Colony Idea
- Thread starter Bandits Bunny Farm
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I would not use wood as it absorbs urine (does spray too - especially in a colony 
)and will get gnawed and need replacing within a few years.
I think having flat roofs on the caves is a bad idea as high spots are preferred resting areas - wood will get severely soiled, metal will erode/rust from urine and hard plastic will crack - a softer rubberized plastic would be a good choice but even with a 45 degree slope I have rabbits resting and defecating on my slanted roofs
How are you going to access the caves to inspect litters and disinfect ? On your hands and knees ? A removable lid?
Are the bucks living separately in the breeding pen? I have had a doe get pregnant through the wire when housed next to a buck so you may want to reconsider this and put the bucks in a hanging cage or another location.
)and will get gnawed and need replacing within a few years.I think having flat roofs on the caves is a bad idea as high spots are preferred resting areas - wood will get severely soiled, metal will erode/rust from urine and hard plastic will crack - a softer rubberized plastic would be a good choice but even with a 45 degree slope I have rabbits resting and defecating on my slanted roofs
How are you going to access the caves to inspect litters and disinfect ? On your hands and knees ? A removable lid?
Are the bucks living separately in the breeding pen? I have had a doe get pregnant through the wire when housed next to a buck so you may want to reconsider this and put the bucks in a hanging cage or another location.
Bandits Bunny Farm
Well-known member
Dood":28x7zwaa said:I would not use wood as it absorbs urine (does spray too - especially in a colony
Well, what we're going to do, is we're going to dig down like 1 1/2', and then put cement pavers down and on the sides, and then do the colony on top of that, fill it with the dirt and then put straw on top. so the does can dig without escaping. I thought of this after I saw Truckinguy's post about his colony that he just finished ( :thankyou: Truckinguy!!!) so it's kinda like his, with a few tweaks. What do you suggest for the spraying?
I'm going to have lots of toys and stuff in the colony for them to play with and chew on so hopefully it'll take their minds off the walls. besides, pretty much the whole front will be wood frames with thick wire....ummmm... I don't know if it's mesh or what. I have a picture.
Dood":28x7zwaa said:
Neither. We're going to build a "maternity ward/hutch" with about 6-8 holes, so that at about 27 days I'll have the nestboxes in the hutch and they'll kindle in the hutch, and the does will spend the day in the colony and the babies in the house, and they'll spend the night in the hutches, until the kits are about 3-4 weeks old, and then they'll stay in the colony until they are either sold, or until the bucks need to be separated.
Dood":28x7zwaa said:I think having flat roofs on the caves is a bad idea as high spots are preferred resting areas - wood will get severely soiled, metal will erode/rust from urine and hard plastic will crack - a softer rubberized plastic would be a good choice but even with a 45 degree slope I have rabbits resting and defecating on my slanted roofs
I don't mind them resting on top of them. Dropping berries isn't even really a problem. It's just urinating that I have the problem with. Maybe I could just have a planter on top of the caves and grow either grass or some type of rabbit-friendly green or herb or something?
Dood":28x7zwaa said:
No. The breeding pen is for... well... breeding. I have hutches for the bucks. Currently, I have 5 hutches, and they're all two story, but once we move, we're going to repair the hutches and then turn them into top and bottom hutches.
