Outside Rabbit and Litterbox

Nyboy

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Hi I post a lot on sister site the easy garden. This is my 1st post here. I have been toying with the idea of getting a rabbit for manure. It would be a outside rabbit living in a hutch. years ago a friend had a inside rabbit that used a litter box. Can a outside rabbit be trained to use a litter box? Is it hard to litter train a rabbit? Can wood shaving be use for litter? Thanks
 

goatgurl

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hey @Nyboy, nice to see you slumming over with the herdies;) was thinking about you and Martha's daylily the other day. did it bloom? and did she love it?
now for your bunny question. i have been keeping rabbits outside in wire cages for about a year. i have them about 36" in the air and keep plastic tubs under the hutches to catch poo and whatever else falls out, works great for me. i just pick up and empty the tubs in the compost pile. this spring i mixed fresh poo in with my beds and they have done great. i hate to clean the litter box for my old cat and don't want to do for a bunny either, call me lazy.:gig
 

Nyboy

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Thanks Goatgurl never heard anything on daylily i gave Martha, I keep hoping her headgardener will call Cat about it. How big are your cages? are they inside a shed for weather protection?
 

goatgurl

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the doe cages are 24x42 with double doors and the buck cage is 18x30. i know they would love it if the cages were bigger but because i am so short i can't comfortably reach into anything any deeper. and i have seen people who have them in smaller cages but i kinda feel sorry for anything that stays locked up all the time. they are not in a building because of the summer time heat we have and i felt like they would just roast in a metal shed with no a/c so they are on the south side of a building that has a 24+" overhang to protect them from the rain, etc. i also keep a tarp over the top of the cages for the rain. there are large oak, hickory and cedar trees over them for shade. so far this has worked well. we don't get the cold prolonged weather that youall do so i don't worry about the cold to much.
 

Nyboy

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I read rabbits can take cold much better then heat.
 

goatgurl

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that's what i understand too, mine did just fine thru the winter. i have Texas A&M new zealands and they were bred to withstand the heat better than a lot of breeds. it was 105 in the shade with a 116 heat index today at my house and believe me the poor bunnys were hot, just laying there panting. of course the chickens and ducks were walking with their wings held out and they were panting too. on one level its kind of funny to see a duck pant but on the other not so much. if i thought it would help i would have panted too. man, it was miserable.
 
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Lamb Lover

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I use my rabbits for a similar purpose. They live outside in a hutch but now that it's cold they sleep in a large dog crate with a heat lamp. They are pretty easy to litter train but DO NOT use wood shavings. It causes respiratory infections. I go to D&B and buy 40 pound bags of horse pellets, they're about $5 a bag. My rabbits don't always use their litter box but that's ok. I have a custom hutch with a mesh bottom which has a tray underneath. If you have something similar just buy puppy pee pads from the dollar store, line the tray and change it once a week. The rabbit's manure will collect there and you can use it much easier.
 

chiques chicks

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My rabbits easily withstand below freezing temperatures in an unheated shed protected from moisture and wind. Biggest issue is me keeping non-solid water for them. They withstand cold far better than heat. For the water issue I use horizontal brass rabbit nipples with a circulating system set up from a heated water tank. For prolonged frigid temperatures, I supplement with bottles switched out regularly.

A wire bottom cage with some sort of tray or tub is the best solution for collecting the fertilizer. They produce a lot.
 

Lamb Lover

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@chiques chicks the water issue is something I've been trying to solve for a while now. I like your idea a lot might give it a try... This is my rabbits first winter, they were born in April. I'm just being careful but they seem to be getting used to it faster than I thought.
 

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