# Successful way to put rabbits out on pasture in movable cages???



## U-Turn (Jan 22, 2007)

We are new to rabbit keeping, having just gotten our 1 buck and 2 does (so far!) this winter. They are mutts. We'd eventually like to get a meat breed, but for now, are trying to figure out rabbit husbandry on cheaper mutts since all rabbits are made of meat anyway. 

We currently have our rabbits in cages that hang from the ceiling in the chicken coop. However, I would really like to be able to move them out to the pasture in the spring in some sort of setup like our chickens will be in, moving their cages to fresh pasture regularly. I've read about this sort of setup in Joel Salatin's books, but there really isn't much description. I know they had trouble with rabbits digging out underneath at first when the cages were bottomless. He also mentioned that they tried just putting a full cage out, but that the grass would just bend down and the rabbits couldn't really eat it anyway. The only other talk about rabbits from him is about his "rakin house" for the winter where the rabbits are in with the chickens. (like we have now) It sounded like they eventually figured out how to put them on pasture. But he doesn't say how.

Most of the books on rabbits we have all talk about rabbits in a traditional hutch setup. 

Has anyone here successfully put rabbits in some sort of movable cage out on pasture? If so, how??? 

We had thoughts of laying chicken wire (or other fine weave wire that rabbits couldn't get through to dig out) down over a big area and letting the grass grow through it so that it would be some sort of permanent rabbit pasture. Then, we'd construct a large cage that had divisions inside to keep the does and bucks separate. Thoughts? Am I just dreaming here?


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

I've heard of something along that line... and it should work, provided you lay down enough that you can move the pen as needed. 

The "rabbit tractor" needs to be heavy enough that predators cannot tip it over. The wire mesh needs to be strong enough that raccoons cannot tear it... they will tear through chicken wire. 

Raccoons also have a nasty habit of reaching in through the mesh and wiggling their fingers. When the inquisitive rabbit comes to investigate, the raccoon grabs it and pulls whatever it can through the wire and eats it live. 

I had this happen with a half-grown chick that was in a pen with 3/4 inch bars. I heard the hen screaming and ran out with a flashlight, but I was too late. Hot moonlit night -- and I suppose the hen didn't take her chicks into the little house as usual. Lesson learned.


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## Shade26000 (Jul 9, 2007)

My rabbit tractor (that I used to use) has 2" x 3" wire squares on the bottom of it. The sides were much smaller of course but with the 2" x 3" size wire the rabbits were able to eat the grass through it but weren't able to dig out. Everyday I would just lift on end of the pen and drag it a few feet then slowly set it back down, so I wouldn't smoosh any rabbit feet sticking throught the holes..lol.


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## U-Turn (Jan 22, 2007)

MaggieJ said:


> The "rabbit tractor" needs to be heavy enough that predators cannot tip it over. The wire mesh needs to be strong enough that raccoons cannot tear it... they will tear through chicken wire.
> 
> Raccoons also have a nasty habit of reaching in through the mesh and wiggling their fingers. When the inquisitive rabbit comes to investigate, the raccoon grabs it and pulls whatever it can through the wire and eats it live.


Good tips. Thanks! I think we were going to try to find 1x2 wire squares like the kind that makes up the commercial hutches for around the sides & top. I'm thinking that would be strong enough for raccoons..though I didn't know they could tear through chicken wire. 
Thanks again.


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## U-Turn (Jan 22, 2007)

Shade26000 said:


> My rabbit tractor (that I used to use) has 2" x 3" wire squares on the bottom of it. The sides were much smaller of course but with the 2" x 3" size wire the rabbits were able to eat the grass through it but weren't able to dig out. Everyday I would just lift on end of the pen and drag it a few feet then slowly set it back down, so I wouldn't smoosh any rabbit feet sticking throught the holes..lol.


That is exactly what I wanted to know! Thanks. We'll go look for that size for the bottom.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

U-Turn said:


> Good tips. Thanks! I think we were going to try to find 1x2 wire squares like the kind that makes up the commercial hutches for around the sides & top. I'm thinking that would be strong enough for raccoons..though I didn't know they could tear through chicken wire.
> Thanks again.


Just be aware that a raccoon can get his whole arm in through a 1 x 2 hole. I'd never have believed what they can do until I saw the evidence. I had used that broody pen without incident for three years before that happened. Not quite sure how I am housing the broodies this year but it won't be the same way.


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## Hexe (Mar 8, 2007)

I'm planning on doing something similar. I remember my father making cages about 4'x6' (size of a sheet of plywood) and he made it out of the kind of mesh you put in concrete to stabelize it, the name of it escapes me now. The squares are big enough for the rabbits to eat, but not big enough to dig out and the material is self supporting, even with a lid on top. 
As for keeping the rabbits safe? They will be within a hundred yards of the house with my dogs running loose. At that point their safety will be the dogs responsibility...


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## General Brown (Jan 10, 2008)

Chicken wire is designed to keep chickens in. It does nothing to keep predators out.


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## Mare Owner (Feb 20, 2008)

This is a good thread! I have been wanting to do this also!


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## lorian (Sep 4, 2005)

Excellent question!!! I've been wondering about this myself.
Everyone says rabbits shouldn't eat too much grass, this system would totally
dismiss that idea?
how many rabbits to this size system?


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

lorian said:


> Excellent question!!! I've been wondering about this myself.
> *Everyone says rabbits shouldn't eat too much grass, this system would totally
> dismiss that idea?*
> how many rabbits to this size system?


I think that idea must have arisen from some people suddenly feeding their rabbits large amounts of fresh greens and the rabbits ending up suffering from bloat. Any sudden change in a rabbit's diet can cause problems. If your rabbits have been fed mainly pellets, you have to ease them into the fresh greens -- over a period of weeks, preferably. If you start just when the new greens start growing in spring, by late spring they will be able to handle grazing. They just have to have time for their intestinal flora to adapt.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Hexe said:


> I'm planning on doing something similar. I remember my father making cages about 4'x6' (size of a sheet of plywood) and he made it out of the kind of mesh you put in concrete to stabelize it, the name of it escapes me now. The squares are big enough for the rabbits to eat, but not big enough to dig out and the material is self supporting, even with a lid on top.
> *As for keeping the rabbits safe? They will be within a hundred yards of the house with my dogs running loose. At that point their safety will be the dogs responsibility...*


Yes, dogs can make a big difference. I doubt you would have trouble with raccoons with your dogs on patrol. The raccoons would never get comfortable enough to figure out how to get the rabbits through the wire.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

We do not seem to have problems with predators. I guess the dog is keeping everything in line.
I have used 2'x4' cages for single does and 6'x6' cages for groups on their way to butcher.
I have tried chicken wire, 1"x2" wire and 2"x3" wire on the bottom. The 2x3 worked best for the bunnies to feed through but you have to watch closely while moving as the smaller ones may slip through it.
My 2x4 tractors only had a 2x3 area to graze in as the last foot was nest box. It was a hardy design made of wood and held up well. I haven't got around to putting handles on them yet, it would make moving them easier. They needed to be moved quite frequently.
http://script-host.com/self/hutch.html
The 6x6 design was originally for chickens and proved to be a little lightweight for a bunch of fat bunnies. It was made from 1/2" conduit bent and bolted to 2x6 boards. I could move these 2x a day if I didn't have them loaded up too much. More often if there were lots of bunnies. I will have to rebuild them this spring because the conduit gave out from holding up those bunnies while moving. I have a design change in mind and we'll see how it works out.
http://script-host.com/self/tractor.html

We found in our first year that the does didn't breed so well eating nothing but grass. So last year we moved most to cages and fed pellets. We did keep a couple in the smaller tractors and fed a smaller amount of pellets to supplement the grass and they bred quite well. Later we moved them to cages as well and just kept the bucks in the small tractors. It was easier to keep track of the does and their litters in cages.

ETA-
We moved the bunnies out to the tractors around 7-8 weeks and usually didn't try breeding back the doe till the bunnies were moved. We moved them directly from momma and the pellets to the grass without any losses or problems. We did place large J feeders in the big cages when the grass stopped growing during Aug and later after the frost had made the grass dormant. 

We could have made more meat by managing the breeding interval a bit better and by providing a supplement of pellets all the time but with 13 does producing we had more than enough.


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## U-Turn (Jan 22, 2007)

sammyd, 
awesome! That is so great. I'll go show dh what to get started building!


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## SILEIGH (Jul 11, 2007)

sammyd --- those are great thanks 
i bookmarked both !!!


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## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

Sammyd, those are spectacular! I can't wait to explore your website even more.

In those first photos you can really see where the rabbits have been. Lots of little rectangles in the grass. Amazing how quickly they mow it down!


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

The grass seemed to brown up no matter how hard it was grazed. But quickly greened back up if there was enough soil moisture. I suspect it was something to do with hte rabbit waste.


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## Shade26000 (Jul 9, 2007)

I just want to warn. I had a stray dog come to vist while my dog was off sleeping some where...Anyway, the stray dog pushed and pushed untill the top of my tractor caved in. The dog managed to kill one rabbit and the other rabbit was cut up preaty bad mostly from the wire. If I was to do the tractor thing again and wanted to make it bomb proof, I would make the frame out of galvinized pipe and the make the top and sides with chain link fence (all scraps of course, I never buy new stuff..lol). Next I would wrap the sides with chicken wire and cover the bottom with 2" x 3" wire. This should last for ever and you can always find these scraps laying around somewhere. 5' x 8' would be the size and the house need to be mounted to the wall so when the tractor moves everything moves together.
As for feeding your rabbits grass...... last summer I never game my rabbits feed. Always grass and table scraps. Belive it or not when winter rolled around and I started giving a little feed to them. They seemed to preferr the grass and scraps.


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## Sand Flat Bob (Feb 1, 2007)

U-Turn said:


> sammyd,
> awesome! That is so great. I'll go show dh what to get started building!


Hate to point out another predator, but you may have trouble with Bull Snakes. Here in Texas we have rat snakes which are similar to Bull snakes, can get up to over 6 feet long. I have had them kill almost full grown small breed rabbits. Rabbits were too big for them to swallow, but they killed them anyway. That was just before I used my 12 gage on the snakes.

Good luck,

Bob


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## U-Turn (Jan 22, 2007)

Thanks for the warnings! There is always something else, isn't there? LOL 

I know our dog now wouldn't be much help. She's still a pup and last night, dh & I heard some noise outside & strapped on our headlamps, grabbed the gun & went out to investigate. I looked into the dog house, with my headlamp on, and there she was, totally conked out. Slept through the light shining in her eyes & through us talking! We're going to need some more dogs!

As far as the cages, I have one more question. We have a bunch of 2x4 wire lying around. Would that work in place of the 2x3 for the bottom or is there some reason that it has to be 2x3?


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

If your rabbit is smart and goes into the nest box while moving it shouldn't be a problem. However if the rabbit(s) are small then there is a chance they will fall through the 2x4 when you move. Mine seemed to like watching the world go by as I drug the thing down another 6'.
Another thing to watch is how uneven your ground is. If it's rather rough you may have to switch to a smaller bottom fence so they don't slip out if you park over a small dip.


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## U-Turn (Jan 22, 2007)

sammyd said:


> If your rabbit is smart and goes into the nest box while moving it shouldn't be a problem. However if the rabbit(s) are small then there is a chance they will fall through the 2x4 when you move. Mine seemed to like watching the world go by as I drug the thing down another 6'.
> Another thing to watch is how uneven your ground is. If it's rather rough you may have to switch to a smaller bottom fence so they don't slip out if you park over a small dip.


Thanks. That's what I needed to know.


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## notasnowballs (Dec 28, 2010)

We have 2 4ft by 3 ft tractors going, and they have been doing quite well. I have my breeding females in a cage with her babies until the babies are eating grass with mom. Then I move them out to one of the tractors and move them around the yard. It seems to keep the neighbors dogs out and whatever else pokes around them for now. My breeding buck is a Flemish Giant, and he's a laid back guy. I had a bunch of bucks that were going to go to freezer camp, so I stuck them all in with the Giant, and they have been doing just great. He seems to actually care for them, grooming, etc. They all eat and get along. The little guys are growing out, so they are various ages, but all smaller than the Giant. Well, I don't know if it was because I didn't move the cage soon enough and the grass got ate down to nothing... we lost a little buck today. He had a broken back from being stomped on. 

I had thought I could put the bucks together if they are all young and grow them out to fryer size. Maybe keep them there with the Giant buck until they are fryer size. Now I am not so sure that will work, and have put the Giant buck in a cage for now, leaving the young ones out together. I hope I don't lose any more babies. I have two larger bucks of the younger ones, about two weeks older than the other five. When they are close in size, I didn't seem to see the issue, as it looks like they act like they are from the same litter.

I had stomping issues before and learned the hard way that does are territorial, but had had pretty good luck with the little bucks and the big buck together. Thoughts? Will my little bucks that are growing to fryer size all of the sudden stomp on the younger ones too? It was really sickening to process this little itty bitty rabbit that was only big enough for a bite or two for my dog.


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