goes? We are in a valley and I think drainage might be an issue.

I really like the idea of a colony instead of pens, though. I think it's amazing that they don't burrow under the fence, pop up on the outside, and run away. Guess they know a good thing when they see it. How big is the fenced area?

ETA - I've been reading Thatch's threads for 30 or 45 minutes now.
This is great stuff!!! We were going to get the materials to build hutches this past weekend, but didn't because some nut trees arrived earlier than expected... so we spent the weekend planting trees. Anyway, now I'm so glad we didn't spend that time building rabbit hutches. This looks so great! :rock:


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## rabbitgal (Feb 12, 2005)

This is very interesting.  I've got a lot of questions. Colonies sound very intriguing, but I'd like to get some more info before I can go and build one! About how often do you think the does have litters? Can you tell who the parents are (I keep pedigree records and would like to continue doing so if that's possible with a colony!)? What happens if a rabbit dies underground? Have you had any problems with disease?

Thanks for taking the time to answer my newb questions...


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## rabbitgal (Feb 12, 2005)

probably my biggest question is whether or not a colony is compatible with a show rabbitry. Can the rabbits maintain muscular bodies and thick, luxurious fur in a colony? Will other rabbits chew on the coats and ruin them (like what happens whenever I try to keep rabbits together in a cage.)?


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## Xandras_Zoo (Jul 21, 2004)

I'm wondering the same things... I'd be worried that the does might get into a little tussle and your *perfect* show doe might get a DQ-ing bite. That would suck. With my 3 pet rabbit trios that I let out together, I've never noticed any fur chewing, but they are all spayed/ neutered

I would keep the bucks in cages and then catch a doe and take her to the buck. Keep her isolated but so she can still interact with the others (a ground-level hutch?), so that they don't get all hyped-up when you let her out after the litter's been weaned, and so you know whose babies are whose. You'd have to keep them tame, so I thought that might be possible by teaching them to eat out of your hand for a few seconds and accept petting before giving them the rest of their meal. I would also put wire down and build them a barn, so that they weren't impossible to catch.

These guys did the barn thing with their bunnies- http://www.freewebs.com/christacats/index.htm

I asked her how they all got along and she wrote:
"We have more than one big pen and sometimes have to move them around not often,we have little problems keeping them together, but when they have babies will take them out before hand."


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## LizinNH (Feb 2, 2003)

_probably my biggest question is whether or not a colony is compatible with a show rabbitry._
In my humble opinion, No. The does dig and roll in the dirt. They have occasional minor fights. If I was going to be showing I would keep my chosen show animals in cages.

_Can the rabbits maintain muscular bodies and thick, luxurious fur in a colony? _ 
Yes and no. My does fed a higher amount of calories daily to account for the added exercise they get and the fact that they are nursing or pregnant. They are always in good muscular condition. When you pick them up you can feel the differnece between one of colony does and my caged rabbits. Colony does are much more solid feeling. As far as the fur goes they are usually missing spots of fur becuase they have pulled it for kindling. I have one doe that insists on taking everything from her hind quarters instead of her belly.

_Will other rabbits chew on the coats and ruin them _ 
I have seen does pull fur from one another during fights, but at no other time. 

_About how often do you think the does have litters? _ 
Every 35 to 40 days for dalila and pepermint. 45 or more for ginger, skye and misha.

_Can you tell who the parents are (I keep pedigree records and would like to continue doing so if that's possible with a colony!)?_
I keep a close eye on my girls, I know when they are pregnant, when they kindle and where. I do keep records, who, how many and when. The records are not always as complete as I would like but they are certainly usable. Also records for my colony, to me, do not need to be as accurate as they do for my caged Hollands.

_What happens if a rabbit dies underground? _ 
I have had this happen twice now. the first was a four week old kit. the does were working on pushing it out of the burrow when I found it and removed it. I keep a child size set of garden tools and found that a small garden hoe fits perfectly into the burrow holes. (I have also dropped things by accident and had them roll down in!) The second was a whole litter. the does sealed the burrow. 

_Have you had any problems with disease?_
When I first started my colony I had a problem with a respirtory illness. The surving stock has never suffered from it again. I have had a few perfectly healthy kits die after being removed from the colony. I think it has to do with the fact that they have never seen a water bottle. And dehydrate. I use a 5 gal. poultry waterer. I am putting water bottles in the colony area again.

_How much thought did you give to your location as far as drainage goes?_
Honestly, none. The does chose the spot to dig the first burrow and I fenced around it. However they did chose a lightly sloped are of the yard. One of the burrow common areas did collapse when i walked over this week. But that was from the shear amount of rain we had recently. The ground is very soft right now. I dug the area out and sank two logs in to prevent the ground from giving out again.

_How big is the fenced area?_
approximately 20 x 20 feet.


Liz in NH


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## rabbitgal (Feb 12, 2005)

Thanks, this has given me some food for thought! I think my bunnies would be happier in a colony, I just need to figure out the details!


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