I made an outdoor hutch for my rabbits, separating the males and the does. I found that the males started digging as soon as I put them inside their hutch. Is it okay if I line the hutch flooring with wire mesh then covering them with dirt to prevent them from digging and escaping?
Outdoor hutch for multiple rabbits
- Thread starter Angelo
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A wire mesh should be used below the surface to prevent them from digging out (both males and females).
Are you aware that multiple rabbits housed together will likely end in some serious, wound-inflicting injuries? Separating them by sex will prevent unwanted breeding but it won't stop them from fighting. Males will fight males and females will fight females-- especially once hormones kick in.
Are you aware that multiple rabbits housed together will likely end in some serious, wound-inflicting injuries? Separating them by sex will prevent unwanted breeding but it won't stop them from fighting. Males will fight males and females will fight females-- especially once hormones kick in.
Yes, unfortunately I learnt it late. That is why I am now separating each rabbit in its own hutch. The withd of the hutch is 2 feet, Length is 3 feet and the height is 2 feet. My brother in law saved 12 rabbits from abandonment, until we know where we can send these rabbits we are taking care of them. I suspect the female rabbits might be pregnant because they were all kept together. We have a small plot of land, 10 feet by 10 feet.
NorthernNevadaHollandLops
Well-Known Member
They don't always fight. I have a colony set up and all of our rabbits get along great. I realize there is always a first time for everything, but we have had zero fights so far in nearly a year. They were raised from birth together.
I was told that rabbits need companionship, at the same time I'm concerned if they can't bond they will fight. Would it be okay, to put their hutches side by side but separated? Or do they need to touch and snuggle each other?
More important to seperate the males because if they fight they quite likely go berserk mode right away, although to me it happened only once in 9 years of keeping bucklings together for up to 5-6 months. Situation gets more volatile with age.
Females have several steps of escalation, way more social skills, and with an open eye I see trouble brewing in time, but I never had a fight between does that live together. I got the impression that larger groups of does (5-8, I keep the doelings with the moms for 5.-6 months) even do better than smaller ones since dominance behaviour is doled out more evenly. So if you have a group of does, I, personally, wouldn't seperate them.
They need space though, and struktures like second levels, dividers, hidey houses etc. to get out of each others eyes if they feel like it. But it'S still less space than adequatly housing every single one seperatly.
If all are pregnant I would seperate though, at least in pairs. If just 1 or 2 I would not, just provide nestboxes on opposite ends of the enclosure.
Rabbits are social animals. Bucks and does (neutered) get along quite easily, does too if they grew up together or bonding worked out (I never tried bonding 2 does, my pairs are mother-daughter). Bucks on the other hand would drive rivals away in nature, doesn't work in cages. Neutering can help, but even then 2 bucks are the most difficult combination. Here it's even illegal to keep pet rabbits alone, well, that law is a mixed blessing, imho creates way more problems than it solves.
Only one of my 7 rabbits lives alone for now, my young buck, but he has free roam of the hutch area and can interact with the does through the bars. He will get a companion when either my house bunny Herr Hase or my oldest doe Fury dies, both live with a spayed doe now.
Anyway, keeping rabbits isn't rocket science. Trust your gut feeling what you think is ok for you and your animals. Don't worry too much about what people say about how to do things, you'll need to find a way that works for you.
Females have several steps of escalation, way more social skills, and with an open eye I see trouble brewing in time, but I never had a fight between does that live together. I got the impression that larger groups of does (5-8, I keep the doelings with the moms for 5.-6 months) even do better than smaller ones since dominance behaviour is doled out more evenly. So if you have a group of does, I, personally, wouldn't seperate them.
They need space though, and struktures like second levels, dividers, hidey houses etc. to get out of each others eyes if they feel like it. But it'S still less space than adequatly housing every single one seperatly.
If all are pregnant I would seperate though, at least in pairs. If just 1 or 2 I would not, just provide nestboxes on opposite ends of the enclosure.
Rabbits are social animals. Bucks and does (neutered) get along quite easily, does too if they grew up together or bonding worked out (I never tried bonding 2 does, my pairs are mother-daughter). Bucks on the other hand would drive rivals away in nature, doesn't work in cages. Neutering can help, but even then 2 bucks are the most difficult combination. Here it's even illegal to keep pet rabbits alone, well, that law is a mixed blessing, imho creates way more problems than it solves.
Only one of my 7 rabbits lives alone for now, my young buck, but he has free roam of the hutch area and can interact with the does through the bars. He will get a companion when either my house bunny Herr Hase or my oldest doe Fury dies, both live with a spayed doe now.
Anyway, keeping rabbits isn't rocket science. Trust your gut feeling what you think is ok for you and your animals. Don't worry too much about what people say about how to do things, you'll need to find a way that works for you.
