LOL! Must be a belated birthday present. I was just given my 15 minutes of fame. Well, OK, more like 15 seconds…. 

You can imagine my surprise, when I started getting more than the usual calls about what I had been doing with rabbits and found out I was quoted once or twice in Hobby Farm Magazine. There is a nice little article about colony raising rabbits. I barely remember the interview it was so long ago. 

Makes me miss working with the rabbits…. But it’s also nice to see others are working with the concept to improve on the status quo. After all, rabbits need to be rabbits just like chickens need to be chickens during their life span, not just meat and egg machines for us.

Anyway, thanks to the folks who called with an interest in what works. Feel free to read all the posts here about the rabbit experiment and hopefully come up with the perfect system.

And if you are looking for a place to start your own hobby farm, I’ll make the shameless plug that my place is up for sale. 8.5 acres of pasture land mostly fenced and ready to go. It’s time for someone younger to take over and make this place all it can be.

Goldilocks here….  the floor to the pen was just not to my liking in the long run.  The rabbits didn’t escape, but  I kept looking for a way for them to get the most grazing that they can and a little more comfortable on their feet.  And having one big roof was a wind catcher whenever I raised it in the winter to feed the rabbits.

So here is the newest version.  On the floor, I have strips of flat aluminum .75″ wide, .125″ thick, 72″ long placed with a 2″ space between them, except for the first one on either side is closer to the edge, just to make sure they can’t get out if (when) there are lumpy spots in the field. This allows the rabbits to rest comfortably on the ground without the strips being above the ground or thick enough to be uneven with the ground as wood would be.

I screwed the middle of each strip to a 2×2 piece of lumbar that was part of the frame so when I lift it up, the weight of the rabbits don’t make the aluminum bow. One end has a 2′ x 4′ “house”/box with a separate hinged roof.  The main roof is PVC lattice work, only because I had it lying around in the barn, so I used it.  Additional pens will be with wire as on the sides and I’ll add shade cloth for summer time if necessary.  

I used 1″ x1″ vinyl coated chicken wire (which I HATE to have to stretch) for the sides.  Think I may go with hardware cloth next time.

 I created a hay rack out of 2″x2″ fencing with wood top and bottom to keep it flat.  I found that 2″ x 4″ is big enough for the rabbits to push thru and literally sit in the hay rack and eat.. and poo and pee… 1″ x 2″ wire is possible to use, but it is kinda tough for the bunnies to get the hay.  2″x 2″ seems a perfect size.  The hay rack goes all the way up to the top so again, the rabbits can’t jump in the rack and sit and eat. It is big enough to put a whole flake of alfalfa in.  The bottom is angled in but stops about 2 ” above the floor and is open so the rabbits can get at the hay very easily but can’t climb in (I don’t think…)  

Looking down into the box, you can see the plastic grid flooring, which is supported underneath all four edges as well as in the center to prevent bowing under the rabbit weight.  You can see the alfalfa in the hay rack as well.

The front of the house is closed off half way to give some shelter from wind and rain in the winter.  I will place nest boxes in that corner.

I switched to gravity drip waterers attached to 5 gallon buckets, which in the winter should weigh the pen down enough not to blow away, and the opaque color HOPEFULLY will prevent algea growth… something else I hate dealing with.

We’ll see if 2″ spaces are too big or if they are j-u-u-u-u-s-t right !