How should I go about bonding?

My mam's friend recently got a puppy and decided she didn't want her rabbits or guinea pig anymore because her puppy might eat their droppings which is a load of rubbish because she never even let them out on the grass, but anyway that's another story..

I'll start by mentioning that we have 4 rabbits already; Crystal and Raven are a pair that we adopted from the RSPCA last year. Crystal is Raven's mum so they've been together forever and they've both been spayed. We have 2 dwarf boys who we adopted from people who just didn't want them either and we did tried to bond them as babies but they've always fought so we haven't been able to mix them. The boys are both nearly a year old now, Raven is about 3 and we don't know how old Crystal is (we've guessed about 4/5).

Henry and Daisy are the rabbits that we've adopted recently, they're both about 3/4 years old and they're gorgeous. They were originally together because the owner thought they were both boys, it turns out they weren't and along came some baby bunnies. Instead of having the parents neutered or spayed and kept together they just straight up separated them. So we've adopted them and we're planning on getting Henry neutered but we're unsure whether to get Daisy done or not. My dad isn't crazy about the idea of spending that amount of money on them and they're big rabbits so it's going to cost a lot.

We intended to mix Henry and Daisy once we had Henry neutered but we're toying with the idea of mixing all 4 of the big rabbits as they're all pretty much the same size and Crystal (who is the boss of the garden) seems to like them both. We've had Henry and Daisy a week today and we've let them have a run about the garden separately, they've been scenting everything but Crystal hasn't been aggressive towards them (she was to both of the dwarf rabbits when we first got them so we know she is capable of being mean).

We know it'll be awhile before we can get any bonds done because we need to get Henry neutered first but I just hoped I could get some advice from people who know a lot about rabbits and have done something like this before. Crystal has had a good sniff of the both of them and has been lying down next to them which makes me think she'd be happy to let them share the garden with her. We wouldn't house them together on a night, they're too big to share any of the hutches we own, it would have to be Crystal and Raven in one and Henry and Daisy in another on a night but during the day they'd all be together.

Thank you

It is going to be highly unlikely for them all to bond while one is unneutered so assuming they are all neutered you would have to put tem all together in a neutral area where none of them has been before. Then after a couple of weeks when you are satisfied they are all getting along you could extend their area gradually until they have the whole garden. But you wouldn't be able to keep splitting them up at night. The way you have in mind won't imo work because rabbits are territorial and the stronger pair will keep attacking the weaker one. There would be no way you would get them back in their respective hutches either should they free range amicably, which I very much doubt.

The only way is to do similar to me and that is for them to free range alternatively, so 2 have the morning out, then you swap them over, or 2 have one day and the other 2 have the next day.

I would definitely get daisy done, the effect of her hormones will likely ruin any bonding you attempt. She also has about an 80% chance of developing ovarian/uterine cancer if she is left unspayed so it's vital for health reasons too.

If you're going to bond your rabbits then they need to be bonded and together 24/7, you can't keep splitting them and putting them back together as it will cause territorial disputes and they will keep fighting every time they meet. Could you get rid of your hutches and replace them with a 6x4 shed that they could all live in together? It would be neutral too so perfect for bonding :thumb: