How to Keep Rabbits Outdoors
Some of you are scratching your heads wondering where else you would keep your rabbits.
Yes, people keep rabbits in homes. I hear it is pleasant. This has not been my experience.
Hulk (our buck) would most definitely agree that being outdoors is preferable to being housebound.
You see, Hulk has lived in assorted places. He has resided in hutches outside.
He has lived in the house with a ferret. He has free-ranged the farm.
The third option is Hulk’s personal favorite. That dude is living his best life.
We have sold many rabbits over the years and some of them have moved into homes and replaced the family cat.
Rabbits can be litterbox trained (super easily, I hear). They like to be held and petted. They actually make decent indoor animals except for 2 problems-
- They will eat any cord they can reach
- Their urine
If you don’t know what bunny urine smells like, be happy. It is not pleasant.
We love keeping our rabbits outdoors.
Outside is a great habitat for bunnies as long as a few steps are taken to keep them healthy and safe.
KEEPING RABBITS OUTDOORS
#1 A SAFE HUTCH
My oldest son built this beautiful bunny hutch. It is over 3 feet off the ground, safe, cozy, and well-ventilated. It has plenty of hopping /living space for the rabbits and even has a separate domain for mama to care for her kits.
We keep our doe and her kits in this cage.
#2 Higher is Better
When we used the rabbit cages from Tractor supply, some local dogs destroyed them (and our rabbits).
These hutches sit low to the ground – some dogs destroyed them
Dogs can only rip apart a cage they can reach. If it’s high, the dogs can touch it.
Higher is better.
After the dog attack, we built cages several feet off the ground.
We added barn wood to protect the bunnies from the wind/ rain.
#3 Fenced in Hutches
If building new hutches is not an option, some fencing can keep bunnies safe. This will most likely not prevent a raccoon, opossum or other climbing critter from getting to them, but it will discourage most dog, fox, coyote attacks.
#4 ELECTRIC
Electric wire is another way to keep bunnies safe. Electric fences/ wires can be used for keeping animals in (like cows and goats). They can be equally nifty for keeping things out (like raccoons out of your corn). Running an electric wire around your rabbits would definitely deter attacks.
#5 SHADE & SHELTER
Chose a shady spot away from strong gusts of wind for your rabbit hutches. Excessive sun and heat can kill a rabbit in a matter of hours.
#6 SPACE TO SEPERATE
If you have a male and female rabbit, you are going to want a way to separate them.
Keeping them together causes a multitude of problems:
- Reproduction
- The buck may injure/ kill the kits
- The doe may injure the buck (protecting her kits)
- Once a litter is a couple of months old you will need to separate them by sex as well or the litter-mates will mate
Bunnies are such a great addition to the homestead. We still have a buck and a doe that we are taking to the new homestead with us.
Rabbits are small, quiet, easy to keep, and my children love having them.
If you are considering a meat breed you will love that as well. They are simple to process, taste like chicken, and provide rich manure for your garden that is never hot.
XO,
Candi
