does anyone colony raise their rabbits?

[pinkfox]

im planning on doing rex or rex x NZ (or cali) rabbits for meat on 'the homestead" once i get it...
i see most people rasing them in cages here in the us, hutches are more popular in the uk and ive now come across colony raising.

i prefer to keep animals in a more natural setting, so the idea of colony raising realy appeals...

i am currently plannign on keeping 3-4 does to a single standard rex buck (im hoping to get rex mix does to increase the likelyhood of getting some res pelted babies as i want to use the furs as well as the meat)

i figure as group 1 starts to aproach the end of their 'usefull breeding life" ill set up a secondary group of babies to mature right around the time the older group will be ready for the stewpot/dogs.

my current plan would be 2 10x10 pens in a no dig type set up, i want to dig down some, put the pen up so the fence is burried around the edges, AND lay chicken wire down, then back fill with dirt so they can still lay in cool dirt and get some digging (and i can rake out the manure)

add a couple of partially burried boxes with removable lids to act as nestboxes/shelter, a covered feed/rain/shade area.

does anyone raise rabbits in a similar manner, what do you fnd works best for you, im a little worried about the birth date aspect of raising the kits, and whos momma is who...and im worried about the buck killing kits in the nest box...

any thoughts?

 

[Wifezilla]

Interesting topic. I will be watching.

 

[justusnak]

I dont raise rabbits, for a few reasons. They are too cute to butcher, and I really dont have the time, yet. However, this topic seemed to interest me, and I went on a hunt. Check out this site.. http://rabbitgeek.com/articles/clny_valerie.html

 

[beerman]

I tried that but no matter how far down I dug the fence they dug their way out. By the time I quit I was digging down about 3 feet, switched to cages.

 

[hoosier]

We used cages when we raised rabbits, but our neighbor had domestic/wild cross rabbits that he kept in a fence. He never mentioned having trouble with them digging out, but they were in quite a large area. He used them to train his beagles for field trial. (For those not familiar with this, apparently the dogs just track, slowly, and are judged on their voice, body posture, etc.) They were really pets to him.

 

[Wifezilla]

Could you put in a wire floor and bury the floor down a couple of feet? It would still be a "closed system" but they could still dig.

 

[savingdogs]

i raise rabbits and looked at the colony situations but you really cannot control breeding unless you have only one buck. Also we have experience with rabbits being able to burrow great distances underground and don't want to lose them to the wilds. I'd be interested in hearing how it works for you if you try it though. you'd have to raise rabbits for that environment, mine would fight.

 

[ninny]

I had an idea of how to do this at our old house. We had a large cement pad and old dog kennel panels. I was going to set up the panels on the pad. Get some wood boards to put on the inside of the kennel walls. Then pour in some cheap dirt and grass seed. Once the seed was grass toss in some bunnies. When they had trashed that run move them to the next one. Then toss the dirt into raised beds. Would this have worked i don't know. Now im looking at tractors for them.

 

[Buster]

A compromise...
http://polyfaceapprentice.blogspot.com/2009/02/hare-pen.html

 

[Farmfresh]

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.