Should I do colony for my Netherland dwarfs?

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Mini Rex Breeder

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:bunnyhop: I'm considering doing a colony life when I get my Netherland dwarfs. I'm getting a breeding trio of 8-9week olds. I'm still going to have my regular stackable cages. My colony would be a inside colony, I'm wonder: Has anyone done this with a inside colony with Nwtherland Dwarfs? My barn/building is only going to be a 10by10. Is this going to be possible? I'm not planning on having more than 20holes. My buck would only run with the lady's until 5months old then again only when I want them to breed.
My other thought was to just have them all live in the stacked cages and just have a play area/breeding area.
Any tips or ideas are much needed. I'm under a strict budget of $500-$600. My building is going to cost $450ish, cages for three store bought $86, bedding is $10a bag of pine shavings. A 4 hole caring cage is $100+ maybe less( I'm going to double check. Tatto gun is about $50, the scale is $24. If you know a wedsite that sells these things cheap PLEASE tell me. Thanks
 
I can't help you with the cheap buying (second hand?) or colony ideas, but you should know that NDs mature early and by 5 months, you may already have 2 litters on the way...Just saying...
 
Did not know that. Thanks for that. :) I'm used to mini Rex's. ours matured at 6-7 months. I'll just keep him separet.
 
One more thing to think about- people have had problems with pine shavings. The dust can cause respiratory issues. I might consider hay or straw for a colony floor bedding instead.
 
Hay and straw are not only low absorbing but actually insulate the area from drying which rapidly leads to life threatening health issues if not cleaned very frequently. I don't know anyone who's rabbits had problems with shavings other than cedar. In small solid bottom cages the VOCs off pine may be a concern but not in a more open area. I would never use hay or straw without pine under it. Preferably pine pellets in there somewhere for the absorbency.

ND make fine colony rabbits. Their small size and small litters means you don't need a lot of space. I had 1 buck and 3-4 does in about 6 x 8' with minimal problems. They were my most stable colony. You should keep bucks separate from 8 weeks until healthy breeding age of about 5 months. They can breed that early. I actually had mini Rex siblings breed at 8 weeks once. Most of mine were bred by 5 months. You cannot do playtime together. If you set them up in cages then each cage will need its own playtime.
 
MY PLAN WAS TO KEEP THE DOES TOGETHER UNTIL THEY ARE BRED(sorry for the caps i forgot to take them off :oops: ) im buying them individual cages but wont use them until they bred or is that a bad idea? i did it with my Mini Rex's, they raised there first litters iin 1 nest boxs happly. :)
do you have any recomened rabbit supply sites?
 
That's not a colony, it's a grow out pen. In a colony does raise kits together and are left together. If you plan to keep putting them back again it will be very stressful and an increased risk of injury. If you want them together then leave them together and either add the buck for a short time or pull each doe out long enough to breed to a buck. Once they are separated they should stay apart with a few exceptions that are best saved for after you have colony experience.

I don't use online sites for many rabbit supplies because most things have high shipping like wire. I use what I find locally and build it. We used a lot of chicken stuff for colonies. Only exceptions are some nest boxes from Bass and some j feeders from klubbertanz
 
are they supposed to kindle in the colony?

I'm seriously thinking about doing a colony, so I'm trying to figure out as much as I can.

What I was planning on doing is having 2 buildings, one for bucks and one for does.

I'm thinking about doing a stall type for bucks and an open one for does, and using my hutches as kind of a maternity ward.

What I'm planning on doing is I'll let them play and everything while they're pregnant, and then putting them in the hutches on day 28 until they kindle, and then letting them in the colony every day all day while I have the kits in the house, and then putting them back in the hutches at night, until the babies are 3-4 weeks old when they're old enough to (a) Mark their ear (with a Sharpie until tattoo time, and/or (b) be able to identify which kits belong to which mom (for accurate pedigree), and then I'll put them in the colony until selling.

I'm planning on doing Mini Rex and Holland Lop.


Does that sound reasonable? any tips?
 
:x
akane":3mougje0 said:
That's not a colony, it's a grow out pen. In a colony does raise kits together and are left together. If you plan to keep putting them back again it will be very stressful and an increased risk of injury. If you want them together then leave them together and either add the buck for a short time or pull each doe out long enough to breed to a buck. Once they are separated they should stay apart with a few exceptions that are best saved for after you have colony experience.

I don't use online sites for many rabbit supplies because most things have high shipping like wire. I use what I find locally and build it. We used a lot of chicken stuff for colonies. Only exceptions are some nest boxes from Bass and some j feeders from klubbertanz
Click to expand...
O well I guess I could try that, I guess I didn't fully understand what a colony was. Thanks for telling me that. :) what's the smallest that I could make the pen for the does? I read some were that rabbits like rectangle pens so I was thinking maybe make the colony/grow out pen a (L) shape. The building is going to be at most a 12by14 lest is a 10by10.
 

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