# Building a rabbit warren



## fffarmergirl (Sep 14, 2009)

Since LaFonda died, I've become much more attached to the rest of the rabbits for some reason. I want to pamper them more, and I came up with this idea.

We have this old metal shed that we we've been getting ready to move and reinforce and turn into a rabbit shed before winter. I just came up with some ideas to make it so much more pleasant for the rabbits.

The shed is 10ft by 14ft, and we're going to put a good-sized roofed rabbit kennel in front of it. It's all going to be made of recycled materials - hubby is a semi-professional builder and is very good at building things. We already had most of what we need and we just went out to buy the rest.

All we still have to buy is straw - and whether or not we get it depends on whether this plan will work out. So - here it is:

We'll put two rows of straw bales, stacked one high, one in front of another, all along the wall with a space between them. We'll put the rabbit cages on those, with barriers between the cages. The rabbit poop will fall on the earth floor between the bales, and compost in the straw. We'll have straw insulating behind the cages, and we'll put a layer of straw bales over the cages as well. Each bunny will have their own warm little private hidey hole.

There will be straw all over the floor of the building. The whole thing will be secure from predators. Twice a day I'll go let a group of rabbits out into the "commons area" which will have a little door going out into the kennel. Males will be out at one time and females another. While they're out, their cages will be left open and they'll be free to hop in and out at will. We will wait until they've all scent-marked their own rooms before we let them out - do you think that will take care of any possible teritorial issues?

We can put balls and other toys in the "commons" area.

There will be a feeder and waterer out in the fenced kennel area, and hopefully they'll do most of their pottying out there since it will be big enough. Hopefully some day, when the males are neutered and everybody can be out all the time, they'll do all their toileting outside and we can have them sitting on nice straw floors instead of wires.

We'll keep their individual feeders and waterers inside their cages but they'll do most of their eating outdoors. Once they can all have their cages open all the time, the doors, as well as the individual feeders and waterers, will be removed. What I'm thinking is that, over time, they'll behave like wild rabbits. They'll do their eating and pooping outside and go into their little holes whenever they want. At that point, they can have straw floors.

A great thing about this is that it's going to open right up into the chicken coop, which opens only a few feet from the wood shed door, and the woodshed opens into the attached garage . I'll be able to take care of all the animals without going outside this winter. We live in a very cold area with long, snowy winters and many blizzards, so this is very important. I'll get out there a lot more often this way - and the rabbits will be snug and warm.

Once we get the males neutered we can just keep all the holes open all the time and maybe put up some little curtains or even insulate the fronts.

It sounds idealistic.

Will it work?

There are 10 angora rabbits - three males and 7 females.


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## Baby Juliet (Sep 14, 2009)

I have to let my males out one at a time because no matter how much room I give them (my whole back yard) they keep picking fights.

But then they're intact.


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## fffarmergirl (Sep 14, 2009)

Are the females prone to fighting at all?

I put two of my males out to play today in the chicken yard and they didn't fight at all. They're brothers - don't know if that matters. I was afraid to put the older buck out with them.

Am I right in assuming that, if their sleeping area is dark and warm and cozy and the eating and playing areas are well-lit, the rabbits would eventually just sleep in their holes and not poop in there?


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## Korr_and_Sophie (Sep 14, 2009)

The breeder I got Sweets from has about 12 angoras right now. She lets all the females out at once, then the males. When I went to visit, the females were good (other than wanting to explore and hide), but a few of the males were wanting to hump the other ones. They were not really fighting, just wanting to hump. The rabbits were not territorial, and would go into each others cages. It was the first time they were able to come and go from their cages (usually lifted out and in), so some were are little confused. 
You will need to supervise when they are out. A fight can break out in a second


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## Bramblerose (Sep 14, 2009)

Lots of folks set up colonies for their rabbits like your talking about, works well with short coated breeds, knew someone who tried it with angoras. She had badly matted rabbits with straw woven into their coats very quickly, couldn't keep them clean, gave up and put them back in cages. I really would not try do a colony setting with angoras, but if I did I don't think I'd use straw, perhaps try those wood pellets. Also males will fight and hurt each other if left together, so will does, but not as badly(normally) In most colonies what happens is that one doe is dominant and becomes the head doe, with all the other rabbits submissive to her. So the does might be fine once they work it out between themselves, but I'm apprehensive about the bucks. I think you have a good idea, a workable one depending on the rabbits themselves of course. Most colonies I know of start off with a pair or trio, and then keep daughters, changing out only the buck as the colony grows. They get along better that way, learn the rules at an early age and establish themselves in the pecking order. I really understand what your talking about with the whole winter thing, I'm planning my winter set up right now. I think you can do it, perhaps not with all of the rabbits you have now, but in the future with rabbits that have grown up together. Good Luck!!


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## fffarmergirl (Sep 15, 2009)

Thanks for the answers! Maybe I can do it a little different until all the rabbits I have are ones who have grown up together.

6 of the bunnies grew up together (4 does and 2 bucks). They're 4 1/2 months old now but were separated into different cages at 8 weeks. They still seem OK together - I put the bucks out together today, and then 3 of the does (didn't put the 4th out with anybody because I'm not 100% sure she's a "she"). 

The does were just hopping around, ignoring eac hother or laying quietly next to each other. The bucks were sniffing each other's butts and running around in a tight circle - is that fighting behavior? It didn't progress to fighting but they were in a strange environment and had a lot of distractions.

My other four are: 1- Buffy the mother of the 6 above, 2&3 -Jane and her daughter 4-Bucky - father of 7.

I wonder if I could get the mother bonded with the 4 daughters and let all 5 of them play at once, then Jane and her daughter, and poor Bucky all alone. 

Do you think it would ever be possible for Jane and her daughter to be let out with Buffy and her 4 daughters?


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Sep 15, 2009)

Sounds very interesting  

The only thing I'm concerned about is that that is going to be a major fire hazard. Not saying that rabbitry fires happen a lot, etc. but having straw bales, straw covered floor, in (I presume?) a wooden building is pretty dangerous as far as fire hazards go. 

If you have lighting in there, and electricity with outlets, that's even more riskier because all it takesis just one spark for the whole thing to ignite. 

I know that it's about the same risk as having a shed full of wooden hutches, but straw is more flammable.  

I don't know if you saw Peg's thread about barn fires a while back? Maybe you could read in there and see if there's anyway you could do something for the shed so in case of a fire you'll be prepared. 

Me and my sister are redoing our rabbitry this fall and I'm really thinking about putting in a sprinkler system (at least on the roof of the shed, which will also help in the summer to keep it cool) so that in the event of fire, should we ever have one, then we could turn the sprinklers on outside at least to prevent the fire from approaching (if it's a brush fire ). I'm not sure if I will put sprinklers inside...still thinking on that.  These could of course be home-built systems most likely with PVC piping, etc. 

Just my $.2 worth.  

Emily


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## Karlie (Sep 17, 2009)

Once you get the males nuetered they should be fine together. I would have second thougts about the straw as well. I am getting gravel for my flooring, its very small and the rabbits love it and don't get very dirty. Its also cool in the summer.
I would be more worried about the does getting into fights, most of my bucks get along and I have my pet rabbits that all live in the same cage. They will hump some but as long as they don't fight they're fine. 

Good Luck,


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## fffarmergirl (Sep 17, 2009)

Emily, I never even thought about fires . . . it is a metal building. I was giving some thought to heating it, just enough so their water doesn't freeze - now I have a whole bunch of stuff to think about. Thanks a LOT! 

I never thought about gravel, either - maybe the little round gravel? Pea gravel I think it's called? But how would you clean it? 

I want them to be able to run around and have fun and be more free, but I don't want them getting all matted up. I hate having them in cages so much that I don't like going out to take care of them. I have to force myself to do it because of all the guilt associated with having them in cages. Then I take them out to groom them and they hate that . . . 

You know who I remind myself of? Joseph Fritzl - the guy who locked his daughter up in the basement for 18 years. Seriously - I can't take the guilt. I can't even look at my face in the mirror when I think about having my rabbits locked up in cages.

There has to be a way for them to have some freedom without getting all dirty and matted up. PLEASE - help me think!

They have to be able to get in out of the cages by themselves, because they hate it when I lift them out. They're scared of heights. That's why I was thinking sitting the cages on straw bales would be good - they could just hop out onto a straw bale and then down. What if I covered the straw bales that they'd be using as a step with sheets or something? It would still be easy to clean, and their claws could grip it, but it wouldn't get all stuck in their fur. Then I could put the gravel on the floor of the play area? I'd have to make sure there wasn't a heat source anywhere near the straw, of course.

I did start to try some bonding the other day, to prepare for the new plan. I tried to bond Buffy back with one of her daughters, in neutral territory. I don't know rabbits well enough to know if it's worth continuing to try with those two or not. They kind of chased eachother around in circles - no biting. For a few seconds it looked like maybe they were grooming each other's faces, but after a while they really just didn't look happy to be together. We put the daughter back and then when I went to get poor Buffy, she ran from me (she's one of the few rabbits who normally doesn't seem to mind being handled) and made funny little clucking noises like a chicken. I wonder if I should try them again or not.


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## fffarmergirl (Sep 19, 2009)

I'm feeling a lot better about things today. I got the woodshed that the rabbits are currently in temporarily "rabbit proofed" and I've been opening up the cages one at a time to let the rabbits get out and run around in there. Surprisingly, they really do seem to be quite content to stay in their cages most of the time. If they have free access, they get out and run around a little but it doesn't take long for them to go back in their cages and just stay there. So - I'm not Joseph Fritzl, after all! 

I know everybody with a rabbitry keeps the rabbits in cages, but I think most people let them out more often than I'd been doing. 

Somebody at work came up with a good suggestion for me - she said I ought to just cover the tops of the straw bales with boards and give them a clean surface on the floor to play on. Sounds like a plan to me.

We'll be working on their new digs this weekend.


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## TinysMom (Sep 19, 2009)

I have been debating on adding to this because of how hard it was for me to change things...but here goes.

For well over 2 years - I had over 50 girls (at times more - at times less - but around that number for a long time) - living on the floor in my rabbitry. My husband built a shelf to have the cages off the floor - so they would hide out under the shelf - in the open cages on the first row on the shelf (whenever they were open) - in 3 huge dog kennels (one of which had a shelf in it) - and under some other cages. The room was 10 X 12 I think....plus in good weather they had a chance to play outside on the concrete porch (about 3' X 8').

They loved the situation - and I loved it also. They had a very interesting social structure and they had "friends" that they would often hang out with - you'd see the same three to five or six does hanging out in one 18 X 24' cage...getting down to eat and poop and then hopping back up while another doe stood guard sometimes.

I loved watching the interactions with them and noticing how certain groups claimed certain territories. At times there would be minor fights - mainly chasing with perhaps a bit of mounting. The doe that knew she wouldn't win usually hid somewhere with her group and the other doe wouldn't mess with her anymore. Of course - some does were also loners.

Unfortunately - animal control was called on us a few weeks ago and they all had to be caged. They didn't understand how a warren could work and were adamant that all rabbits MUST be in cages.

If you can do this - I encourage you to do so - except maybe for the problem with the matted coats. That is something to consider.

I will say - don't expect the rabbits not to poop in their cages - as some will feel the need to use their cages as a litterbox in order to establish their territory.

If we lived out in the country - I would definitely have a building just as a "rabbit warren" and let them live like that and clean it out daily. I loved to sit and watch them and notice how individual they all were.


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## fffarmergirl (Sep 19, 2009)

Thank you so much for your post, Tinysmom. It makes me feel so good to hear how well it worked, and also that you were able to have so many in that space. You've really eased my mind about trying it.

That's CRAZY that animal control thinks it's better to separate them all into cages! I mean - I know they were probably saying it spread disease or something, but they don't have US all locked in cages to prevent disease, do they?

I'm thinking that, with just my 10 rabbits, if I can find something besides hay to do it with, I can keep their coats groomed. 

I want them to have social lives! And I want to see more binkies.

How did you clean it?


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## TinysMom (Sep 19, 2009)

Part of the reason our warren worked as well as it did - was because they had so many places to go and hide if needed. Not only was there space under the shelf along one wall - but also in at least 2-3 of the 6 cages on the first row ON the shelf (which only stood about a foot off the ground). Plus they had HUGE dog kennels to go into - one with a shelf and some of the cages had drop-down pans on the floor and they could go hide behind those cages (sorta) and in the pans if they wanted...

My point? Gotta give them lots of options for picking out where they want to be.

One of animal control's concern was that this was in my sunroom which is IN the house and right off the living room. I understand that...but when we discussed the fact I'm going to be getting a bunny barn, etc - one of the things they stressed in talking to me was "All of the rabbits are going to be caged...right?" They said no rabbits could go uncaged.

The floor in there is cement tile and we just swept and mopped a lot - I did have litter boxes down but not enough of the girls used them...I'm sorry to say.

Still yet - it was fun to watch them. If we ever move out to the country - I would have one "traditional" bunny barn and one smaller barn set up for a situation like this.


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## fffarmergirl (Sep 20, 2009)

Giving them lots of hidey holes sounds like fun.

We worked all day yesterday on getting the shed ready to move. Hubby had to jack it up and make a wooden frame to go all around the bottom of it. Today it will be making the journey to it's new location.

We're going to put in windows and a skylight, then insulate and side it. We're siding it with aged wood from another old shed. The only thing we're buying is the insulation, the wood we used to make the frame around the bottom, and possibly something to use as flooring.

Angoras are very tolerant of the cold, but we'll at least need to keep it warm enough that the water won't freeze. That - or figure out some little water heaters.


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