Pair of does fighting now...

[Hayley411]

I just took in a pair of does that are about 8 months old. They were originally bred by me. Well for the last 6 months they have been living together as indoor rabbits. Got them yesterday and they are fighting up a storm. I was hopeing to use them to start up my little colony but not sure now. I have them set up in a 2'x6' pen for right now. Do I just let them figure it out on their own? Mostly they are just pulling fur out amd mounting, I can't find any actual wounds on them...
I'm thinking they are just establishing dominance in the new enviroment. But wanted your opinion.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

depending on the breed, even if they are littermates-- you probably do have a case of incompatibility--12 square feet is NOT enough room for two animals that don't like each other-- Ihave about 160sf on my patio, and Marsha and Wilma just can't do it-- even though they live side by side in their cages!!! Once those hormones hit-- the rules of the game always change...

 

[akane]

2x6 is a little small for does that don't automatically get along but if they are just jumping around running in to each other or some short chasing I usually leave them. A few of mine always do that when reintroduced or some will start up arguments about a week after being bred and then chill again. It never results in injury because no one really tries to bite or scratch the other. They just kind of bounce in to each other and see who falls down and who jumps the highest. After a few days they stop. Put a litterbox or nestbox in there as a barrier for the loser to run behind. Now if they are ripping tufts of fur, throwing each other on the ground repeatedly, rolling around in a ball, or one is doing a lot of chasing to the point the other gets no rest then you have to separate because it can lead to injury and it probably won't calm down for a good week or 2 if at all in a space that size.

 

[MaggieJ]

You weren't planning on having them in a "colony" just 2' x 6', I hope. It's just not enough space.

If you had two such pens you could put one doe in each and let the buck "commute" between them. I've found it's not a good idea to have the buck in with the doe while she is kindling... he was so eager to rebreed her that he was interfering with the kindling and sometimes kits were scattered. So just before a doe kindles, I put him in with the other doe.

I have an 8' x 8' space divided in half for two does, a commuting buck and their offspring. It gets too crowded at times. I recently had to remove some of the older youngsters and put the buck in a cage temporarily to reduce the population pressure.

 

[Hayley411]

Well they were living in a dog crate together with no issues with the previous owner. So the pen I had setup was easily twice the size they are used to. Was hopeing that would work for a little while. Wasn't planning on that being the perminant colony setup. Definitely not. I have a 20x40 dog kennel that hasn't been used since the boys were puppies, they are now 7 years old and indoor dogs. LOL. Anyways it has a raised double dog house and a tree in the middle for shade. This is going to be my colony pen. It is chainlink that is cemented into the ground all the way around. Need to do a little work to bunny proof it though. Well I guess I have over a month till there will be babies out there. The adults can't get through the fence. Hmm might have to try and set them up out there today and see how it goes. Maybe the fighting will stop if they have room to get away from each other. *Fingers Crossed*

Oh and they are standard rexs. I have their mother who will also be out there if everything goes according to plan. LOL. Things never go according to plan with animals. But we shall see. Also have a standard rex/flemish/nz mix buck. So four rabbits in a 20x40 space should work right?

 

[MaggieJ]

20' x 40' is certainly large enough for four rabbits plus kits, but a lot depends on their personalities. Some additional "furniture" (even if it is just some wooden crates or plastic totes) will help because it will let them get out of each other's sight. Rabbits can be very territorial... I suspect what happened was that they were used to the crate and could share, but when moved to the larger pen they had to rework their relationship, hence the fighting. I'm sure they will do better in the full sized kennel.

 

[Hayley411]

Well yesterday was a success. I got the girls moved out there and all fighting stopped. Even ventured so far as to put Honey, their mother, out there and she didn't fight with them at all. Every once in a while she would chase them a bit but was too lazy to keep it up for very long. They pretty much just spent the entire day munching grass and flopping around in the dirt. Man these rabbits LOVE dirt. They were literally rolling in it. LOL. Soo funny but now they are soo dirty. Haha. But yeah very pleased with the outcome. We shall see what happens in the next couple days...I've been raising rabbits all my life but this is definitely a new venture for me...Thanks for all your advice.

 

[DanaYares]

We have just established a new colony with 3 does and one buck, all about 12 weeks old. Our New Zealand doe is now chasing one of the California Blues... If the NZ approaches from the front all is good, but if the NZ approaches from the rear trouble starts.

It's been about 30 days since we started the colony. Do you think this is false pregnancy stuff?

__________ Wed Aug 10, 2011 9:02 pm __________

We have just established a new colony with 3 does and one buck, all about 12 weeks old. Our New Zealand doe is now chasing one of the California Blues... If the NZ approaches from the front all is good, but if the NZ approaches from the rear trouble starts.

It's been about 30 days since we started the colony. Do you think this is false pregnancy stuff?<br /><br />__________ Wed Aug 10, 2011 9:03 pm __________<br /><br />We have just established a new colony with 3 does and one buck, all about 12 weeks old. Our New Zealand doe is now chasing one of the California Blues... If the NZ approaches from the front all is good, but if the NZ approaches from the rear trouble starts.

It's been about 30 days since we started the colony. Do you think this is false pregnancy stuff?

 

[MaggieJ]

Are the rabbits twelve weeks old now or were they twelve weeks old when put in the colony a month ago?

I'm wondering if your New Zealand doe is really a buck. I think you should take a look. The fact that the trouble occurs when it approaches from behind leads me to suspect that it has been trying to mount the other doe. I'd double check the sexes of all your rabbits and make sure you haven't had a visit from the Sex Change Fairy. :wizard: