Introducing new buck to the colony

[DanaYares]

I have a colony of three does and the buck I originally started with turned out to produce very small babies, so off to freezer camp he went. I got a new buck and put him, in a pen, in the colony so everyone could sniff and get to know each other.

After a day, I let him out of the pen. Two of the does seemed to take to him right away, but my (huge) California doe chased him around pulling his fur and being really, really mean. :twisted:

I put the doe in the time out pen inside the colony, she's been in there for two days now. When should I reintroduce her?

Is her behavior territorial? She could be pregnant, is this why?

 

[MaggieJ]

It seems she is viewing him as an intruder and defending "her" territory. It might help to pull her out of the colony altogether for a couple of days so she loses her possessiveness. Then, when you put her back, she "should" behave more like a newcomer. It may not work... Rabbits have longer memories than we give them credit for... but it may just dent her confidence enough that they can settle down together.

 

[DanaYares]

Thanks Maggie, I'll try it!

 

[MaggieJ]

Please let us know how it works. I'm advising intuitively here and would like to know whether I am on target or not. More important, other members will no doubt be reading this and should have some indication of whether or not it was good advice.

 

[DanaYares]

It was very interesting when I let out (Alice), the mean doe, to the rest of the colony. She immediately started attacking the other does, pulling fur and being quite violent... The new buck quickly put her in her place! She stopped her attack, and now everyone is getting along just fine.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I had drafted a response to your post, but ended up deleting it because it was pure speculation on my part since I don't colony raise. But your results confirmed my thoughts.

She was probably the dominant doe in the colony and had the 'home-field advantage' at first. Once he was in the area for a while, able to scent-mark and bond with the other does, he was confident enough to challenge her and win. I didn't foresee her attacking the other does- I thought the aggression would center on the buck only. I find it very interesting that he defended his harem against the "Harridan", and wonder why she went after the does first, since they already had a pecking order.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

i have no real experience with rabbits yet. but i do have about 10 years goat experience now. i dont know how well this converts to rabbits but if that situation had been goats i would say that the doe went after the does when reintroduced to try to fight her way back to the top of the pecking order. i know with goats that if a doe leaves the herd for any length of time and returns she has to work her way back into the pecking order. even if she was only second from the bottom she had to make sure that bottom goat knew she was back and she is gonna get her spot back.
thats just me seeing it from a goat point of view. since i dont have a rabbit point of view yet. ;D haha.

 

[MaggieJ]

Glad things have settled down. I guess I should have anticipated that Alice would try to reassert her dominance with the other does, but it did not occur to me. Good for your buck, drawing the line and re-establishing order.