My pastured rabbit experience. Update!

doo dah said:

Hello again! Old post I know but I was wondering if you were going to try this again this year. Would be awesome to read any updates .

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houndit said:

I have seen small threads on the topic frequently. I have long had an interest in the subject. I decided to write a full account of what I have learned. I am by no means an expert yet, and have a lot of learning still to do before I can give a lot of help to others. I will update it as I lean new things.
Well, it is spring again and the rabbits are on pasture once more. They love it. I have added some pictures at the bottom of the post. 6/9/10 We just processed our first rabbits raised on pasture. One was nearly 2 pounds and the other was 2.24 pounds. That is the same as the ones raised in cages, only with less feed. I noticed that the fat was yellow. That really surprised me! My rabbits have always had white fat.
Two things I have learned.
It is possible and beneficial to the rabbits.
Never give up, and keep trying.

I know that some people disagree about pasturing rabbits. Please do not turn his thread into an argument. This is just to share what I have experienced.

Part 1
It started a long time ago. I had raised rabbits for years. I had always dreamed of having them on pasture. I had woven wire that was about 3 feet high around the rabbitry to discourage dogs. Finally I decided to experiment. I put two foot chicken wire all the way around the rabbitry and secured it to the woven wire. I wish I had pictures of that time. It was so nice, but I never thought to put up a picture of it. I originally thought that the rabbits would kill each other since they had not lived with other rabbits in a long time. I only allowed the young ones to run around in the yard. They did really well! It was Summer and I noticed that the ones on the ground did much better than the adults in their cages. They would dig down in the ground a little bit and stay cooler that way. One day when it was extremely hot I saw my best doe panting and panting. I was doing everything I could to keep her cool but I was afraid I would lose her. I opened her cage and put her down on the ground with the young ones. She just hopped around them and found a cool place. They did not fight at all. I was so excited I let all the does out one by one. I put two back because they started fights. The others got along pretty well. By evening when it was cooler they started to fight. I locked them all back up in their hutches. The next day I put them back on the ground. I put the two aggressive does out as well. I stood guard with a spray bottle at first because of things I had read. They ended up only fighting for a minute or two. They were just establishing the pecking order like chickens do. Now I hardly bat an eye if a couple rabbits get in a fight. It is natural for them to fuss some. Once they established their pecking order they all got along pretty well. They each established a territory in a certain area and did not trespass often. Then I started housing them all together at night. It took a little getting used to, but they soon liked that as well. Some benefits I found were, chores were much easier in the morning. I just opened 1 cage with a ramp, filled one feeder, and one water container. In the evening it was a little more hard. I had to catch them all. It was rather hard to catch all 10 of them. I got better at it eventually. I added on to the yard, and devised a gate system where they had no escape and I could just pick them up. Then I started having problems. They ran out of grass. That was something I had never considered. They began digging out with great frequency. I ended up putting them all back in their hutches. It was now Fall and they were alright. I planted Corn and Soy beans. When I had knee high plants and everything was lush and beautiful again I let them out. Within a little over a week it was a barren plain. The only thing still standing was hemp. They even ate thorn weeds. They would gather around a large corn plant and have a communal chewing. Once the whole thing fell the entire colony gathered together and it would disappear. They even chewed down a few hemp plants. They stripped the hemp as high as they could. It was about 4 or 5 feet high so they could not get much. They started digging out again. I cot more woven wire covered with chicken wire. I added it to the fence I had. I then moved it away from the shed it was near. It was now a free standing fence instead of being supported by the shed and barbed wire fence. I thought it would be simple. I would lock them up in the cage, pull up the posts and move the whole thing. It worked well for a while. However, once it was away from the protection of the shed, dogs started getting in. When they killed one rabbit, it came to an abrupt halt. It was now Fall. They had learned to run up the ramp on their own at night and I had very little work to do. I had also turned in the bucks. They got along well. When it got close to time for the does to kindle, I put out lots of nest boxes. All the does kindled within two days of each other. Sadly, I found that they all left their young without care. I contributed this to the fact that they were nervous having other rabbits around.
So closed my first venture with pastured rabbits.

part 2
The idea and longing stayed with me. I had enjoyed watching them on the grass. They ate a very small amount of grain compared to in their cages, and stayed in wonderful health. Chores were easier, breeding was a piece of cake. I planned on breeding them the same way, and separating the does when they were due to kindle, so they would care for their young.
At this point my herd had been decimated by pregnancy toxemia. all I had was two bucks, and one doe. At length the doe died as well. All I had was two bucks. I put them in a Salatin type chicken pen. This worked fairly well for a while. But again they eventually dug out. It was also hard to crawl around in there to catch them. When they dug out and the dogs killed a buck, that was the end. I put my only remaining rabbit in a hutch and figured that my rabbit days were over both pastured and otherwise.

Part 3
I eventually was blessed with more rabbits and started again. They went a long time simply living in their cages. I really wanted them to be pastured, but I wanted a foolproof system. I picked them grass, but it is really hard to pick enough grass for 20 rabbits. Time passed and time passed. I did not want a floor in the cage. A wire floor would have been more made it more difficult for the rabbits to have eaten the tall grass. The grass would have been mashed down when you moved the cage forward.

Part 4
Finally the idea began coming to me. I had lots more breeding stock, and lots of young I easily had 30 rabbits except in the winter. I did not want to be chasing all those rabbits around every evening. I began thinking about a Salatin style pen only smaller. It would have a floor that slid in at night to keep them safe. It would also keep me from having to try and catch them all at night.
we took a 4 by 8 piece of plywood. We built a frame around it. There was a gap at one end that allowed the floor to slide in and out. It was finished last fall. Since it was small I only put a few does in it. This was the most exciting time I had yet in the pastured rabbit experience. It worked so well I almost thought I had it perfect. I turned them out every morning. In the evening I slid the floor in. They got used to hopping up onto the board as it came in. They got no feed all day. Only in the evening did I give them any grain. The problem was the shortage of grass. Since it was Fall, there was not much grass for them. They did not dig out until winter. It had been fine all along. Then one day we arrived home from church and they were running around in the yard. We caught them all without much trouble. They were than closed in for the Winter and given hay instead of grass. I really think they only dug out because of the grass shortage. This basic system seems really good. We found out that plywood does not work very well. It warps far to easy. I turned my bucks in. Then separated the does when they were close to kindling. Only 2 out of 12 kindled. I think part of it was due to having a buck shortage. They bred really well before, so I am hoping that it will be a one time accident. My plans for this year are to continue. I plan to build a hoop pen for them. It will have 3 cattle panels attached to a wooden frame. They are covered with tarps. And the ends are covered with chicken wire. We have started this with our poultry and like them better than the Salatin pens. They allow you to walk in with them better. This one will differ from the chicken pens in that it will have a slide out floor. It will be made of mesh instead of wood to let the droppings through. I will update with pictures when it is built. I am very excited to continue the project. I hope to raise some butcher rabbits on pasture only. I truly enjoy watching the rabbits live a more happy life. They consume waaay less feed! They are much easier to care for as well.

I will continue to update as I progress. I will add pictures of our first pen with a slide out floor in the spring when I can be outside taking pictures. I would be interested in hearing other peoples experiences, suggestions, and comments. I would be glad to try and help if I can.

Here are a couple pictures. Sorry, I am not a very good photographer.

Happy rabbits.

Here are a few trying to show the floor that slides in at night.

The track it runs on.

The small opening at the back of the pen.

The floor being slid in.

The rabbits safe for the night.

It is a really simple basic pen frame constructed out of 1x material. The only part that took a little while to figure out was the track for the floor. It was not to hard. The rabbits are on grass all day. I check on them every now and then to try and prevent escaping. At night I slide in the floor, and they can not get out. I only had them get out once. Late last fall, we came home from Church and the does I had in there were out. We caught them all without to much trouble. I think they were burrowing because they felt they needed some shelter from the oncoming winter. They dug some huge burrows. I shut the floor and did not let them back out after that. They stayed there with hay until I separated them for giving birth.

I am still feeding them, but it is amazing how much less they eat. One thing we would like to change about this pen is the floor. Wood is really not a very good floor. It warps really bad, they chew on it, and it keeps the nights manure up there instead of letting it fall through. We are thinking on the next pen we will try to make a wire floor. It has to be stiff enough to hold them up and be able to slide in. I will let you know what we use.
Thanks!

New pics added on post number 23

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animalsRawsome said:

X2

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kile529 said:

Question for ya - do you HAVE to separate the does out for them to kindle or can you put in a nest for each of them and let them stay in the tractor?

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micah wotring said:

Update??


X3


Exactly what I was wandering.
Also, maybe you could have a big community pen for kindling does and tractors for everything else if the babies can't be in grass.

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