Starting a colony...have question(s)

[Lazy M]

Hello All,

I have been reading through your wonderful forum here. As a result I have decided to move from cages to a colony style rabbitry for my NZ/Cali meat rabbits so I can take better advantage of the great natural forage in my area and get off pellets. I am still in the planning stage but would like to move forward soon.

My first question is... How many square feet per doe w/kits would you advise.

I want to build roomy pens but am on a budget so I can't afford to be to generous.

I will have multiple does per pen and will rotate several bucks through the pens to give the does a rest but keep the bucks busy.

These will be permanent pens and I will have a separate grow out pen.

Any and all advice will be appreciated...

Thanks
Lazy M

 

[Justin]

hi, and welcome. I may have a fair response to your post, but be warned it's full of opinions, lol.

From my experience a young rabbit can eat a square meter area in about 2 days if that's all it has to eat. I didn't actually time it to 48 hours, but it seemed like it needed to be moved to a new spot at the end of the second day.

It would be easy to use the square foot calculations available on the web, however you might soon realize that won't be your trouble once implemented. Two things immediately come to mind when thinking of communal rabbit husbandry on natural forage....Fighting and malnutrition.

From my experience and opinions, rabbits are loners unless they are breeding or young in age. Even with lots of room to roam and eat, rabbits over a certain age will territorially fight causing injury (maybe not always, but usually).

With that, we have some communal grassy pens for our young weened siblings of the same sex. They don't stay on the ground more than a few hours due to potential problems with parasites and disease. We recently switched to individually compartmentalized rabbit tractors that can be moved around the grass and weedy forage.

Now on to the nutrition part. Natural forage "might" be enough to raise meaty healthy rabbits. Obviously rabbits have survived on natural forage for...ever. So it really depends on what you are doing with them.

If you are raising rabbits for fun and enjoyment, then yes, natural forage is perfectly fine.
If you are raising rabbits for meat production or showing, then no, natural forage is only merely adequate. They will need protein and vitamin nutrients from hay and grain, such as, alfalfa and brome hay, oats and wheat grains; as well as some fresh greens and certain limited vegetables.
This is where commercial pellets offer a "suitable compromise". Easy to store for long periods and good nutrition.

It's really all in what you want to accomplish. Good luck, I hope my opinions helped you.

 

[Lazy M]

Justin, thanks for your reply.
I agree with every thing you said. I am raising for meat. I am not so much thinking of grazing them as thinking large multi-rabbit hutch. It will be off the ground with a wire floor but the floor will be bedded. ( hate having their feet on wire.) Wire will be easy to sanitize when I strip the bedding out. I plan to provide free choice alfalfa and a mineral salt block. This will be their basic diet. I will then supplement with sprouted grains plus woody browse (sp?) and broad leaf weeds... probably a bit of fresh grasses as well.

My does currently raise their kits in 3' x 3' cages that is 9 square feet each. If I were to build a colony hutch I assume I would want to bump that square footage per doe up. I'm thinking if I go with a 6' x 12' for three does that would be 24 square feet per doe. I will also have some raised platforms to increase square footage. I am not counting the buck since he will be moved between his two harems every three weeks so the does can focus on their kits for a couple weeks before being rebreed. I hope to avoid fights by moving the weanlings out at 5 weeks (same time the buck goes back out) to prevent over crowding and also by keeping them busy eating. I will have multiple feeding stations and will use different techniques that I use with my goats to make feeding a bit of a challenge.

Does anyone see any problems with this plan?

 

[Amy]

I'd also like to know what is adequate square footage for each doe w/kits, etc.

 

[JueLee]

I'm thinking if I go with a 6' x 12' for three does that would be 24 square feet per doe. I will also have some raised platforms to increase square footage. I am not counting the buck since he will be moved between his two harems every three weeks so the does can focus on their kits for a couple weeks before being rebreed. I hope to avoid fights by moving the weanlings out at 5 weeks (same time the buck goes back out) to prevent over crowding and also by keeping them busy eating. I will have multiple feeding stations and will use different techniques that I use with my goats to make feeding a bit of a challenge.

Does anyone see any problems with this plan?

Hello Lazy M,

I went with 9' x 12' for three does (36 sq ft each). It just looked like the right amount of space for them. It worked out very well for them, but I found it a little crowded for me to position food and water and nest boxes, and do clean up and such.

With raised platforms like you want to put in, your 6' x 12' pens will probably work out just fine for your rabbits.

I've since moved. With more space on the new property, I went with 10' x 15' pens (50 sq ft each). It's still a little crowded for me, but the bunnies are even happier than before. I wish I'd gone a least 15' x 15', but I had to hurry to get the bunnies moved so I didn't have much time to think it through.

I used to keep my bucks in cages so I could control exactly when each doe got bred, but the set up is more awkward here despite having larger pens, so for the winter at least, I am just rotating the bucks between pens every three weeks much like you plan to. So far, it takes a couple days for the does to get used to having the buck in their pen, but then things settle down. There's a lot of running about, but no fighting. That's about how long it take for them to get pregnant, too. I never see it happen anymore, but most of the litters have been arriving right on time.

I have six pens and two bucks, so rotating every three weeks gives each doe nine weeks before breeding again. I take most kits out at about 5 weeks because that's a convenient size to feed my dogs, but I have left some kits in up to 10 or 12 weeks with no problems.

Beyond 12 weeks, I'd be concerned about the baby bucks getting old enough to breed, and thus old enough the adult buck might fight with them. Younger than that, adult bucks don't seem to mind the babies at all.

I put a couple of young half-siblings in a big cage together recently, to see what happens and how early they really get fertle -- basically on a lark. By when the female kindled, she got bred at 14 weeks old. The buck was less than 1 week older than her. She's raising them just fine. They are 2 weeks old today.

 

[MaggieJ]

I have a successful colony in an 8 foot square area of a shed. I usually have two working does and a buck, plus offspring. Since I am feeding an alfalfa hay/greens/grain diet (plus trace mineral salt block) I usually butcher rabbits at 14-16 weeks. They do grow more slowly on natural feed but it works out cheaper overall and the meat is wonderful.

I think it helps that the rabbits are all related... I've never had any fighting. The oldest doe is definitely dominant, but the younger ones respect that. In most cases, she is their mother or grandmother... It seems to help.

 

[UK-backyardbunnies]

MaggieJ - do you mean you have them all in together permanently?

 

[MaggieJ]

Yes, that's right. It can get a little crowded at times when the breeding is going especially well, but I have the option of pulling older fryers out and putting them in a cage until butchering. I seldom have to do this, however, as the rabbits are quite happy all in together.

This thread has pictures of my set-up. The black grills open like double doors and the short white panel helps prevent escapees. Not that any seriously try.
pictures-of-nest-tunnels-in-colony-t2903.html