Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 5395 Location: Oklahoma
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:29 pm Post subject:
The bunnies are still doing fine running free in the chicken coop and yard. They dig down to cool off but haven't made any big tunnels or anything yet. The female still uses the cage as a home, and the male digs holes to sleep in under the ramp that leads from the coop to the pen.
We can't do moveable pens right now since we aren't living on the property. Predator control would be impossible. Also we have no grass; our entire property is wooded with pine and oak.
Joined: Jun 12, 2005 Posts: 4189 Location: 1st territorial capitol of AZ
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:16 am Post subject:
Google around for a thing about "possum living" it's great! The writer and her dad raise rabbits inside a room in their house, no not stinky, and much less problems with parasites, predators, etc.
Shanny,
Thanks for the update. Glad to hear everyone is doing well . You have their hutch set up inside the chicken run? I assume so from what you're saying. If so, don't the chickens like to roost all over the top? I can see having to clean it off if I do that. Also, what are you feeding your rabbits? If you're feeding pellets, how do you keep the chickens out of them? or do you bother? I'm still kicking around the idea, but I want to turn mine in with my chickens too. Just wanting to see all the in's and out's before I do .
Kathy
Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 5395 Location: Oklahoma
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 11:52 am Post subject:
CarlinsDarlin wrote:
You have their hutch set up inside the chicken run? I assume so from what you're saying. If so, don't the chickens like to roost all over the top? I can see having to clean it off if I do that. Also, what are you feeding your rabbits? If you're feeding pellets, how do you keep the chickens out of them? or do you bother? I'm still kicking around the idea, but I want to turn mine in with my chickens too. Just wanting to see all the in's and out's before I do .
Kathy
The hutch is inside the coop, with a piece of corrugated plastic on top to keep the bird poop out. That's held down with a broken cinder block. It does get poopy. Piling litter (I use straw; actually hay is all that's available here) on top would make it easier to clean. I am currently feeding pellets. I read the ingredients of all my feed and don't use anything with animal protein for any of them. I'd like to feed all natural organic stuff but that's a problem right now since I'm not able to grow much yet, so I'm doing the best I can in that regard. The protein content and ingredients in the pellets is actually very similar to the chicken feed, so I don't worry about the birds eating it. We give the chickens all the scraps from our kitchen, and I'm sure the bunnies are foraging some of that too although the chickens get most of it immediately.
Well we went ahead and did it . Thanks to countryside girl and her mom, we got a new buck on Sunday. Saturday before we went to get him, we turned the girls loose in the chicken pen, and set their hutch up inside the coop. So far, so good. They haven't tried digging out yet, thankfully. They've been eating their own food, as well as chicken food and table scraps that I throw out to the chickens. Most of the hot part of the day, they spend either in their nestboxes inside their hutch, or inside the chicken house in a dark corner. I worried about them finding water and such for the first couple days, but they seem to be doing well. I haven't noticed them drinking out of their water bottles, but I have seen them drinking out of the chickens' water bowls.
We set Mr. Buck up in a hutch of his own, which is about 4 ft. square. Inside he has his own little nest box, his food, and a water bottle. He seems to be doing well. I didn't want to let him run loose too, for fear of having babies year round . That, and the fact that it's too hot right now, and I don't want them breeding until the weather cools some.
I'm so glad we let the girls loose in the pen. Early in the morning and late in the evening they're running everywhere . They seem happy. Last night after dark I looked out on them (our yard's security light brightens the area enough to see from the back porch), and since almost all of the chickens were inside for the night, the rabbits had full run of the coop with nobody bothering them. They were playing and jumping . Happy rabbits.
Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 5395 Location: Oklahoma
Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 8:47 pm Post subject: Re: [Food] Meat rabbits
Well, my rabbits dug their way out of the chicken area and have disappeared. I assume they were picked off by predators pretty quickly. I think we would have to have some underground wire to keep them from getting away. I like the idea of rabbit tractors better than individual hutches, but until we move out there I can't make that work either due to predators. So I guess I won't be keeping rabbits for awhile, because as I mentioned before I didn't feel comfortable keeping them isolated and confined like that.
How are yours doing, Kathy? Have they dug their way out, or...?
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 12473 Location: zombie horde wonderland
Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:11 am Post subject: Re: [Food] Meat rabbits
I'm so sorry to hear the rabbits dug out! But that's what they do, they dig. Did the rabbits and chickens get along ok with no fighting? How many total animals were in what size pen? _________________ No original ideas are contained in this post.
Joined: Oct 16, 2004 Posts: 1416 Location: Appalachian Foothills of Virginia
Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 9:46 am Post subject: Re: [Food] Meat rabbits
I really like the idea of a moveable pen, so that I don't have to feed them, they just eat the grass that I rotate them to that day or so. Hard to capture manure, but where are we going to find rabbit feed after PO? Don't need to fertilize the grass, anyway.
I've seen these moveable cages used for chickens as well, so I could see having two of these. Chicken wire on the bottom allows access to the grass, but keeps the rabbits/chickens from escaping.
And a lightweight roof over a portion of it along with a hutch box allows them to get out of the weather when it's inclement.
Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 5395 Location: Oklahoma
Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:14 am Post subject: Re: [Food] Meat rabbits
Ludi wrote:
I'm so sorry to hear the rabbits dug out! But that's what they do, they dig. Did the rabbits and chickens get along ok with no fighting? How many total animals were in what size pen?
Thanks Ludi! They did get along fine, they seemed to pretty much ignore each other. There were 2 rabbits and about 30 chickens in a pen that's 16 x 8 feet, with a coop attached.
Joined: Oct 16, 2004 Posts: 1416 Location: Appalachian Foothills of Virginia
Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 12:27 pm Post subject: Re: [Food] Meat rabbits
Looks like a cross between Java the Hut, Yoda, and an albino Chewbacca.
One would almost have to put that on a large spit with an apple in its mouth. But I'm sure it would murmur some sage piece of wisdom at the right moment to deflect its demise.
Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 10:26 pm Post subject: Re: [Food] Meat rabbits
Hi Shanny,
Sorry for the delay in responding - I'm not on line much these days. Tonight I'm staying with dad, and on line for just a few minutes. My bunnies are doing great. The ladies have not even tried to dig out so far. I remember you saying that your buck was the one digging, and the doe was staying in the hutch. That may be why I haven't had any problems. My buck is not running loose in the pen with the does and chickens. He lives in the bunny bachelor pad . His hutch is separate, and I'll introduce the ladies to him one at a time when we're ready for babies. For now, the ladies hang out in the pen or in the chickens' house during the day, and have the run of the place at night. They share food with the chickens - seem to love cracked corn - and get along fine. The only time anyone acts even remotely irritates is when the buns decide to run amuck. Then the chickens, including the roosters, get out of their way. It's working well so far.
Sorry to hear yours escaped. You might try keeping the buck in a hutch separate and see if that helps when you get replacement bunnies - so far the ladies have shown no desire to get out.
Kathy
Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:12 am Post subject: Re: [Food] Meat rabbits
What a great idea! Don't know why I didn't think of this. I built a chicken pen and coop next to where the rabbits are going to be, which I had intended to keep seperate in hutches. But penning them up together sounds like a good idea and workable. I hadn't enclosed either one of these areas yet (still building!), so making this modification should be easy - and save me some money too.
I've been looking for used pens, but nobody wants to sell them for a fair price, so I've held off buying any rabbits. Maybe now I'll only need to have a couple of pens to keep breeders together for the few seconds it takes to "breed like a bunny"!
What about seperating bucks and does in an open pen by simply stringing wire? Should work I'd think if you can keep them on their side of the fence. _________________ SurvivalAcres Blog
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
News
Discussions
Resources
Members
Forum FAQ
Search
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
. You have their hutch set up inside the chicken run? I assume so from what you're saying. If so, don't the chickens like to roost all over the top? I can see having to clean it off if I do that. Also, what are you feeding your rabbits? If you're feeding pellets, how do you keep the chickens out of them? or do you bother? I'm still kicking around the idea, but I want to turn mine in with my chickens too. Just wanting to see all the in's and out's before I do 
Did the rabbits and chickens get along ok with no fighting? How many total animals were in what size pen?
