Have you ever had an opportunity to see a rabbit hole? I read quite a lot about rabbits and the mating and birthing process, as well as the baby rearing. The mother digs a burrow if she has the inclination and the place. Rabbits in cages do not, obviously, and are given a nest box instead. My rabbits live outside in a 7 by 9 foot dog kennel, so they had room.
Both does dug the burrow. The entrance was visible as a round hole which seemed to go to the right, but in actuality, it only went a little to the right and mostly back, five whole feet back. Then there was a bit of an incline up and a place with much fur pulled from the breast of the mother rabbit and some hay and straw, the place where the babies lived. The mother would only go to feed the babies once a day at first. She would carefully uncover the entrance of straw and leaves and a little dirt so it would not appear as a burrow at all. Then she would go down and feed her babies, then come back up and cover the burrow again. When the babies were about 6 weeks old, they would come to the entrance of the burrow and peek out, then scamper back in. At that point they were hungry and looking for alternate food other than mother's milk. About a week later, the mother stopped feeding the babies and they came out to eat all the time, and to drink water, but they retreated to the burrow for comfort and safety.
Now the six bunnies are in a kennel together. As they grow, they will be placed in individual cages, a terrible way to raise rabbits in my humble opinion, where they do not have ground touch their feet, have no opportunity to bask in the sunlight or feel the wind on their fur. But if I get a chance to build them large portable cages that will all change. Five of these bunnies are pre sold. They will go on to be breeders and that is better than being eaten. It is why I paid $300 for the buck who was imported from Holland and is pedigreed as are the two does. The babies can all be pedigreed as well. I did not start out to raise rabbits for food, but like everything else, who wants the males? Other than one or two the rest have the destiny of being stew. Letting them go would be suicide with 7 dogs patrolling the farm. So, until now, I have not bred the does unless there was a buyer. Whew, lucky this time. And bunnies are so darn cute!
Both does dug the burrow. The entrance was visible as a round hole which seemed to go to the right, but in actuality, it only went a little to the right and mostly back, five whole feet back. Then there was a bit of an incline up and a place with much fur pulled from the breast of the mother rabbit and some hay and straw, the place where the babies lived. The mother would only go to feed the babies once a day at first. She would carefully uncover the entrance of straw and leaves and a little dirt so it would not appear as a burrow at all. Then she would go down and feed her babies, then come back up and cover the burrow again. When the babies were about 6 weeks old, they would come to the entrance of the burrow and peek out, then scamper back in. At that point they were hungry and looking for alternate food other than mother's milk. About a week later, the mother stopped feeding the babies and they came out to eat all the time, and to drink water, but they retreated to the burrow for comfort and safety.
Now the six bunnies are in a kennel together. As they grow, they will be placed in individual cages, a terrible way to raise rabbits in my humble opinion, where they do not have ground touch their feet, have no opportunity to bask in the sunlight or feel the wind on their fur. But if I get a chance to build them large portable cages that will all change. Five of these bunnies are pre sold. They will go on to be breeders and that is better than being eaten. It is why I paid $300 for the buck who was imported from Holland and is pedigreed as are the two does. The babies can all be pedigreed as well. I did not start out to raise rabbits for food, but like everything else, who wants the males? Other than one or two the rest have the destiny of being stew. Letting them go would be suicide with 7 dogs patrolling the farm. So, until now, I have not bred the does unless there was a buyer. Whew, lucky this time. And bunnies are so darn cute!
I dug the top off the rabbit burrow and wanted to find where the babies were born. It was five feet from the entrance!
The nest was a lot of rabbit down and some fine hay.
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