velacreations
Active member
I figured this information might be useful to any newbies considering colonies...
We have been raising rabbits for about 18 months using a basic colony setup that we have adjusted to fit the needs and issues of our rabbits.
We have a rabbit barn, 10 ft by 20 ft. 8ft by 10ft is the doe house. 6ft by 3ft is the fryer housing, and we have 2 bucks, each get 3ft by 3ft house. The rest of the barn is feed storage.
Each area has an outside run as well. The doe run is probably 15 ft by 30 ft. The fryer run is 15 ft by 20 ft, and each buck has 6 ft by 6 ft.
The entire barn and runs are surrounded by electric fence for predators. We also have 2 guard dogs, and we've never had a predator issue, though we had a big snake get a kits last year.
We fill the inside areas with a foot of corn stover/straw.
We have nipples in each inside area for water, and they feed off a 1,000 gallon tank that is fed completely from the rain catchment of the rabbit barn.
We have been feeding pellets and hay, but during the rain season, we feed fresh greens and grass as well.
We maintain 10 does and 2 bucks. They are mutts. We usually have anywhere between 20 and 40 fryers. We schedule breeding every week, and the doe is left in the bucks pen over night. We strive to breed and kindle weekly.
We wean at 6 weeks, the kits are tattooed, weighed, sexed and put in the fryer area. We weigh again at 10 weeks, and we weigh and butcher at 12 weeks. We are starting to be able to butcher at 10-12 weeks.
We rebreed the doe when her kits are weaned.
Everything is recorded, and we select junior does based on growth rate and litter size. We butcher at 5 lbs.
In the beginning, we let the does kindle and manage the kits themselves until the 6 week weaning. Unfortunately, we had some issues with that, as the does began fighting over burrows and nesting areas, and we were loosing kits.
So, we transitioned to hanging cages for kindling. We place a doe in the cage around 4-5 days before her due date. We put her and the kits back in the colony when the kits are about 10 days old. This has worked moderately, but a lot of the does have issues with kindling on the wire, so we are exploring other options.
All in all, the colony works well. We clean everything out every 3 months, and we haven't had issues with disease.
The does have burrows all over the outside area, and a bit in the straw bedding inside. This is fine once the kits are bigger, but kindling in the burrows was not working well. We may try and set up some tunnel boxes to see if that works better. We do have a bunch of open bottom nest boxes in the colony, but only a few does ever used them for kindling.
Our goals are to transition towards a more natural, homegrown feeding system and to also aim for in-colony kindling. The feeding part is difficult, because we get rain for only 3-4 months of the year, so things have to be harvested and dried.
Here are some photos and more details:
http://velacreations.blogspot.com/search/label/rabbits
We have been raising rabbits for about 18 months using a basic colony setup that we have adjusted to fit the needs and issues of our rabbits.
We have a rabbit barn, 10 ft by 20 ft. 8ft by 10ft is the doe house. 6ft by 3ft is the fryer housing, and we have 2 bucks, each get 3ft by 3ft house. The rest of the barn is feed storage.
Each area has an outside run as well. The doe run is probably 15 ft by 30 ft. The fryer run is 15 ft by 20 ft, and each buck has 6 ft by 6 ft.
The entire barn and runs are surrounded by electric fence for predators. We also have 2 guard dogs, and we've never had a predator issue, though we had a big snake get a kits last year.
We fill the inside areas with a foot of corn stover/straw.
We have nipples in each inside area for water, and they feed off a 1,000 gallon tank that is fed completely from the rain catchment of the rabbit barn.
We have been feeding pellets and hay, but during the rain season, we feed fresh greens and grass as well.
We maintain 10 does and 2 bucks. They are mutts. We usually have anywhere between 20 and 40 fryers. We schedule breeding every week, and the doe is left in the bucks pen over night. We strive to breed and kindle weekly.
We wean at 6 weeks, the kits are tattooed, weighed, sexed and put in the fryer area. We weigh again at 10 weeks, and we weigh and butcher at 12 weeks. We are starting to be able to butcher at 10-12 weeks.
We rebreed the doe when her kits are weaned.
Everything is recorded, and we select junior does based on growth rate and litter size. We butcher at 5 lbs.
In the beginning, we let the does kindle and manage the kits themselves until the 6 week weaning. Unfortunately, we had some issues with that, as the does began fighting over burrows and nesting areas, and we were loosing kits.
So, we transitioned to hanging cages for kindling. We place a doe in the cage around 4-5 days before her due date. We put her and the kits back in the colony when the kits are about 10 days old. This has worked moderately, but a lot of the does have issues with kindling on the wire, so we are exploring other options.
All in all, the colony works well. We clean everything out every 3 months, and we haven't had issues with disease.
The does have burrows all over the outside area, and a bit in the straw bedding inside. This is fine once the kits are bigger, but kindling in the burrows was not working well. We may try and set up some tunnel boxes to see if that works better. We do have a bunch of open bottom nest boxes in the colony, but only a few does ever used them for kindling.
Our goals are to transition towards a more natural, homegrown feeding system and to also aim for in-colony kindling. The feeding part is difficult, because we get rain for only 3-4 months of the year, so things have to be harvested and dried.
Here are some photos and more details:
http://velacreations.blogspot.com/search/label/rabbits
