My DIL picked up two rabbits that she was told were females and put them in with her own female rabbit. A fight ensued so I took the white rabbit, built her a nice indoor pen, started adding poop to the garden and compost, and all was well in the world. Until their original rabbit had kits. Yup, the second bun was a male. So I took him as well and had him neutered. He and my female get along great, they’d lived together previously, and have been living in a pen in my house for a couple of years. It’s time for them to have some outdoor space.
At their original home the owners got rid of them because the female was digging in the yard. I anticipate having to bring them into the house in summer, but I’d like for them to have a good amount of space to be rabbits when the weather isn’t brutally hot. What to do about digging?
I’ve spent hours reading and looking at pics of outdoor runs and colonies, read countless ways to keep them cool or warm, and now the work begins.
The space is 250 to 300 square feet with two structures. One used to be my coop and is 8X12, the other is 6X6 and was storage but could be used as a second coop. There’s also a large tree in there. The area is fully enclosed with two block walls, the side of the house and a patio with a fence and gate at the entrance to the yard.
I’m trying a couple of bucket burrows in a corner of the big structure. I think the temps will be the most consistent there. I haven’t for sure decided how to complete that project yet. I’ve seen dirt and dirt with logs on top, but will have to get the buckets in and see how it looks. The rest of the floor will be covered in wire and then topped with straw with a kiddie pool in another corner for hay. Both buns are box trained so hopefully this will make poop collection easy, although I know they’ll poop all over the yard too.
There is space between the structures and surrounding walls/fences. Behind the smaller structure I’m putting pavers down and the remaining space isn’t big enough to worry about. Between the large structure and the wall/fence I’ve run a 20’ section of corrugated pipe for a tunnel. We’re cutting a couple sections of cattle panel down to fit that we can pound into the ground, both preventing the buns from getting into the space where the tunnel is and to pin it down so it doesn’t move. We can attach to the structure and fence for stability and I’m putting down pavers at both ends to prevent digging as well.
Another feature will be a couple of heat sinks. I saw a blog where the person used cement blocks with ice and tile to make this so I’m giving that a try. Theoretically the best I can hope for is an extension of the time they can spend outside, it won’t replace the vacation condo indoors in the heat of summer.
I have some things to put in the yard for cover and some other additions but that’s the bulk of it. Will add pics as we work on the project, but I’m hoping to get the most important parts done and move the buns outside this coming weekend.
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