I’m not sure I would have taken the initiative to raise meat rabbits if we hadn’t stumbled into suddenly becoming the owner of four meat rabbits.
During the final days of closing on our farmhouse, our realtor asked us if we wanted to keep the current owner’s rabbits. Without hesitation, I said yes.
I must have been worried about what would happen to the rabbits if I said no. But I also think I looked at taking care of these rabbits as our first farming challenge.
And so, began the adventure of raising meat rabbits.
Understanding rabbit behavior, temperament, & how to handle them
The first hurdle for me to jump over was learning how to handle and nurture these little creatures. I’m great with animals but I had never handled a rabbit before.
It’s easy to get spooked at first because bunnies are flighty, they have razor-sharp claws, and it takes time to earn their trust.
Handling rabbits
You might forget how small they are, but they will never forget how big you are. And unlike pups or kittens that are picked up and carried by their moms when they’re young, rabbits are not.
This means getting picked up and held is not their favorite way to be handled. It’s not a normal sensation for them to move without the ground beneath their feet.
If you do need to pick them up, it’s best to pick them gently but without hesitation. Make sure to carefully hold them close to your chest so they feel snug and secure.
For distances longer than ten or twenty feet, I usually carry them in a small pet container (we use a cat carrier) to minimize stress.
Behavior & temperament
Rabbits are sensitive and can become stressed easily. It’s important to reduce their stress whenever possible, because they’re not as resilient to changes as a goat or cow might be.
Rabbits are social creatures and like to see each other and be close by. But when you’re changing their social structure by moving them and introducing new rabbits, this is a huge adjustment for them as they have to determine where they fit within the new social hierarchy.
Our experience
In general, it’s best to start slow and make changes slowly.
When I was first getting familiar with our new rabbits, I started by holding out fresh grass, carrot tops, and other treats and waited for them to come to me. I’d gently pet their nose or forehead. This gentle grooming of their forehead is a social language they understand and is less threatening than petting their back.
Over time, I learned all these things. And I found that our four, shy little meat rabbits slowly became less shy.
Making the switch from cages to a colony
When I assumed the caretaker role of our first, four meat rabbits I had no idea that colony-style rabbit rearing was even an option. But I knew I didn’t like the cages.
It just seemed like a bleak life for these rabbits–staring at each other through their cages but never able to cozy up and cuddle with each other.
So, I started researching “cage-free” rabbit housing and discovered colony-style rabbit rearing.
It’s been the best switch we could have made for our rabbits, but it has required a lot of effort and dedication (not to mention some money to buy the building materials and supplies).
The challenges with rabbit colonies
The biggest challenges you may face if you’re looking to switch from hutches, hanging cages, and other individually confined spaces include:
- Creating their housing
- This can be very involved; don’t underestimate the importance and significance of this step (more on this topic below)
- Re-learning everything you “know” about your rabbits
- You may find your rabbits surprise you in their new setting. Rabbits that seemed like they would never get along, were able to get along great in a housing arrangement that had enough space. And our rabbit that seemed like it was going to be the most assertive turned out to be the lowest on the pecking order in the colony. And our most cuddly rabbit was the dominant one.
- Socializing your rabbits in their new setting
- This can take several attempts. By the fourth or fifth try I felt like giving up, but gradually I saw the rabbits were starting to figure out their social structure. And finally, I felt like jumping for joy when they started grooming each other and napping next to each other.
- Giving up some control
- If you’re used to know exactly how many kits and bunnies you have at any given moment, then switching to a colony setting may mean relaxing a little bit from knowing everything at every given moment
- Day-long deep cleans
- Deep cleaning a hutch or cage can be pretty quick–but deep cleaning the living area of a large rabbit colony enclosure can be more like a half-day project.
Raising rabbits together
Rabbits are social creatures and tend to live in groups in the wild. They may burrow above ground in the brush or below ground. And some breeds, like the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are known for creating complex warrens.
If you’re raising meat rabbits, allowing them to live in a colony style setting is going to be much more aligned with their natural environment and ideal living conditions than a hutch or separate cages. There is simply no question about it.
We decided to create an outdoor space for our rabbit colony with plenty of open fresh air, sunlight, dirt for burrowing, pre-dug burrow boxes, and space to spread out. But many homesteaders and rabbit farmers are able to make creative indoor arrangements that work really well too.
Setting up your colony
When you’re setting up your colony, start with just a small handful. The fewer rabbits you start with the fewer variables there are to balance.
There may be accounts of some people being able to switch over a large group of rabbits from cage-style living to colony all at once, but I can’t imagine it’s an ideal scenario.
Minimizing stress for your rabbits is key.
Less stress equals happier rabbits
When in doubt about something, ask yourself what would be the least stressful (or the most supportive) option for your rabbits? If you let that question guide your decision making, you’ll be the better for it.
Less stress means happier, healthier rabbits and a win-win for everyone.
And once your rabbits are used to living in a colony, you may find they never want to leave.
At one point, I was letting our rabbits “free-range” in our garden (without any tractor, pen or gates to contain them), and they never left the property and would stay close to their outdoor pen.
It was kind of hilarious actually.
But eventually, we had to stop this practice because the burrows they were digging during the day were too close to our house and crawlspace. We didn’t want to compromise our foundation, so now we use a portable pet fence when we’re letting them graze on open pasture.
Food & water in a colony setting
Providing your rabbits with food and water is much easier in a colony setting. Instead of having to fuss over every multiple separate cages, you can consolidate your work to just a couple containers of water and food.
Water
Instead of needing to worry about water bottles and the nipple attachments failing or getting iced over in the winter months, you can use a large poultry watering container instead.
But just like we had a backup water bottle in the hutches (in case the first one failed) for each rabbit when they were still living in the hutches, we also have a backup poultry watering station in the open pen.
For every open area, we have two poultry watering stations. And in the winter months, we use an outdoor warming mat to keep the water from freezing over (you can find these at Coastal Farm & Ranch and other large country stores).
Food
It’s so simple to put a bale of hay in your rabbit colony’s pen. They can chomp away at their leisure and also use it for jumping and burrowing.
But you’ll also want to have rabbit feed pellets to ensure a rounded diet. For their pellets, we also use a poultry feeder but there are better, DIY options out there. You can use a plastic trash can and then make cut outs at the bottom that fit a PVC elbow connector so the rabbit feed pellets can flow more easily to the bottom (we plan to do this asap).
We also bring in fresh grass from our yard, tree branches, fruit and vegetable scraps from our kitchen, and fresh rolled oats (we buy our oats in large bags from Azure Standard).
Housing and Infrastructure
Indoor vs. outdoor rabbit colonies
The first decision you have to make is whether your colony will be indoor or outdoor.
You’ll need to consider your budget, climate, weather, and the constraints of your property. For example, if you live within an HOA, you may not be able to have an outdoor rabbit colony.
When we first started taking care of our meat rabbits, they were already living outside in a rabbit hutch housed in the garden. While this rabbit hutch looked better than a lot of the ones I’ve seen online, I didn’t like having them separate, confined, and unable to run around. And I also worried about them being cold.
Why we chose an outdoor set up
I was tempted to make an indoor space for them (using part of our barn), but we ultimately went with creating a new, covered area for them that would be outdoors and not blocking any fresh air or sunlight.
Because rabbits are often seen as pets, it can seem more humane to have them indoors, but I actually think trying to mimic their outdoor environment makes good sense.
Breeding & offspring
This is yet another benefit of rearing rabbits in a colony. The family is kept intact and stress is minimized for everyone.
While I never bred our rabbits in a hutch set up, I’ve heard from others that it’s an adjustment to no longer know when the mom has had her litter. In a colony setting, you often don’t know whether you have a new litter or not until they emerge from their mom’s nesting area several weeks later.
Because of this, it’s important to keep the best records and approximations that you can. You should also be careful walking around in the pen in the event that the mom rabbit has used loose straw tunnels for the nest.
Rabbits do well in the cold as long as they are well-fed, can keep dry, and have plenty of nesting materials.
Note: protecting them from heat in the summer months is actually much more critical as rabbits are more likely to experience overheating than hypothermia.
After you decide upon indoor vs. outdoor, the next factors to consider are the floors, the walls, and the ceiling.
The floors
The floors need to be rabbit-proof and predator proof. This means, you have to think about using wire mesh, mats, or solid flooring like cement to keep your rabbits in and predators out.
This step is so significant and cannot be emphasized enough. A simple dirt floor will not work unless you’re prepared to dig several feet underground for the walls and/or fencing.
For us, we went with grass/dirt floors but used 2 by 4 inch cattle panel fencing for the floors. I would have loved to use metal hardware cloth for the floors but it’s more expensive and we needed to make sure we had enough in our budget to buy the hardware cloth for the walls.
You may also want to consider the cleaning process as well. What kind of floors will be easiest for you to maintain and keep clean? Do you plan to do frequent cleans? Do you plan to use a deep bedding method?
I’ve found that while I love our dirt floors with wire mesh, they are a bit more difficult to clean.
When using a shovel to change out the straw bedding, I have to be careful not to get the shovel caught in the wire. It’s still do-able, but it’s probably not as quick as cleaning a cement floor would be.
IMPORTANT: in a colony-style rabbit setting, you must keep an eye out for any bunny babies when changing out the bedding or cleaning the floors. The momma will most likely choose the safest, dry spot she can find, but this might be in a pile of straw or hay and not a nesting or burrow box. Shoveling with too much gusto is not advisable: even if you’re 100% positive you know where the babies are being nestled, cleaning out the floors too quickly can scare or disrupt the rabbits. Working slower usually works better for everyone.
The walls and roof
If you have an indoor set up, this step is easy if you have the benefit of using an old shed or barn that’s already built. You could also probably make a garage work but would need to make sure there are no hazards you rabbits could get to such as wires, outlets, or other items and materials a rabbit shouldn’t be near.
But for an outdoor set up, you need to protect your bunnies from the elements. This means having a roof to protect them from the rain and sun. But it also means having walls that keep your rabbits in and predators out.
We went with a wood frame and used wire mesh to make our structure predator proof for our rabbits. Be sure to choose wire mesh that’s small enough for keeping your rabbit babies inside as well–I recommend using metal “hardware cloth” and definitely do not recommend chicken wire.
Chicken wire is cheaper but it’s not strong enough to keep predators out and the holes are too big and baby rabbits could get their heads stuck in the wire.
Infrastructure
In an indoor set up, you don’t have to worry about elements like wind and sideways rain, but in an outdoor set up, make sure you have some areas that are protected from the elements. This could be a partially solid wall to protect from harsh winds. Or lots of pre-dug, underground burrow boxes to allow your rabbits to duck out of the rain and wind.
Don’t forget to include branches, boxes, and multi-level areas that give your rabbits even more creative ways to stretch out and play. I like using old shelving units with ramps to add to the total square footage. More levels = more square footage for your rabbits.
Social structure in a colony setting
Many people choose separate, confined cages over a colony-style setting, because they are worried about the possibility of scuffles and skirmishes amongst their rabbits.
It’s a valid concern. But rest assured, it’s possible to have a healthy, happy, harmonious rabbit colony.
In general, the potential for conflict rises the more rabbits you have and correspondingly, the less space they have to spread out. And male rabbits, in particular, can be gruesome with each other.
In short, it’s best not to keep two, adult, non-neutered bucks together in a pen.
Even two bunny brothers past the age of ten weeks can become problematic, but we haven’t had to worry about our current colony (we think the mom and dad keep the siblings in line).
My preference is to have one, large rabbit family together in the largest open area we have. This has worked out really well.
And then in another separate, open area we have space to house another, unrelated adult doe. And we can move our buck over there, if needed.
The key to creating a healthy rabbit colony is maintaining social harmony and these considering these factors will help:
Providing ample space
Aiming for 30 to 40 feet of square feet per adult rabbit. In a singular, family style colony, they will be able to live comfortably with less space, but any less than 10 square feet per rabbit may be asking for trouble.
You’ll get a sense of your rabbit’s personalities and what they need to thrive.
For some colonies, it’s important to have plenty of “grow out” cages should you need to separate older rabbit kids from the main colony.
We have our old hutch ready in case we need it in a pinch (but we haven’t needed it yet).
Multiple resources
Make sure to offer more than one feeding station, watering station, and lots of hiding spots and shelters to reduce competition.
Stimulation and enrichment
Burrows, tunnels, branches, boxes and ramps, and other multi-level play spaces can offer additional stimulation and entertainment for your rabbits.
One of my rabbits favorite things to play with is a lot of loose, fresh straw. They literally look like kids running around on Christmas as they dive through the loose bales and make their own loose tunnels.
Observation
Beyond just feeding, watering, and cleaning, spend time with your rabbits and see if you notice any concerns.
Usually, you can spot if there was a skirmish because you’ll see tufts of fur lying about. This means trouble is a foot and you need to check your rabbits for scratches.
Since we’ve moved to a single family colony rabbit set up (only one family is housed together, and no unrelated females), we’ve had zero skirmishes. But you’ll want to keep an eye on your rabbit population and make sure it’s not getting too crowded.
As they say, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. Being observant and proactive will be in your best interest and theirs.
It’s time to ditch the cages!
The joy of raising meat rabbits in a setting that most closely mimics their natural environment and social structure is incredibly rewarding and worth the effort.
I think many homesteaders that are seeking sustainably-raised meat shy away from rabbits altogether because most of the images they’ve seen involve cages. While they’re are ways to make life a bit peachier for hutch-raised rabbits–such as taking them out of their cages daily to graze on grass–it’s a lot of work to do this for every single rabbit every single day.
It’s important to know that you don’t have to use cages. And better yet, raising your rabbits in a colony setting will likely be easier to boot (once you have the housing built, of course).
I hope our story can help encourage others that it’s possible to raise rabbits as a complete beginner. And that colony style settings are the way to go!
