paul wheaton wrote:
So - a paddock shift system for rabbits? How big of a paddock for how many rabbits?
My rabbits would only be at pasture duing the day....
I do not want the outdoor camps to be larger than 12m sq [3m x 4m] because of the roofing requirement and security against predators. The roof will need to be easily moved each day onto the next camp to be used. [A vault roof made of PVC pipe overlaid with light-weight fencing and thatched for shade?.... Will see... experimenting.]
The Rabbit Barn I am building can comfortably handle 28 adult does..... with young kits. But I will only start with about 5 or 6 does and no breeding until I have established the most efficient camp carrying capacity and rotation.
I have been told I can go 28 rabbits in 12m sq outdoors..... basically 400cm sq per rabbit .... but not sure I want to do that..... so will only be slowly increasing capacity with experience gained ... I want to be sure of what each camp can carry without undue stress for a day..... as well as taking care that the rabbits are not stressed for space. The seasons have to be considered here too.
The rotation will be daily .... with lock-up at night ..... and I hope to set up a 1 month rotation at first. I might end up using 2 camps per day for 28 rabbits. Wool, more than breeding, is the priority initially. Will see how it shapes.
Should I need to rest the camps longer I will put them onto a cement covered camp in between for a day.... easy to swab down.... with lots of "furniture" ... different heights... and rest places.... and food tossed in from the Food Forest. On rainy days the Barn is large enough to handle them..... or I might cover the cement camp permanently to help here should we have a few days rain together..... even though I think the Barn is big enough.... The "nest apartments" are built on 2 levels.... ground level and one up.... by way of a ramp..... with chill out space around. When no kits these apartments would merely be "me-space" that rabbits seem to need.
My 2 major concerns are safety from predators and never to have coccidiosis build up in any way. I will also be spraying with Efficient Microbes the day after the rabbits have been moved from a camp. The cement camp can be washed down with diluted chorine and left to air and dry before rabbits allowed there again. Dr Finzi [Colony-rabbit seminar] said chlorine kills coccidiosis.
The camps... or mini-meadows as I like to think of them... will have kikuyu grass, dandelions, honeysuckle.... all kinds of tasties. There will also be earth shelters and wooden shelters to go to. [This is the reason I think 28 rabbits in 12m sq would not be practical.... but all a learning curve for me still.... and will build it up with just the few rabbits first to see what best works together.]
Chelle