I've heard that rabbit pee just needs to be composted or made stale before you use it on your garden.

I was wondering what is the lowest temp you guys will leave your rabbits out for now with winter on us.

Mine have little wooden boxes that they can get into so they can stay out of the wind and they will stay outside all winter. it regularly gets to -20F here and every few years -30F. I will give them more corn in the winter to help them keep warm.

Don't you worry about havin predators stress them out? by little wooden boxes do you mean a hutch or a nest box?

Has anyone given thought to boiling the organ meats, bones and pickings to feed the felines in your house? I'd like to waste as little as I can, and if I can feed the cats too...

They are inside the chicken fence and the dogs make regular rounds about the area. I have had to kill two feral cats in the last two years but, knock on wood, that is the only problem with predators that I have had.

When I built the hutch I built in a completely enclosed nesting box with a swinging door that opens outward (hinge on top) The rabbits chewed small holes in the doors to help them get them open but otherwise have left them alone. On the few winter days of the year that the wind blows towards the hutches the doors and the boxes keep out the wind.

If you like I can post pictures.

I feed the organs that we do not eat to the chickens as I butcher them (I'm told their diseases do not cross). The rest I throw to the predators down the road. I would say give it a try. sounds like some work but everything sounds like work to me here during the longest nights of the year!

Well, we do have cats (not mine) in the neighbourhood and if I killed them... well my (sweet 78 yr old) next door neighbours would be very upset... although it would save then quite the $$.

I am thinking about insulating my aluminum garden shed into a bunny colony for three does and a male. I found someone within 600 miles who sells new zealand whites and there is one other person locally but she only has californians.

If my shed is 4x5, and I put a 4x2 run outside (dug deeply into the ground) would that be enough space for three rabbits and their broods? or would I need a bigger area?

Thanks for the picture, that's cool. any chance we could get one further back so we can see more of your bunny pen?

I have two sets of hutches. The first are attached to a shed, with the nesting boxes inside of the shed and holes cut in the side for the buns to go back and forth. The chickens are able to get beneath the rabbits and they pick up the grain the rabbits waste. Cinder blocks keep the chickens from spreading the manure all over the yard. I scoop it about twice a year and apply it to the garden. It was my first attempt and I do think the second hutch is much improved.



In the construction of the second I used a heaver gauge of welded wire with .5 x 1 inch holes. Manure will still sometimes gather in the cage (esp in winter) but not near as bad as with the hardwire cloth I used in the construction of the first hutch. It is sitting on some scrap 4x6's I picked up.



The wire doors are much easier to use than the wooden doors. I built the roof from some left over siding.

In the back I made some doors so that I can check on the baby buns and when the girls get a little reclusive at breeding time and hide when they see me coming, I can still get them out.



Any questions just let me know.

What is the square footage on your second hutch and how many rabbits do you keep in there. I take it your does have access to each other and those pens aren't separate?

Silly question, but why have doors in the front and back?

I think its mostly a form of abberant behaviour. They can misbehave or act out if there is a litter that is not theirs nearby but often won't. they naturally live in colonies or warrens and get along just fine.

Some people say that is a more normal state for them to live in. If you have one that is slightly mental, they can kill their own, but those are the mis-adjusted animals and not the rule of thumb for rabbits.

Each pen is seperated from the others. Each pen is about 2' x 3.3' (outside) with another 10 inches by 3.3' enclosed and there are three of them (10 ft long in total and three feet wide).

There are doors on both sides so that I can check the young kits in the nesting box (and remove any dead ones) as well as remove the occasional stubborn doe who hides in the nesting box when it is time to go on a date with the buck rabbit (nicknamed "Mr. Greenspan").

I take the winter off from breeding them. It is impossible to tell weeks out what the weather will be like when the kits are born. On a good week I could still have kits all winter, but who knows when that will be? I tried some insulation but just found that it invited mice who made a nest in teh insulation and stole grain from the interior of the rabbit hutch.

[quote="wisconsin_cur"]
...the occasional stubborn doe who hides in the nesting box when it is time to go on a date with the buck rabbit (nicknamed "Mr. Greenspan").[quote]

Is that because he has a monopoly on screwing others over? LOL!!! Thanks for the info, I think I can safely go for it! Yeah!

(aside: kids thought it was funny when I told them not to get attached becuase then they'd feel horrible when we put our buns in the oven)

Shanny: nice mask mother earth news has a nice article about having your rabbits live in a colony instead of individual cages.

On Cur's farm:
Rule number one: never leave the gate open
Rule number two: never name anything you plan to eat.

Here is that article I was talking about A Better Way to Raise Rabbits

Rather interesting. But they have a few interesting articles on rabbits.

Well, I began looking in earnest for a pair of angora rabbits, right now to use for fur and manure, later for meat when I get used to raising/breeding them. I have a couple of good leads so far.

I'm planning on a hutch inside my garage near one of the big windows in there. Sounds like a 2'x4' cage for each one, with the back 2'x1' closed off for hiding, doors front and back. I'm going to put big old rubbermaid containers or something similar underneath to catch the poop. I read about keeping worms underneath the cages too to feed off whatever falls down there. We have lots and lots of grass hay, tree limbs, and kitchen scraps so I should be able to slowly transition them off of whatever kibble they're on when I get them.

Does the buck like to hide too, or just the doe?

I'm guessing that angora rabbits will be more tame than my meat rabbits just based upon how much you will be handleing them to brush them and the like. My buck was more tame than the does but that seemed to be his personality. Plus he never got pulled out and moved to another cage during breeding so what was not to like? The girls always came to him.