There are a couple of people who have done that. Hopefully they will see this soon.
Rabbit Colony- How many rabbits per bucket burrow
We are planning a rabbit colony. Currently have 3 females and a male. We are thinking of having 8-12 does and 2 bucks. The 2 bucks will be in a cage some of the time but we may have them in a tractor or set up a section for them in the pen where the girls are. Not sure on that yet. We the space I'm working with is 15ftX17ft. So, should be 255 sq ft. (If we make a smaller pen in this one then we won't have as many does 🙃
❓Anyhow, my question is... How many bucket burrows will I need? And how far apart should they be? Would 1ft or 2ft of space be fine? Hoping to do it against the outside wall of the chicken coop which is 12 ft. ❓
Also, may extend a part of the pen for a kiddie pool that will be emptied in the winter and probably used as something else for the time being.
![209164]()
Poorly drawn diagram as a rough rough draft lol.
-Large black area to the left is 12X12 chicken coop.
-Red circle are possible burrows.
-Small yellow circles for food & waterer
-Large yellow circle for kiddie pool.
-Black dots for possible caged that will be up above the ground for the males.
-Purple lines for gates. The one towards the top leads to Muscovy pen.
-Brown marking is where I will try to scoop up poop and place there until I have gather enough worth taking to the compost across the property lol.
-Black line to the right is another coop for younger birds.
-Green circles are small trees.
*This area provides a good amount of shade but parts of the pen will have sunlight. The pen will be at the highest spot of the property. They will also be given things to climb, chew on, and play with.
❓Anyhow, my question is... How many bucket burrows will I need? And how far apart should they be? Would 1ft or 2ft of space be fine? Hoping to do it against the outside wall of the chicken coop which is 12 ft. ❓
Also, may extend a part of the pen for a kiddie pool that will be emptied in the winter and probably used as something else for the time being.
Poorly drawn diagram as a rough rough draft lol.
-Large black area to the left is 12X12 chicken coop.
-Red circle are possible burrows.
-Small yellow circles for food & waterer
-Large yellow circle for kiddie pool.
-Black dots for possible caged that will be up above the ground for the males.
-Purple lines for gates. The one towards the top leads to Muscovy pen.
-Brown marking is where I will try to scoop up poop and place there until I have gather enough worth taking to the compost across the property lol.
-Black line to the right is another coop for younger birds.
-Green circles are small trees.
*This area provides a good amount of shade but parts of the pen will have sunlight. The pen will be at the highest spot of the property. They will also be given things to climb, chew on, and play with.
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Alright, awesome. I am curious on what your thoughts and everyone elses on the design I have made in the photo below? I have changed up a fair amount from the previous one posted. The Ducklings will be let in with the rabbits on hot days to use the pool. The older ducks will be let out to free range...
-We won't have more than 2 bucks. Their pen will be against the chicken coop but will be like tractor that way they can be moved out when we want them to eat grass and what not.
-The red X's are the buckets in the ground for burrows. The yellow displays where the opening faces. They will face a tree line which will hopefully help keep rain from flying in. They will have a lot wood to play with and hide under etc. (will add more that shown)
-Green X's are trees
-Red zig zag line is for a ramp to the poop.
*About 6-8 does. Never keeping more than 12. Possibly 2 bucks but of course at least one.
And breeding schedule:
January- None
February- None
Early March- 3 breed
Early April- 3 breed
Early May- 2 breed
June- None
July- None
Early August- 3 breed
Early September- 3 breed
Early October- 2 breed
November- None
December- None
**Each doe bred 2 times a yr. No more than 3.
Thoughts on how we should change it up? Any advice? Tips? Etc lol.
One thing we learned on accident is don't breed for summer kits. We moved all boy babies before they were old enough to breed but one boy got missed. We ended up with several summer litters...most babies died 
.
Set up looks fine. You will need to tweak as needed when you find things that don't work.
We used totes so during wet weather rabbits had good shelter..door In totes face away from wind blowing in. They were easy to clean and re stuff with hay. Rabbits lived in this year round and we never lost any to cold or rain. Heat was an issue. They were under a tree..which helped. We used frozen water bottle and we didn't mess with them in the heat of the day. We did at one point bring in dirt to make a hill for them to burrow in. They liked that.
. Set up looks fine. You will need to tweak as needed when you find things that don't work.
We used totes so during wet weather rabbits had good shelter..door In totes face away from wind blowing in. They were easy to clean and re stuff with hay. Rabbits lived in this year round and we never lost any to cold or rain. Heat was an issue. They were under a tree..which helped. We used frozen water bottle and we didn't mess with them in the heat of the day. We did at one point bring in dirt to make a hill for them to burrow in. They liked that.
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