What should I do about this colony (long story)

Hi. Long time lurker here.

Ok brace yourselves for an epic journey with me as I tell you all about my situation.

I have wanted to breed rabbits for a few years but money and time were never really my friends. I am NOT a builder type so anything that needs building is put on my husband's shoulders and he is a procrastinator sometimes. Anyways, one day my husband tells me (out of the blue) that he is bringing home some rabbits because his friend found a mama rabbit had given birth to babies in his barn and he didn't want them so he gave them to my husband. He brought home 3 male bunnies. Of course, we weren't prepared so We cleared out our shed and put them in there (with all the amenities they would need). The plan was to build a hutch. Well, mama rabbit had another litter which I can not explain except maybe she was impregnanted in both uterine horns? She had another litter of 11 babies. The people gave 2 away and I got 9 babies plus mama. Well, I tried to add them to the males but as you can guess, it didn't work. So we built a divider in the shed. Time passed, I sent most of the males to freezer camp when they were full grown and ended up taking a couple rabbits from a neglectful home. One rabbit broke his leg while I was trying to brush him (he was COVERED in mats that were tearing his skin. I cut them off as close as I could and a few days later when I attempted to GENTLY restrain him, he kicked me and his leg broke. I was devastated).

Here is a pic of the setup. The right side are the neglect case rabbits. I still have the dutch rabbit.




Anyways, it has been months and the more I think about it, the more I like the colony style. The rabbits just seem happy in there and I think I would like it this way better too if I was a rabbit as opposed to a cage. But space is becoming an issue because:



litter #1




litter #2


and maybe litter #3?




Yes, I am learning as I go and yes I am making mistakes. So now I need some wisdom. Here is a picture of my chicken coop and I am thinking of doing this to my rabbit shed except i was thinking of burying the concrete a couple feet underground so they can dig in the dirt but can't escape. Also need to do something to the sides of the wire so babies can't get out.



Should I be concerned with having them on the ground? Do I have to worm them now since they will be on the ground? Will they get sick? Is this adequate for a breeding program?

I want your opinions and feedback. Thank you so much.

Thanks for reading....and hey, here are some cute bunny pics to show my appreciation!

I don't recommend letting them dig. Tunnels collapse, especially shallow ones and you can loose adults and kits to cave-ins.

Dirt quickly turns to mud in fall, winter and spring.

It cannot be sanitized so if you do get something it will be in the dirt FOREVER. Treated rabbits will just get re-infected when they groom themselves. Unless you plan to breed for resistance I wouldn't try it.

Ok what about if they are on concrete?

Perhaps try separating by male / female vs bred / neglected.. really helps on litter cut downs.

I had a friend who raised rabbits on concrete. Hurts their feet/elbows, so you need woodchips/hay for them. But it was easy to clean. His rabbits were always clean & excercised.

Oh and beautiful babies you got there

Hello Wolfsnaps,
first I would say that you should get some better caging wire.
Rabbits can easily chew through Chicken Wire, that makes it
a BAD choice for housing/protecting Rabbits!
I can't say much about colony raising, because I house all of my rabbits in cages.
This way I have complete control over who breeds with whom and when.
rabbits housed in all wire cages are more easily maintained and kept healthy.
Of course this is only my opinion and what has worked well for me
and my Herd since 1989. We all must do what we feel is best for our herds,
there is no ONE WAY! I wish you great luck with whatever choices you make,
but I really think you should rethink the use of Chicken Wire.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

I'm new at colony's as well. my rabbits love it. My buck, although great in the colony, lives in a large crate inside the colony, he has lots of room, gets to be near his ladies, but only gets to have dates when I decide. I raise kits until weaning in the colony, then remove to same sex grow out crates in the colony. This way the rabbits are producing as much as I can house/need. For the summer grazing tractor I use 1x4" fencing ( like dog fencing) wrap the bottom part with chicken wire to keep the kits in. Move the contraption daily to clean grass. They will make a mess out of that outdoor space quickly unless you are only letting them out while your watching them. also should be covered even with tarps or something. Will make it less gross.

In your case I would build an addition to your original housing on the side, like a loafing shed. You can also add levels to the colony, like deep shelves gives them more space without taking up more floor space.

Dobergoat, your set up sounds great! Would you mind posting pictures of it?

All I have is a pic of the tractor when we first built it. I'll try and get more pictures when camera is operational again