To bond or not to bond?

Sincs Dutchie died I have had a two and a three, the plan has always been when another one goes to have a group of 4 in the shed but I am wondering whether to do it early and make it a 5. Im just not sure if the shed is big enough for 5?

Current set up - Albert and Evie have a 5 x 7 kennel plus 2-6 hours free range time most days

Bella Chloe and Fudge have a 6x4 shed with 6x6 run attached and 2 hours free range time 1-2 times a week.

If I were to successfully bond them into a 5 they could all live in the shed and free range for a couple of hours most days. My concerns are is the shed/run combo big enough for 5? Im not sure.

I know normally you would say do I have back up in case I have a fall out so I hoping that even if there is a fall out I still end up with a 3 and a 2 of some combination that could go back into the current set up - thoughts please

That is a very difficult question! Bumping up for other peoples ideas too, but I don't think I would attempt it, I'm not sure but I think the hierarchy would be very complex :shock: but having said all that, I'm no expert at all, I've only done one bond which was my 2 pairs (mm ) brothers, and ( ff ) sisters, into my quad.

I'd say go with your gut instinct, you know your bunnies and if you think it could work it might be worth a shot. When I bonded my quad I decided I'd try it as instead of having a hutch/run each they would all share a shed and huge run, so I did it for them, and had decided that I would try it and pull the plug quickly if there was any sign of aggression to try to maintain the original bonds. My 4 are all very similar characters, all quite nervy, no aggressive/dominant traits etc which is why I kind of thought it could work :thumb:

My gut doesnt know :shock: I think there would be issues between Bella and Evie :?

:lol: well I thought there would be issues between Dandy (more confident of boy pair) and Ginger ( more confident of girl pair) and there was, but only a bit of chasing and mounting but I know I was very lucky :shock: I would have thought that Ginger would be overall boss as she's bigger and more confident but it's definitely Dandy as I said though none of mine had aggressive/dominant traits though and if Bella and Evie (or any of the others) are particularly dominant or aggressive then I think I wouldn't try it.

When I tried for a group of six (from two pairs and a fallen out pair) I thought that one of the pairs may not bond with the other four. I was right. I tried it though and soon realised that Mottle and Peaches were happiest on their own.

I would be tempted to give it a go and be prepared to quickly remove any rabbit/s that it wasnt working for.

I would love to have all eight of mine bonded but feel that Mottle and Peaches are happy as a pair and that the quad may not take kindly to the belgian hare mother and son couple ...

GOOD LUCK.

Do you think the shed run combo is big enough for 5 though if it did work?

I am not very good at visualising sizes. My quad have a 10 x 6 shed with a 10 x 6 run and they mostly stay in the shed part.

Different levels would make more floor space for them.

Perhaps you could expand at a later date?