We were hoping to have rabbits this winter but didn't get everything ready before the ground froze.  We plan to raise our rabbits in a colony setting rather than in hutches.  This means they will live in a fenced area and build their own burrows.  Other people who raise rabbits this way report that the burrows extend well beyond the fence line but the rabbits don't come up outside the fence -- they prefer the safety (and free food) of the colony.  The burrows help keep them warm in the winter, but more importantly, they give the rabbits a place to cool off in the summer time.

We have our colony marked out, all fence posts in but one, and we've begun digging a trench between the fence posts.  We're going to use 2x4 woven wire fencing and bury it 4" deep to prevent coyotes and other predators from digging under the fence.  We'll also have a hot scare wire on the outside of the woven wire, and if necessary we'll lie chicken wire flat on the ground around the perimeter of the colony to further discourage predators from digging under.

We plan on raising New Zealand Whites and Californians; we will probably begin with one buck of each breed and four does of each breed, and let them breed as they will.  There is a fair market for either breed, and a cross is supposed to be an excellent meat rabbit.

Here are three threads from the Homesteading Today forum that first got us interested in a colony setup: