Rabbits On Pasture -

Our experiences & plans, regarding rabbit housing and management setups

When we first bought our rabbits, we kept them in standard wire cages, suspended above the floor. While that certainly kept everyone clean, we were unhappy with that arrangement. It was hard on their feet, it didn't allow for many of their natural behaviors such as digging, grazing and gnawing. In addition, they had no social interaction with each other. Rabbits are very social creatures, and we felt that approach was inhumane.

Starting in 2004, we separated our does and bucks into group pens on pasture. The does did well in that arrangement, but the males eventually had to be separated to keep them from fighting. The does loved the social environment of the field pens, and we frequently saw them grooming each other, laying in big rabbit heaps at naptime, and otherwise enjoying each other's company. There was minimal fighting. But the bucks were relegated to solitary field cages. While they certainly liked the grass, we again were unhappy with their housing arrangement. Their digging was of course limited so that they couldn't dig out of their cages, and they went through wood chewies very quickly. And the does' group pens made individual management rather difficult, plus they were very heavy and hard to move to new ground. Click here to read a pdf report about our first year's experience.

During the winter of 2004/2005, we brought the bunnies into a new main barn, where they would be protected from the high winds, rain and cold. But they sure missed their pens! And they sure didn't like the lack of social interaction which they enjoyed in the field pens.

During the 2005 growing season, we experimented with a new field pen design. We put 15 does in a lighter-weight, larger group pen, situated in an area destined to become part of our garden. It was covered by a variety of either colored tarps or clear plastic to give them both sunlight and shade at their preference. The location of the pen itself also served two purposes - the bunnies ate the grass which had been there, thus clearing the area for next year's growth, and their nutrient-rich droppings helped fertilize the soil in anticipation of that growth. We were quite pleased with how happy the rabbits were in that pen, and the way the soil responded to the conditioning. But the pen itself still wasn't quite perfect. Both the pen's access doors, and the canopy, were sized for rabbits and didn't accommodate people very well. Plus, the rabbits didn't have any individual nesting areas that they could claim as their own in which to raise litters. We needed a pen that would meet our needs and litter needs as well as the adult bunnies' needs. Back to the drawing board.

We're still working on plans for this years' pens. We've learned a lot over the last few years and we will incorporate all of that experience into our latest efforts. We will of course report our findings, good bad or otherwise, here on the website. Stay tuned.

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If you are unhappy with your purchase, return any unused portion (if applicable) and we'll refund your money directly. We can also apply purchase credit towards future purchases if you prefer. If you have any questions, just fill out our contact form.

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Postal address: PO Box 1920, Snohomish, WA 98291-1920
Electronic mail: Click here for our Contact Form.

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