# 168 squarefeet for rabbit colony



## DonofPaw (Apr 6, 2010)

Hello I have been lurking all over reading up on colony raising rabbits. I have a tiny urban backyard but I would like to raise my rabbits in a colony. 

Would 168 squarefeet be enough room for 3 does and a buck?

Would 4 foot tall welded 2 x 4 wire make a good fence? I plan to use that on two sides and link it with my chainlink fence. I was also going to use chicken wire around the bottom 2 feet all the way around to keep Kits in.

Would 2 X 4 welded wire work well for the ground to keep the rabbits from digging out? I plan to stake it down inside the colony and provide some sort of housings for the rabbits inside the colony rather than have digging which might end up under the neighbors fence. 

I was looking at creating a feeding station that I could close remotely in order to catch rabbits for processing sound like an alright plan?

Do you worry about inbreeding in your colonies? My rabbits were breed by the Salatins for growth on forage so I don't really want to mix any other blood lines in perhaps I can keep all females and get a new buck from the farm in a few years? 

We don't seem to have any racoons around here, neighbors have large dogs but we have fencing. Only real predators I have seen are house cats and owls. I was thinking of bird netting the top and I doubt a house cat would be brave enough to take on our does but of course I have no clue on this. :viking:

Any and all feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Don


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## monsoon (Feb 28, 2008)

I don't know much about colonies but the remote feeding station would probably be more work than you need. If you come bearing treats they will come to you. I'd just step in and try to grab them or use a trusty pellet rifle.


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## ladysown (May 3, 2008)

kits can and will escape through chain link fence and 2 x 4 wire. So you'll need something taller and kits are good climbers.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

I dont klnow bout babies being good climbers, but from 3 weeks on up to say 2 mos id say they can climb. But I dont think theyed find a reason enough to climb 4ft if your rabbit yard is that big.. There are many ways to make a trap for rabbits. One comeing off the top of my head is just take hay bales and make a square with a 1ft opening at one point. maybe use 8 bales to start with.. Feed them in there. Get a 2 X 12 2ft long, and nail it into an L with a like measured board and keep it on top the hay when not in use. Keep a roof of some sort. Light plywood with polyurathane on it or deck polish to repel rain and feed them in that. When rabbits are wanted. Feed with the roof off, Hold off feeding for a day, which, if your going to butcher the caught rabbits is a good thing anyway, and theyll be easy to catch. CATS CAN AND WILL KILL BABIES, THEY ARENT AFRAID OF THE MOMAS, as the momas are inhearently afraid of the cats. I had that problem until I put an electric fence on the outside of my rabbit pens. That stopped them jumping from the ground, or climbing up the sides and getting what they could on their claws for a meal. It also caused the mamas to have the babies inside the boxes way more, rather than haveing them all over the place, and that mostly on the wire. If u ever have rabbits that you know have dug out under the wire, then u probably have to great a population which is causeing the rabbits to feel they havnt got enough fresh grass to support them, or therte just to croweded and have the feel to migrate. burying your wire a foot deep will stop that. In REALLY croweded situations rabbits will dig much deeper than that, but in a big lot, they wont for a long time, Way long enough you should se the holes and do something about it.

In my trap idea, I forgot you were not feeding them pellets. Anyway, you could make a catch area the same way useing wire to make the catch area, and feeding them in there. That would despense with the need for a roof, but you would need to make more areas for the rabbits to nest than you actually have, or they would feel crowded. U cant compartilize a rabbit with one hole/space/nest for each rabbit. they have the idea, if they go into a hole/nest/wct, it had ought to be empty, and if its not, the next one had better be, or its maybe time to move.

I would rather, if I were u have 2 bucks and 6 does, than the traditional 1/3. Ive had that, Its a negetive to the idea of people raising rabbits. If the buck is old/young/ or not interested, or the buck is old/young, and the does are not interested, or the buck becomes sterile, or whatever else can happen, your not gonna grow 2 bucks, youve got a 50% chance that one will interest at least 1/2 of them and the other the other. If you ever have cats get in, youll never be able to keep them out, other than with electricity.


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## jadejackal (Jan 16, 2010)

I do not have much to contribute as I have not tried a colony setup (yet). But I was surprised by the comment that the cats will eat the little ones. My does have kicked the snot out of any neighborhood cat that comes near their kits. To the point that I have no fear of leaving them out in the yard all day, even when I am gone from the house. You see that hair flying and you think, "There goes my rabbit." But then a wounded cat limps away. I should also mention that I have champagnes so they are larger than most breeds. I did not think this was unusual either because my grandpa tells a story about a rabbit he had whole almost killed one of the barnyard cats. I suppose it depends of the breed/line/temperament of the doe.


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## DonofPaw (Apr 6, 2010)

Hmmm so do you think the 4 foot tall fencing with two feet of wire at the bottom is not tall enough to keep the kits in?

I don't plan to dig the fence in due to the extreme proximity to neighbors, one wall will be the chainlink fence and his privacy fence seperating our properties. I plan to put the galvy wire down on the ground to keep them from digging down.

I do plan on feeding pellets heavily supplimented with greens, hay, and veg scraps.

I would really like as much feedback as possible, before I begin making my own mistakes  

Don


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## PulpFaction (Jul 23, 2009)

I've been thinking of your colony and have an idea.

It actually doesn't pertain to the fence height, though, but rather to the wire on the ground.

I was thinking since it's a small enough area that you can put wire down, why not build removeable frames to elevate the wire about an inch or so off the ground? You could make it modular, like carpet tiles, and when you're cleaning you could flip one up, which would also contain the rabbits in the other half, out of the way.

Might also help when it comes time to catch the rabbits.

I was also thinking in larger set-ups this might be used for a kind of rotational grazing system, so you could flip up the wire panels to contain the rabbits to a certain area so the grass could recover and grow up tall enough that the bunnies could eat it through the wire.

I mean, I guess in some ways it negates the benefits of a colony (low cost, being the most immediate,) but in others it's kind of the best of both worlds.


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## MoonFire (Jun 1, 2010)

if the wire fencing is sitting on top ... won;t they just dig out? or did I miss that being addressed?? lol sounds interesting! I bought some hogs from a guy that had rabbits in a yard...he had LOTS of them! I would love to have little grassy areas for the bun. but then I have so many preditors, I wouldn't get to eat many myself! *****, Hawks, eagles, Coyotes...and I have noticed the stupid marmots coming under the barn wall to pack off the grain the rabbits dig out of their bowls...lol
neat idea! good luck!!

JS-Oregon


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## jil101ca (Jul 2, 2007)

I think the 4' high fence would be tall enough. For the ground cover wire, i am wondering if they might still dig out of 2 x4 squares, a rabbit can fit through that hole size, it would take them longer to dig but i think they still could. For catching them, use a fishing net, it works well and is alot more fun than chasing them around. The tamest rabbit knows when your trying to catch them for a reason other than treat time. I did an outside yard a few years ago and put chicken wire on the ground. It took no time at all for the grass to grow through the holes.


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