I told my mom that I wanted to raise rabbits on the farm. She wasn’t so sure. She said she didn’t like the way if felt to see rabbits in hutches. Then, we found a podcast called Raising Rabbits in Colonies. We listened to it a lot. We found lots of videos on Youtube about rabbit colonies. We both liked the idea. This past summer we started searching for a breeder in Vermont, New York or New Hampshire after deciding on Rex rabbits as our breed. My mom really liked Black Otter Rex’s. Me too. My mom found Ariel, who we purchased our first rabbits from. We started with 4 rabbits. We have 3 Does named Peter, Grey and Bee. They are the females. We have one Buck named Midnight, he’s the male. I picked the names myself. I also helped my dad build their rabbit house. It is a 9 x 19 foot hoop house with 1/2 inch hardware cloth enclosing the sides and bottom to keep out predators and rodents, and to keep the rabbits from digging out. The top is covered with chicken wire and a tarp to protect them from the elements. We filled the space with two yards of wood chip mulch and two yards of wood chips and several bales of dry hay. Using this material, the rabbits created their own burrows, which are like tunnels under the ground.

This burrow system protects the rabbits from heat and cold, and in the wild would protect them from predators. It’s also where they create their nests in our colony. When the does are ready to give birth they complete a process called kindling. Kindling means carrying material in their mouths to the nesting location. Once they make a hay nest they line it with fur from their own bodies. Sometimes we see bits of fur in the rabbit house and know that babies have come. But we don’t actually see the babies until they come out of the burrows which can take 3 - 5 weeks! So far we know they have had 18 kits in 3 different litters. In our management system, the rabbits choose when they want to breed. Rabbits can re-breed within a hour of giving birth if they choose.