# we made a bunny community



## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

I really hate the cage system...bunnies seemed so sad. : ( so I designed a pen that they can all live and bounce around...and they love it!! they are so happy : ) we have not added the bucks yet, we will when it cools down some...the bucks wont live with the does, but they will have their own space. 
There is chicken wire "carpet" secured under the panels for no dig
Totes are secured on the panels so they don't blow around, lids offer easy cleaning and baby checks...the holes are cut in a location that does not allow cold wind to blow directly in..and come winter there will be deep hay bedding all around the pen
PVC pipe hold netting to hopefully prevent owls and hawks from getting a free meal. 
bunnies have been in the pen for 2 weeks, through rain , wind and heat and have done well...so far!! 
we are watching for areas that need tweaking..but so far we are happy with the pen and so are the bunnies...
Penelope ( great Dane) just likes to make them jump and run!!


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

wow thats amazing!! Did you know keeping bunnies in our neck of the woods is illegal!! teejae


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Wow! That is neat!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

VERY groovy!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

teejae said:


> wow thats amazing!! Did you know keeping bunnies in our neck of the woods is illegal!! teejae


I know there were some serious "bunny issues" in Oz, but never thought about how it would affect folks who wanted to keep bunnies. Wild rabbits are native here, so the occasional escapee poses no threat here.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

That's awesome!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

teejae said:


> wow thats amazing!! Did you know keeping bunnies in our neck of the woods is illegal!! teejae


I didn't know that!
Your cage is awesome!!! I'm with you I hate caging rabbits. We are down to just one house rabbit but when the kids had a little rabbit herd I would have them take them out and let them run around in the dog kennel almost every day so they could run around.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Wow TeeJae, I didnt know...how crazy!!


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Very nice for your bunnies. When we took our rabbits out of their cages and put them in their group enclosure; they were literally turning flips.


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

Yeah sadly true. 200 years ago they were introduced into Aust. via English upper class for hunting with the hounds and well we all know what rabbits do best so they got out of hand and started to cause huge erosion problems and competing with native animals so foxes were also introduced to control rabbits and Fox hunting to hounds. Well Foxes desimated small native animals and birds and are now found nearly all over Aust except the tropics. So to control population they introduced Calisivirus with mixed results and those that are aloud to keep bunny's in southern states have to Vac for it in Mixo(carried via Mosquito's)Have a Google about The Rabbit Proof Fence in Aust. Its scary to think we have done so much damage by introducing these nasty pests ( they were wild Rabbits not pretty pets). Ferretts are also illegal to keep in Qld. Teejae


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

That is a great looking colony! I would suggest adding some logs in there for when buns need to hide. They eventually will have some small fighting (totally normal) and nestboxes don't always work well for retreating from a fight. When I had my colony I pretty much eliminated all fighting by just having a few extra hiding spots. Out of sight, out of mind.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Thank Dayna..ill.do that...we did put limbs in to chew on


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Will they begin burrows in the middle? It looks so fantastic!!

I know someone else on here had a pretty cool colony set-up and they had a little section on one side where they fed treats everyday and that had a door that could be closed so that when processing time came, they didn't have to chase the rabbits around the colony. They just put out the daily treats, closed the door, and selected those for processing, then released the rest back to the colony.

This is a great way to raise them! So much better for their mental health.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

> Will they begin burrows in the middle


We laid a chicken wire "carpet" down to prevent digging...


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

>>> They just put out the daily treats, closed the door, and selected those for processing, then released the rest back to the colony.<<<
I think that could have been me.


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

From the outside.


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

BTW happybleats, I showed the picture of your enclosure to my husband. We will definitely be using it as an example if/when we get a new place. Yours is much more accessible and easier to clean than what we have. We love that our bunnies can tunnel but it makes it impossible to walk in there for fear of crushing a nest of babies.:shocked:


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Awe...best of luck. Luvmyherd..so far we have had no issues and we have been hit by storms alot...lots of rain..bunnies are doing good. Hopeing it will be warm enough this winter...of course we plan on a lot of hay laid down..lol


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

That is one thing I have loved about our bunnies being able to tunnel. No more frozen water bottles in the summer. They just bury themselves down to where it is cool. They do not seem to mind the cold but our winters are mild with only a few days a year below freezing.


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

How did it work out?

Sent from my LG-K373 using Goat Forum mobile app


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

@happybleats?


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## capracreek (Apr 5, 2016)

What a great idea - How will you clean the basic yard??? That would be my biggest concern.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

We used this pen for nearly 3 years with no major issues. Cleaning was a pain. we did deep litter and each spring before babies we rolled up the hay carpet and started fresh. We no longer raise rabbits for now..kids all growing up and moving on and such, but if we were to do it again I would change the chicken wire "carpet" to hardier Hardware wire. After time the rabbits were able to dig through the chicken wire. Other than that we were pretty happy with the set up. The pen is still standing and used to grow out Chicks. It could use a bit of TLC though LOL


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