Mergeing rabbits for colony type grazeing

I have all my buns in seperate cages but dream of letting them graze togeather in my yard pen that is secured for them but i am worried about fightig and im not sure how to go about introduceing all my rabbits to grazing togeathrr

How big is the yard pen? Are there fixtures in it where the rabbits can go to hide or get away from each other?

How many rabbits would be going into it at a time? Males or females or both together? It makes quite a difference.

You may find that they fight or they may be enjoying the relative freedom enough that there is never more than the odd frantic chase, with no damage done. So much depends on the rabbits' personalities and how well they know each other.

I know this isn't much of an answer, but if you'll give us more details about your yard pen, we may be able to give you a bit of guidance.

Also, living in Mississippi, be aware of flying predators and make sure the pen is covered. Lots of Hawks in those parts.

I agree with Maggie J, we need some additional information of ages, genders and numbers. Also, how much space are you considering to have and what type of enclosure?

Are you wanting a permanent type colony or just allowing them out for grazing? If you're just thinking about allowing them out for grazing and then putting them back in the cages, I'm not sure that will work. I'm not 100% sure but I'm guessing they will want to reestablish a pecking order each time you put them in the grazing pen.

But of course, it may depending on your rabbits. Some are more willing to get along than others.

I currently have 5 rabbits 2 females 3 males it would be maby a 10 by 10 pen with a cover and grazein a few hours a day i do one at a time right now but would love to let the boys ut with boys and ladys out with ladys a few hours at a time

tailonwolf":31nbycr8 said:

I currently have 5 rabbits 2 females 3 males it would be maby a 10 by 10 pen with a cover and grazein a few hours a day i do one at a time right now but would love to let the boys ut with boys and ladys out with ladys a few hours at a time

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I hate to break bad news to you, but be prepared for fighting if your rabbits aren't spayed/neutered. Generally speaking rabbits are territorial.

The good news, for the does, 100 square feet is probably enough for them (and a few more; I have heard the rule of thumb is 10 square feet per adult rabbit). There might be a little scuffle over some particular territory at first. (Especially if they are normally housed separately.) Most likely you can throw both of them in that cage at once.

As for the bucks you will get fighting! Maybe if they are young and not sexually mature (or all have been neutered); then you can put them together without major worries. BUT that only lasts until they mature, hormones kick in, and they become real rabbits. 100 square feet? They might as well be sharing a shoe box. That's territory (territory that smells of females as well). And as far as the bucks will be concerned there can be only one buck in that area.

Realistically, your super, awesome, best case, but not very likely to happen scenario is a dominant buck emerges quickly and is satisfied with the others just staying in a small portion of the pen. The more likely case is every time you toss them in together a new fight will start up. You might end up with a rotating "king of the day" without major injuries, or your bucks may mess each other up badly, or try to castrate each other, or they may end up fighting to the death.

If you really want to let them out you'd be better off giving each buck alone time in the pen (which they will probably use to mark the place up). It might be your dream to let everyone run free together. But as they say the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

Perhaps you could divide the pen up into three sections and give every buck his own slice?

Oh and unless you have a decent sized yard and that pen is easily moveable, the rabbits will eat all the grass quickly (as in two or three days). If you can't move the pen, you will just be giving them exercise time. (Which is still a good deal).

Maybe build some shelves and tunnels/tubes (pcv pipe with a "T" joint and open ends, secured to the structure) into your tractor... that would help .... hide and escape spots...

You really won't know until you put the rabbits out in it....
I would toss them in an watch them for the first few times....STAY and watch to make sure no one gets damaged!!!

Bucks go right for the nuts when they fight, so if you want them for breeding, you may have an issue...

When I first started in rabbits; I put 2 young does (2 month old) unrelated together, thinking they would enjoy the company.... I hung out almost an hour doing chores and playing with the bunnies... the next morning one had almost skinned the other!!! it was horrible!!... well, she lived and is a great mom for me, but she gets so nervous and aggressive when she gets in the buck cage.

My buns mostly have separate cages with the exceptions of a few does that are paired together in the same cage. Their cages are housed off the ground in a 30x10 enclosure with a roof. I let the girls out all the time together. Sometimes a few of them and sometimes all 15 of them. There are small scuffles but never anything that last more than a couple seconds. I love watching them interact and play. I did start out slow and really paid attention to their behavior to make sure nobody was getting bullied. I feel they enjoy it and it gives them a better quality of life. More than anything they are very sweet to each other. They groom each other and sleep together in a pile after playtime. I encourage you to try it and just start out slow! As for my bucks I also let them out to play together. They seem to get into a few more fights that are a little more aggressive but have never drawn blood. They are not as sweet to each other as the girls but I still feel like they love their outside of the cage interaction with each other. I would let the boys and girls play together except for the fact I like to know when my girls are bred and the day they will deliver. When i first started breeding rabbits they had no interaction with each other. It made me feel sad and like it was not a good life for them. My rabbits make me money and provide me food so I want to do the best by them. Unless they have a litter my buns have out of the cage time more than not.

Thanks, that makes me more optimistic about what I consider to do. I have 5 does, 1 lives single for the time being (sold her mom 5 weeks ago), the others in pairs (mother/daughter). I'm planning to retire my oldest one and make her a house bunny, that would leave me with 2 singles, which I want to house together, I'll start to give them garden time together.

I could not do this with my first 2 does I bought, both absolute Alphas, they instantly started a serious fight - I got bite wounds on the upper arm by just stepping between them...´, didn't dare to try that again.