Is 3 girls a crowd?

I have 2 sisters who get on really well. They are coming up to 6 months of age and will be having their big girl operations in about a months time.

My sister in laws sister needs to rehome her rabbit so I have said I will take her, as a guess I think she is around age 2. Would it be best to get her spayed and get her a husbun or get her spayed and try to bond her with my 2.

I have 1 experience of bonding in which all seemed ok at first but then I ended up having to seperate them. I really dont want to unsettle my girls if it is unlikely to work anyway. They get on really well.

My girls are from a rescue so would obviously check with them that they are happy for my to try bonding them otherwise if they say no or its a bad idea from the start I could rehome another bun

3 girls isn't necessarily a crowd. I have 3 unrelated does in one of my quads and they all get on great. With them, it's often all girls together, leaving my poor Helios left out. :lol: (He gets and gives plenty of love to the others, so he isn't *really* left out.) However, I do also think it would potentially a risk to your existing pairs - trying new bonds is always a risk, though. And as your existing girls are still unspayed, there's still a chance that hormones can kick in and they start fighting. :/

Perhaps you could see how they all are post-spay, once hormones have settled, before deciding whether to bond this new girl in with the sisters or getting her a husbun?

I'd wait until after they are all spayed and have a chance to let hormones settle (6 weeks).

You need to take their personalities into consideration. My girl Daphne is a right moo and is very dominant/controlling/territorial. I know if we add another rabbit into our pair the bond would break down and I'd end up with 3 separate rabbits.

Bonding can be difficult. It took me 3 months to bond my two girls and a lot of the time I felt like giving up on them. It's highly stressful and you need to be prepared that the body could work, but then break down a few weeks later.

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Thankyou for the advice

Yes I would definitly wait until all 3 are spayed. (Babies should be being done in the Oct school hols)

I think I will be getting my new girl sometime this week.
My baby girls have a hutch with a run attatched underneath that they have access too all day (7am-10pm) and we let them out for a play in the garden once a day too. The new rabbits hutch looks similar (permanet access to a run) Would it be ok to let my babies out for a play while the new girl is in her run so they can meet through the mesh of the run and vice versa or am I best making sure the trap door to the run is shut while any of them are loose in the garden if that makes sense?

It best not to allow them to be able to interact through the bars. (So make sure noses can't be nipped etc) some rabbits react well to it, others react badly.
The adult female may get territorial aggression, but just monitor closely and ensure they can't possibly get into each others cages.

Ideally the run should be predator proof and buns should have access to it all night as they're most active dusk and Dawn (when we're asleep in bed)

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Flopsy had a cut on her nose actually when we got her as she had been nipped through bars. The hutch was recommended to us by the rescue. It is from home and roost. I have often thought about leaving them out (especially when we are stood by the hutch with a torch waving a carrot down the trap door trying to get them in ) but can't bring myself to do it, terrified about a fox getting in

I wouldn't personally allow them to see or touch each other especially before being spayed. Referred aggression is a real risk. I know there are some people with all girl trios but I would think your best option would be to get a male rabbit to bond with your new one, then you don't have to risk breaking the bond with your original pair. There is a vey good trio bonding sticky you might find useful :thumb: