Should I leave nesting boxes in the rabbits cage all the time?

[Celeste5]

Hi! I put this exact paragraph in the replies of another post but I thought it might attract more attention if I put right posted it. I’m a new member of this sight so I hope this is the right place to put this question. So, I’m pretty new to raising rabbits, like this is still my first year of raising them. I have two does and two bucks living in a large cage, colony style. Everything I’m reading during my research says I should not leave a nesting box in their cage all the time but I don’t exactly see why? From what they say, it’s just because the rabbits might use the nesting box as a litter box, but I also know what side of the cage they do their business on, so couldn’t I just put the nesting box on the other side? Because I’m new I don’t really know if I have pregnant does or not but I do know the bucks have been going after the does. I really don’t want to loose the first litter because of my ignorance. The temperature here is also getting pretty low at night which was another reason I thought maybe I should leave a nesting box in their cage all the time. If this was the right place to leave my question, any help or information I could get would be great. Thank you so much!

 

[tambayo]

Colony setting should be plenty of room for a nestbox (or 2, 3, 4).
Bucks like all males will compete for females and right to breed. Your does may miscarry from that chasing and your bucks may fight. I'd split the colony and give each buck their own doe.

 

[Celeste5]

Colony setting should be plenty of room for a nestbox (or 2, 3, 4).
Bucks like all males will compete for females and right to breed. Your does may miscarry from that chasing and your bucks may fight. I'd split the colony and give each buck their own doe.

This may just be stupid on my part but I assumed when I started that having a colony meant more than two rabbits in a cage at a time. The woman I got my rabbits from said she was only able to get her does to have babies in a colony. Is a colony just how many rabbits you have in total or is it per cage? I just tried to look it up and didn’t really find an answer. Is it better to have a pair per cage?

 

[Preitler]

Colony means a group of rabbits in a rather large area, where they can sort out their social structure. Multiple does, can't tell about bucks since I have never done it this way. Might depend on how the bucks get along.

I have all my does together (2 active, 2 retired), and bring the does to the buck when I want. I don't need many litters, and no winter litters. As far as I've read, in a working colony the does set the pace of breeding.
One buck with one doe, with what I've experienced I would think that the doe as single target for his attention could be somewhat overwhelmed- I had 2 bucks (in succession) with a spayed girl as free roam house bunnies, they spent hours following her around oinking every day, now that I got another buck my house rabbit got snipped, much more laid back now, not a Pita to everyone anymore.

When I had just 2 does I let the buck live with them for 3 weeks when I wanted them bred, that worked great. Litters were up to 2 weeks apart though.

I would keep the does together, there is so much social interaction going on among them, imho that's one of the great things of a colony setup. Or my girls group setup.

If your nestboxes don't gat abused, leave them in. If you don't know when a doe is about to kindle, be sure there are enough boxes.

 

[Celeste5]

Colony means a group of rabbits in a rather large area, where they can sort out their social structure. Multiple does, can't tell about bucks since I have never done it this way. Might depend on how the bucks get along.

I have all my does together (2 active, 2 retired), and bring the does to the buck when I want. I don't need many litters, and no winter litters. As far as I've read, in a working colony the does set the pace of breeding.
One buck with one doe, with what I've experienced I would think that the doe as single target for his attention could be somewhat overwhelmed- I had 2 bucks (in succession) with a spayed girl as free roam house bunnies, they spent hours following her around oinking every day, now that I got another buck my house rabbit got snipped, much more laid back now, not a Pita to everyone anymore.

When I had just 2 does I let the buck live with them for 3 weeks when I wanted them bred, that worked great. Litters were up to 2 weeks apart though.

I would keep the does together, there is so much social interaction going on among them, imho that's one of the great things of a colony setup. Or my girls group setup.

If your nestboxes don't gat abused, leave them in. If you don't know when a doe is about to kindle, be sure there are enough boxes.

Thank you so much! That helped dispel a lot of my confusion. So you would recommend separating the does from the bucks and only putting them together every once in a while? I could easily split my large cage into two sections as me and my dad built it ourselves but do you think two males together by themselves would be a bad idea? Further splitting them, two does in a cage, and a male each in two other cages also doesn’t quite seem like a good idea to me. I don’t want the males to get lonely all by themselves or… well depressed I guess would be the right term. I just want all of them happy and safe while also having kindles. Would you have any further suggestions?

 

[kusanar314]

Thank you so much! That helped dispel a lot of my confusion. So you would recommend separating the does from the bucks and only putting them together every once in a while? I could easily split my large cage into two sections as me and my dad built it ourselves but do you think two males together by themselves would be a bad idea? Further splitting them, two does in a cage, and a male each in two other cages also doesn’t quite seem like a good idea to me. I don’t want the males to get lonely all by themselves or… well depressed I guess would be the right term. I just want all of them happy and safe while also having kindles. Would you have any further suggestions?

Most domestic rabbits are raised in individual cages and do just fine. They are social by nature but they are fine in their own cages and males will fight each other.

If you want to do a colony, I would separate one male from the girls, and when you get a litter, save a couple of girls from that litter and when they are big enough give them to the other male, that way you have 2 cages with the males separate.

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

This may just be stupid on my part but I assumed when I started that having a colony meant more than two rabbits in a cage at a time. The woman I got my rabbits from said she was only able to get her does to have babies in a colony. Is a colony just how many rabbits you have in total or is it per cage? I just tried to look it up and didn’t really find an answer. Is it better to have a pair per cage?

I always merge my litters together when they're old enough but I'd never consider it a colony

 

[Celeste5]

Thank you so much. I think I will go ahead and split one of my bucks from the group.

 

[Celeste5]

This was all very helpful. Thank you to all of you! I will be splitting a Buck from my group of four and I will also be buying at least a couple nesting boxes. Thank you again!