does anyone colony raise their rabbits?

[Boogity]

I read about a colony method years ago that worked something like this:

First you dig a square area down about 2 feet and then add a layer of wire on the bottom of the hole. The wires are secured together to make a solid layer.

Next you hammer posts and fence the enclosure wiring the side fencing to the bottom wires.

Add a layer of tightly pressed together hay bales (alfalfa or clover preferred) to fill up the entire bottom of the hole. (know how many bales you will need BEFORE you dig) The hay should just barely stick above the side of the hole.

Remove all strings.

Add a second layer of hay on top of the first. Remove strings.

Make a couple of access openings in the fencing for watering and feeding the rabbits.

Cover top of colony with wire top and tarp the majority of it. PVC hoops work to hold up top better and prevent rain puddles.

Set up multiple water bottles around pen. Add mineral station to setup and just put feed supplements like Rabbit pellets or crack corn in a couple of piles in the pen directly on the hay.

Add three unrelated females and 1 unrelated buck.

Supposedly this setup allows the rabbits to basically EAT their way into the colony and set up burrows and live life fairly normally. You just have to catch some of the young to harvest.

After a time the rabbits in your colony will become genetically inferior (from the close inbreeding) and reproduction will have to be more controlled. At that point it should be an all out and start the colony over.

At least that is what I heard.

This seems to be a very labor intensive and expensive approach to a small-time rabbit operation. Cages are soooo much simpler and soooo much easier to do. Unless you intend to have a high volume rabbitry colony raising has no real advantages in my opinion.

Wire or fencing underground will rapidly rust away. Rabbits will easily chew into any wooden surface. fighting and cannibalism is prevalent in colonies. To me, it just ain't worth it. When we had rabbits we had more than enough meat, more than enough manure, and more than enough pelts with just two 8'x3' cages. We free ranged the rabbits on alternate days.

 

[savingdogs]

Whenever I hear about this method, I remember something that happened to us when we owned a pet rabbit long ago. It was a lone rabbit kept in a hutch so of course it had incentive to migrate, but..... We had a fully enclosed backyard with CEMENT walls and the bordering property had a small patio abutting the yard in the only section where there was wood fence instead of cement.

One day the door did not get properly closed and the rabbit hopped out of the cage. In one day while we were not home, it was able to burrow not only under the wood fence, but tunneled all the way under the patio, through the adjoining backyard, and dug under their fence, running out into the street and getting hit by a car. The length of that tunnel was probably 15 feet!

My daughter was crushed of course about her pet, but rabbits can burrow a very very long way. I would not put my rabbits into any colony type cage that did not have a complete and solid bottom of some kind, that that is me.

I also didn't like how the breeding would be so uncontrolled, does might have kits too frequently for their health.

 

[Farmfresh]

This seems to be a very labor intensive and expensive approach to a small-time rabbit operation. Cages are soooo much simpler and soooo much easier to do. Unless you intend to have a high volume rabbitry colony raising has no real advantages in my opinion.

Wire or fencing underground will rapidly rust away. Rabbits will easily chew into any wooden surface. fighting and cannibalism is prevalent in colonies. To me, it just ain't worth it. When we had rabbits we had more than enough meat, more than enough manure, and more than enough pelts with just two 8'x3' cages. We free ranged the rabbits on alternate days.

I TOTALLY agree with you!!

I always cage raised my meat rabbits as well.

You can still do lots to improve the average cage rabbits living conditions, however. Providing larger than normal cages, feeding less processed feeds and more natural bulk feeds (like mine always had free choice of the best alfalfa/clover/timothy hay that I could provide). I also had extra large grow out cages for finishing off the bunnys before butchering.

In my opinion rabbits, in nature, usually live a more singular life. Huge colonies of rabbits, a true warren system, are more the exception. With a caged system you are in control of genetics, breeding schedules and health issues. I think you get a LOT more bang for the buck.

 

[Florezian]

So I have two male rabbits.

They were originally in a big backyard enclosed in a chain link fence (4 feet tall)

Had a few escapes, but for the most part, they stayed inside. I've been doing more gardening and so wanted to put them in a smaller area. They were starting to fight and so they got individual pens,

Well the fence enclosure is about 3 inches in the ground and 3.5 feet tall. Chicken fence type stuff on three sides and the chainlink on the other. As if to spite me, they are wriggling or jumping themselves out of the chainlink.

Ive seen how much fun they have in the large yard, digging and freeranging.
But, they're in cages right now for their own safety (and the gardens).

Its actually been a huge hassle just trying to keep them contained.

 

[Farmfresh]

If you are going to keep them caged, they must be kept in appropriate cages. Rabbits can chew through light weight wire, such as chicken wire and obviously can squeeze through a pretty small gap as well.

It is as important to keep them penned for their safety as it is for their management. Everything loves eating rabbit.