Lmannyr
Well-known member
So I converted to a 20X8X10 (L x W x H) hutch in May from hanging wire cages. It's basically a huge wire cage with wire 3 feet under ground (which was a lot of work to get down 3 ft and now regretting. Upkeep has been much easier. Last year I had tons of babies, TONS. This year, not so much. Im contributing the lack of litters from last year crazy heat problem which has not been an issue this year. Maybe they are still recuperating? I have 4 does and one buck all in the colony 24/7.
These guys love digging tunnels. The problem is, I step on and collapse the tunnels when I go inside and walk around. I've done this dozens of times. Once, I noticed missing kits...turned up dead after digging up the collapsed tunnels several days later. That sucked, big time! I made 3 wooden nest boxes and hurried those in the ground. Tunnels were less but they still managed to make tunnels around them that would get stepped on and collapse. Had a litter of 9 in a tunnel that turned up only cause the kits were over growing the tunnel/ nest. So even though I had the nest boxes in, they were not used. The nest boxes stay in the hutch 24/7. The nest box entrances get closed up with their digging or they are used to hide.
Any how, my frustration lies in the tunnels collapsing and the unused nest boxes.
Need some suggestions or ideas.
These guys love digging tunnels. The problem is, I step on and collapse the tunnels when I go inside and walk around. I've done this dozens of times. Once, I noticed missing kits...turned up dead after digging up the collapsed tunnels several days later. That sucked, big time! I made 3 wooden nest boxes and hurried those in the ground. Tunnels were less but they still managed to make tunnels around them that would get stepped on and collapse. Had a litter of 9 in a tunnel that turned up only cause the kits were over growing the tunnel/ nest. So even though I had the nest boxes in, they were not used. The nest boxes stay in the hutch 24/7. The nest box entrances get closed up with their digging or they are used to hide.
Any how, my frustration lies in the tunnels collapsing and the unused nest boxes.
Need some suggestions or ideas.