My new colony

I finally moved our rabbits into a colony setting and wanted to show it off. There's still a little tweaking that needs to be done (door isn't hanging right, need to put in nest boxes, ect). We decided to upgrade the chicken run making it bigger and decided to let the chickens share it with the rabbits. So far everyone is getting along really well (it's been a couple of weeks). The 3 younger ones have been together since they were babies. They are siblings and half siblings. The others have been in side by side cages all for the past year. One of the bucks chases one of the other bucks (his son actually). He only chases him, no one else, and that's all he does. I haven't seen any fighting. Is it just him showing that he's dominant or is it a fight waiting to happen? I love watch the rabbits in the colony setup. They seem so much happier.

New run being built around the old one:


New run!


Lazy rabbits. They love laying under the chicken coop.


Some of the rabbits' chicken friends:


My youngest with the rabbits yesterday. Yes, in the second picture she is covering Baby in straw. She then proceeded to ask "where Baby go". She'd then uncover him and say "there he is!". Baby let her do it over and over again. I love that rabbit!!




And just for fun, our new house rabbit, Thumper:

Looks absolutely idyllic and wonderful! Neat and looks like a safe pen for them all. Happy rabbits! Great job!

And Thumper looks really sweet

(though from what I've gathered rabbits and chickens are not too good to keep together as they share some parasites (cocci) and birds ''dust'' etc are generally bad for mammals respitory.. though with that aiflow that may nor be a problem)<br /><br />__________ Mon Nov 18, 2013 5:24 pm __________<br /><br />As for the chasing - it may end up in a fight. How old is the son?
In the wild, rabbit bucks livwe together in the colony, they keep different does as their ''wives'', dominant bucks have more wives and gets the best burrow. However, there are fights as well, sometimes lethal. In a pen, the buck can't get away as in the wild.

Thanks! We (hubby mainly) worked really hard on this.

The son is about 6 months old now. We still have the cages so we can remove the bucks if we need to. Though if we remove the bucks we may just remove the 2 and keep the son in the colony. He's our super sweet rabbit and I'd hate to put him in a cage. Or maybe rotate the boys, 2 in cages, 1 in the run at a time?

What you could do is create a 'maze' - lots of cardboard boxes, lots of plants (if you have trees can you get a large branche with lots of leaves); basically stuff for them to play with and break up the space so the bucks will be less likely to fight.


Right now my rabbits are living in with my pigeons ^^ well my 2 bucks anyways. Are your bucks free ranging with the does, or are they separated?

That looks so neat buns and chickens together. I love the pic seeing your little girl covering the rabbit, that is soo precious!!!
Mine is fixing to turn 23. :shock: [Sigh] How time flies!

Perhaps you can build a run or larger cage for the other bucks? Or put some of your old cages together for them?

A maze of boxes and branches is a good idea as well.

I have Rams living with a neutered buck. Rams needs the comfort of company to feel secure enough to be friendly, and a neutered buck was the bet way to go for him.

Good ideas! This morning I went out to feed everyone and noticed that Peter (the dad) wouldn't let Baby (the son) eat so I put some food in the chicken coop and showed Baby. I have noticed that Baby hangs out in the chicken coop more than anyone else. I think he uses that as his get away. I'll add more hiding spots and keep a close eye on things. The cages we have are in a square (or almost square). It's 5ft x 6ft total. The plan was to use the cages as grow out cages. The cages are hanging cages so we could still do that and enclose the bottom for a big cage. The other buck (Cottontail) seems to get along with Peter but I'm wondering if maybe it would be better to move Peter and one of the does. Then Peter and 1 doe will have the 5ft x 6ft area and there will be 2 bucks and 3 does in the big run. Thoughts?

I would use extreme caution when housing Bucks together in the same pen/cage.
you could end up arriving to a "BLOOD BATH" one sunny day.
Bucks will often fight each other to the death of one or both participants.
I hope it does not end up being the case, Please keep a close eye
on the situation.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

CochinBrahmaLover":3m6ike1s said:

What you could do is create a 'maze' - lots of cardboard boxes, lots of plants (if you have trees can you get a large branche with lots of leaves); basically stuff for them to play with and break up the space so the bucks will be less likely to fight.


Right now my rabbits are living in with my pigeons ^^ well my 2 bucks anyways. Are your bucks free ranging with the does, or are they separated?

Click to expand...

Forgot to answer this. The bucks are free ranging with the does.

omg.the pic with the little girl covering the bunny with straw.. that is priceless

If he's hiding away, I think he's happier separated from the buck. He may be pretty bullied and stressed out without showing it much.

I love the idea of all rabbits having friends but bucks are bucks... they need a bit of special caution. If they don't clearly get along well.. well, ust be careful.

I have a large dog crate; it's big enough to house 1 rabbit. I decided to put it in the run and put Peter in it. That way he's still around everyone but he can't be mean to Baby. I can also easily give him supervised time in the run. Baby is my favorite rabbit. I'd be really upset if anything happened to him.

A lovely set up!! =)