Rabbit Aviary Pen

[DaKid]

OK I was thinking on want to build a large Rabbit pen , I been camping at a few camp ground where they had rabbits running all around the camp grounds and the spend most of the night time living under the main checking in office building .

So I want to build a so call Small Rabbit Aviary Pen where I can keep 4-6 does and couple of bucks . I know I would have to place chicken wire both on the inside and out side of the aviary so predators can not get in and so the rabbits can dig out .

Has anyone build this type of rabbit habitat before


Thanks Alan

 

[ack123]

If you are new to rabbits its best you keep them housed in a building in their own cages for now. until you get some experience with them. The camgrounds should not be letting their rabbits run loose since they can pick up diseases, and be picked off by predators. Its a wonder they aren't overrun with them. Free ranging is something that should be thoroughly researched before you try it. Most that I know of end up failing at it because they were new to rabbits when they did try it. You also need to have them something they can't chew or dig their way out of. There is also the risk of them picking up parasites and coccidia from them being on the ground all the time.

 

[sgtmom52]

There are some people who live near me that have a small white & gray rabbit that lives in an enclosure that many people would love to have for their chickens or dog. They have several chain link dog pens (about 6' high) around an 8'x8' shed with a pop hole. There is also a large pine tree and several lawn chairs inside the fence. The fenced area is probably 16'x24'.

I'm not saying this is an ideal set up as we live in an area with a lot of predators including hawks and there is no netting over the top and I don't know if they "lock" the rabbit inside the shed at night.

 

[RiverOtter]

Just so you know, chicken wire will not keep rabbits in or dogs out. I've had a rabbit rip through it. Ss you'll need the more expensive hardware cloth or cage wire. Though you could use chicken wire for the bottom of the pen. You WILL need something for the bottom of the pen - rabbits dig. They burrow, it's instinct, bunny + dirt = hole. Some people will try to tell you otherwise because when they let their house rabbit run around the yard for 5 minutes it didn't tunnel like in the cartoons.

Also, Many people who only keep 1 or 2 rabbits, especially neutered ones, don't know that rabbits fight. For some reason animals that could easily kill each other like wolves have all sorts of signals that will stop a fight. "Helpless" animals like rabbits don't and will rip each other to shreds and kill each other's young if they can't get away from each other. This is why experienced rabbit breeders and all the books say separate cages.

Not that you can't keep rabbits in colonies. Just keep the colonies small (like maybe 3 does) have cages to seperate trouble makers, know that it just won't work with some individual rabbits and don't let the buck live there all the time. He gets conjugal visits.

You can get more info here;
http://rabbitgeek.com/articles/clny_valerie.html

and here;
http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14

Happy rabbit keeping! I've been doing it for 9 years. Little critters aren't quite as addicting as chickens, but close.

 

[DaKid]

Thanks for your insight –n- input and quotes on a rabbit Aviary Pen.

But just remember this thread this coming this year 2011 ..... I will be doing something and show that it can be done and in a good way and healthy way with a few pairs or 4-6 female to 1 or two male rabbit aviary pen. Just like the chickens -pheasant and Ducks -n- so on ............

It seems no one has done this type of set up ------so it looks like I'll be the first ,............I'm doing my research ...............an anything is possible................I love a Good ‘O’ Challenge but with the good health and care of my animals .


Update to come on how I doing with a Rabbit Aviary..............Note this is for pets only and not for breeding or reselling

 

[dntd]

Right now I have 4 female living together and a male seperate.I wouldn't put two males together unless they are fixed, also a male with a female will constantly mate, that might cause her kits to die inside her, males need to be seperate for females.

 

[DaKid]

Right now I have 4 female living together and a male seperate.I wouldn't put two males together unless they are fixed, also a male with a female will constantly mate, that might cause her kits to die inside her, males need to be seperate for females.

can I ask you this what size of a cage or pen are you keeping your female in .​

 

[RiverOtter]

Did you read any of the link I gave you?

People HAVE done this before. A lot. I've done it before. Which is why I can tell you what will and won't work.

Why bother to reinvent the wheel?

And if you have male and female rabbits in the same pen - unless they're neutered - that's breeding. Whether you feel you're doing it for commercial purposes or not. Babies means you're a breeder.
I have a little lionhead doe who is expecting, her babies will only be pets, and she herself will want to drive those babies away when they're about 5 weeks old. And if they can't get far enough away for her liking, they'll get pretty ripped up. And it's not because she's a bad mother.It's the nature of the beast. In the wild (or a colony where the male is always there) she has her next set of babies just before Set 1 is 5 weeks old. So her instinct tells her that Set 1 had better be gone by then.

Instinct will also tell her that she needs her own space, if you don't provide enough, she'll do her best to drive the other rabbits out of it. What's enough? Depends on the rabbit. Some are easy, some are harder, some just need their own, personal cages.

I appreciate you are concerned about the good health and care of your animals. I'm sorry if I come off harsh. I have a doe with no ears because someone wanted to give rabbits "a more natural life" and let them "play with their friends". The other rabbit decided she was invading it's space and literally ripped her ears off. These things happen if you don't do a colony/aviary/whatever you want to call it, just right. Right from the rabbit's viewpoint, not what we think we'd like if we were a rabbit.

 

[DaKid]

RiverOtter

are these you sites http://rabbitgeek.com/articles/clny_valerie.html
cuz some of the pic's of how there keep the rabbits I JUST WOULD NOT DO .

AS FOR A colony rabbits breeding , I would try 1 buck to 3-4 does in a pen size about 12' x 12 ' or larger ..........with hiding spots and things to keep them bussy during the day ..................., they seem to survice in the wild so what not do the recerch and make the habit as natural as possible , I'm not talking for breeding or resaleing I'm saying as for pets and pets only , it can be done .


I had a house pet rabbit which was keep indoor at all times with 2 ferrets and 3 small dog shin uzu dogs which all had the run of the house and all got along an play all together , now I was told back then that rabbits and ferrets could not be keep together due to ferrets would kill the rabbit well mind did not and they where out running about for hours at a time and all where litter train to a cat litter box when they had the freedom of the house .....



I 'm am now read your links and seeing what they have to say .

I feel it can be done ....not on a large scale but on a small scale and remember this is for pets only and not for breeding and reselling ...................



just like some say on here you can't keep chickens with turkey ...............................well I have for almost 4 years now ........................................​

 

[ack123]

Quote:
It may be coming 2011, but most rabbit breeders still keep their rabbit sin individual pens because that is proven to be the safest way to keep them. when it comes to colony raisig, you either do it it right or you fail. it has been done before and a lot of people have failed at it. Some because they were new to rabbits and jumped right into it. if you do something like this the does need to have a place where they can have their babies. You also need a seperate pen for each buck. Because bucks will fight each other over territory. Sometimes to the death. And once in awhile you will get lucky enough to have a couple of bucks that will get a long. That is rare. Like otter, I had a couple of rabbits rip each other up once too. two bucks got loose, ran each other into a spare cage I had laying around, and went at it. One buck tore the ears up on the other. Have also had them get out and castrate each other. Some does will also go after a buck and castrate them if they are annoyed with them enough. They have to be supervised if they are kept together. I would listen and try raising a few in cages first till you get the hang of raising them. Then try the tractoring method. You should have experience with them first before you jump into doing it. Also rabbits are not raised in avairies. Most times birds and bunnies do not get along. They can pass diseases back and forth and beat each other up. The systems shown on rabbit geek are not cruel either. Most people use them with very little problems. Also if you do not plan to breed, then you need to make sure these rabbits are altered, because if you don't you are going to have plenty of babies on your hands. Does will breed and have a litter every month. This also wears her down and can burn her reproductive system out.

Go to the other rabbit thread. luv posted something pretty good on tractoring rabbits.

Those offering advice in this thread have a lot of experience with raising rabbits. I use the cage system and I tractor mine when I can, when I am home to supervise.

Edit: I just went and reread the rabbit geek link. I thought it was rabbits in stacking and hanging cages, along with the colonies. I see rabbits in cages set up on the floor as well as the colony. Therei s nothing wrong with that because the breeder is taking responsibility for those rabbits. You have to with a rare breed like that.

Also domestic rabbits are not wild rabbits.