First time breeding (colony)

New to rabbits this year and just got 3 does and 1 buck.   I have them in a community setup aproximately 22x9 enclosure.   Bucks from 1 litter, the does from another all born first week of January.

Fast forward today and they are approaching breeding age.   I plan on building a 10x3 hutch for the grow outs (1 doe and her litter) and will billed additional when needed.  

The pen they are in has a skirt of chicken wire and hog wire on both the inside and outside, HOWEVER, the center of my pen doesn't have chicken wire to prevent them from burrowing.   It's natural for them and it allows them to escape the hot or cold.   It's 9' deep then it turns so i have no idea how long it goes on for.   I'm not sure they will burrow out because the hole leads under a slab that my garage sits on.   My concern is that they will have the litter down there and i wouldn't know until i see some new Peeps hopping around.   Should i stop them from burrowing or let them do their thing?

Also, wasn't sure how/when to seperate the breeders from each other.   Should i leave them in their current state until i think one is preggers?

Open to any suggestions.

Thank you,
k

Hi Kelly,
I'm not a rabbit expert, but most of the time when I hear of rabbit keeping it is one of two ways. Either in separate cages where everything is tightly controlled. Or else giving them free reign over an area, and simply accepting the losses and chance for over population with no control over who or when they breed.

I like your idea to have them birth in separate areas while normally living in a more natural pen... but that seems like a LOT of work. I think you would have to tag them somehow and check on them daily in order to figure out which are pregnant and even then, I don't think you would know exactly when they bred, so it would be hard to time it right for the birthing pens.

Welcome Kelly!
I raise rabbits but in cages, not on the ground or in a colony. So I've rounded up some old threads about colony systems. They are oldies but goodies and CHOCK FULL of links to other threads, other sites, etc. No quick answers, I'm afraid, but many many resources for you to go down the rabbit hole (lol sorry, I couldn't resist) and see what you find.
https://permies.com/t/55872/trouble-colony-system-advice
https://permies.com/t/31615/Geoff-Lawton-Rabbits
https://permies.com/t/44455/Experimental-rabbitry
https://permies.com/t/34397/cages-community

Good luck and let us know how you do!

Kelly Pfitzer wrote:New to rabbits this year and just got 3 does and 1 buck.   I have them in a community setup aproximately 22x9 enclosure.   Bucks from 1 litter, the does from another all born first week of January.

Fast forward today and they are approaching breeding age.   I plan on building a 10x3 hutch for the grow outs (1 doe and her litter) and will billed additional when needed.  

The pen they are in has a skirt of chicken wire and hog wire on both the inside and outside, HOWEVER, the center of my pen doesn't have chicken wire to prevent them from burrowing.   It's natural for them and it allows them to escape the hot or cold.   It's 9' deep then it turns so i have no idea how long it goes on for.   I'm not sure they will burrow out because the hole leads under a slab that my garage sits on.   My concern is that they will have the litter down there and i wouldn't know until i see some new Peeps hopping around.   Should i stop them from burrowing or let them do their thing?

Also, wasn't sure how/when to seperate the breeders from each other.   Should i leave them in their current state until i think one is preggers?

Open to any suggestions.

Thank you,
k

I have raised meat rabbits for four years in cages. Colony would not be a good idea for my location.
However, I listen and read about colonies. One good idea I have seen is to make a pile of dirt in the middle of the space. '
This way they can dig a lot without necessarily going that far down.
If you try this and it works, please report back!