Outside Free-Roaming Rabbits

[BrittsBunny]

So today I went to check out a possible new boarding place for my horse and as I was talking with the owner of the property, she proceeded to tell me about her bunnies; of course me being a die-hard bunny lover was enthralled about this. Turns out she has a hutch/chicken coops where both her rabbits and chickens coexist. The rabbits have completely free access to go wherever (literally) they want :shock: I was like "WOW and they don't wander off? Don't you worry about birds and other predators?" She was very content with her setup and said she hasn't had any problems for the year that the bunnies and chickens have been there. The rabbits had the hutch to go in and out of, there was a fence that circled their area, but the bunnies could go through the fence easily (me as a witness saw this). I could not believe me eyes! She also was telling me how "domesticated" rabbits don't breed like wild rabbits. She has two bucks and the rest are does - I believe she said that she has 8 or 9 rabbits in total. Apparently when rabbits are in a clan of about that number, they don't breed like mad :? They only bred selectively :? It was very interesting to hear about her little operation. It's not the kind of setup I would want to have; in my opinion, I would be absolutely horrified if something happened to my bunnies! But again, the owner didn't seem to have any sort of concern! Really kind of mind-boggling! Does anyone else have this sort of setup or know of someone that lets their rabbits free-roam outside?

 

[Trigger101]

My uncle had a huge cage for his bunnies outside with a big hutch in the middle of it but he made sure they couldn't get through it! If she wants her bunnies to be free-roaming I dont see a problem with it....it is what she wants. I am just wondering what she is going to do when she has 8 litters of kits to deal with!!???

 

[LakeCondo]

Doesn't sound like pet rabbits, any more than the chickens are pet chickens.

 

[ZRabbits]

LakeCondo wrote:

Doesn't sound like pet rabbits, any more than the chickens are pet chickens.

Might not sound like it, but there are people who do have pet chickens and bunnies that free roam. Though this is a way to be self sufficient and people are successful with it, there are people who think rabbits, along with chickens are pets and do have "colonies" like this.

As a city folk, I can see where "pet chickens" don't compute, but there are people out there, really.

K

 

[Nela]

Feel a little bit nervous posting this but here goes:

My girls (mostly Maybelle really)play in the garden freely. They are provided with hiding spots, some they found naturally, some I put in... Usually it's Maybelle out in the garden and she is usually on her own, though I am usually always around and checking on her. There are no birds of prey that fly over, they stick to the woods as there is an abundance of natural prey there so they don't bother here since the yards are small and not worth it. We don't get raccoons, foxes, coyotes, skunks, nothing of the sort here. The only thing we might get is the occasional hedgehog and frog. The yard is fully paved so they cannot dig under the fence although Maybelle has attempted chewing THROUGH the fence to go see the neighbor boys. The one worry I had was the neighborhood cats but they are not strays, all neighbor cats and friendly. Plus, the girls are as big as the cats so most cats are quite scared of them. Maybelle knows which she likes and which she doesn't. There are some she chases out of the yard, and some she plays with. There is a kitten (no longer a kitten now!)that she became good friends with from the start and it seems all the cats that are part of the kitten's clan are allowed in the yard. Lol. It's like they just count her as one of theirs. Seriously, sometimes 2 of them come sit with her. They'll drink from the pond and just sit on the chairs and watch her. She often sleeps under the chair as well.

Do I suggest this, do I recommend this? No, absolutely not. There are many factors that come into play. A large part of it depends on the wildlife in the area. I certainly would never do this in Canada myself. However, here, it works for us. The girls are happy, and very capable of handling themselves. That also plays into it. They are big feisty, no-fuss, girls. Heck, I run away from them myself sometimes!

I am quite skeptical about the not breeding thing. I dunno. I would think the bunnies would reproduce quite a bit. It's a natural instinct I believe, since they are such a prey animal. I am quite intrigued about that theory that they don't. Not saying she's lying or way off, just saying that I am surprised by it.

So anyway, while I do let mine free-roam, I don't think it's something that is doable everywhere and I wouldn't let an intact bunch roam around either. I know there are the rabbitats that do have them free-roaming in some places but their bunnies are neutered and spayed as well.

 

[caustin4]

I wonder if what she said about them not breeding is true? I can't imagine it would be, but of hers aren't constantly breeding then maybe it is.

My rabbits don't free roam quite like hers, but are outside during the days (unless it's raining or too hot). One of my rabbits has free range of the back yard and I've never worried. I know the yard is completely fenced and with my three dogs I don't worry about predators, or neighbor cats. She's also almost a 20 pound Flemish giant who is bigger than the cats next door which helps. When she and Ferkel were bonded they both ran free, but since they've been fighting that stopped. The other bunnies all have pens I have built that I move around the yard to go in. I bring the rabbits in at dusk because I am worried about night predators.

I think I would be very scared to just let all five rabbits run around the entire yard. I know mine will fight even if they are loose together in the yard. I'm surprised she never has problems like that.

 

[wendymac]

Maybe hers are breeding more, but predators are eating the kits. And I like chickens (usually on my plate. haha), but I wouldn't want lice on my bunnies. Chickens are notorious for carrying lice (and other unwanted things) and there's no way they wouldn't be on the buns, too.

But my philosophy stands; To each their own.

 

[BrittsBunny]

caustin4 wrote:

I think I would be very scared to just let all five rabbits run around the entire yard. I know mine will fight even if they are loose together in the yard. I'm surprised she never has problems like that.

Even though I would LOVE for Mr. Wranglers to be able to play outside, there is no way I would want to leave him in the great wide open (especially unattended). Someday I do plan on building a rabbitry, but it WILL be enclosed. I am going to have to figure out how to develop it without them able to burrow their way out too!

As for the woman I met yesterday, she said that her two bucks used to fight but they managed to work things out. She mentioned to me that one of the little dwarf girls has been getting picked on by one of the bucks (she had chunks of hair missing in spots. It looked also like a bad molt to me). She was just precious - I was almost tempted to take her home with me....but I didn't necessarily want to deal with mites, lice, and other pests that might invade our home. Then I would have to get her fixed on top of that.

But like many of you said, to each their own. Sometimes people have the beauty of it working out, others not so much. I definitely do not trust the wildlife here in Florida. There are way to many hazards in my opinion! I was just fascinated to see how her little setup worked.

P.S. She had a rabbit hutch that she was willing to pretty much give to me. I felt guilty though so I said I could possibly offer her some money. It's built pretty nicely, a bit on the dirty side though (still had old fecal material on the inside; hence why I didn't jump quickly on taking it home with me. It had rubber matting (for the kits that were in there at the time), so I could I could take it home and bleach it? I just don't know. I would hate for Wrangler to catch anything!

 

[LakeCondo]

I wouldn't take it, though I suppose if you decide to board your horse there it might be awkward if you don't. If it was wood, I'd want to sand it down, & replace all matting etc.

 

[BrittsBunny]

LakeCondo wrote:

I wouldn't take it, though I suppose if you decide to board your horse there it might be awkward if you don't. If it was wood, I'd want to sand it down, & replace all matting etc.

I will not be keeping my horse there. It's not what I was looking for. And I don't really want to buy the hutch from her either. It's not worth the risk.

 

[irishgirl]

I live in salt lake city ut . I have outside free roam bunnies ... I started with peter rabbit .. He is neutered i adopted him from the pound . Peter roamed my house in the winter time come summer i moved him outside to my enclosed backyard . Peter is in heaven , He has made a burrow under our shed which used to hide the cats when stuck outside . Peter has been outside for three months now . I wanted a friend for him so i talked to the pound they said he has to pick his own friend . My son bought a lionhead from a pet store we assumed they would be friends peter said no and beat him up everytime . I was worried about the pound rabbits peter became km
known as the mean bunny .... So the day came when we packed him up and took him to the pound to pick out new friends . All seemed to go well which shocked us our mean bunny picked two new friends with no fighting or grumpyness. We took them home to the backyard . I was worried about the other bunnies going outside they had been in a cage for awhile . There names became uncle fester , and Miss muffit . Fester was a stray so he new outside miss muffit was a house bunny . Peter was quite happy to be home and went under his shed we thought all was well no fighting or bickering ... well it was short lived the demon bunny was back with a vengence . He did not like the other bunnies at all and chased and beat them up bad ... I was at my wits end , now what do i do ....there was bunny fur all over my backyard it looked like it had snowed ... My husband thought it was fester being mean and brought him in the house overnight .. I went out the next morning and sat and watched till peter came out . He proceeded to chase miss muffit all over the yard so i knew it wasnt fester it was demon bunny peter . I decided to bring peter back into the house and let the new bunnies get used to life in the backyard . Peter was not happy with me i put him in his cage in the house and he shook the bars with lots of anger . Fester and muffit had some bickering for about a week then muffit became head bunny and all was well with them . I kept peter in the house for three weeks he was not happy with me even tho he could roam my house and porch . my son brought his rabbit toki to my house and and asked if he could join the bunnys i said well have to see if theyll except him . Which they did not . There was much fighting and grumpiness not to extremes but bullying him after a week they seemed to come to an agreement and were co-exsisting well . I decided to try peter back in the yard i felt bad that he couldnt be free.. him and i had a talk about being nice as i took him outside ... I put him down and was shocked that he became the low man on the totum pole the gang chased and beat him up he was not sure what to do . We made a burrow for him in the back corner of the yard and he would stay there because he was not allowed under the shed by miss muffit . it took about a week and a half for them to get over there bickering . Now i can say they all get along Miss muffit is the boss she keeps them all in line toki still has some problems being accepted all the way but he is the un -neutered bunny so i think that is the issue . we will be building a bigger multi burrow home under our deck so they will each have a spot come winter . We have very little digging , or trying to escape they are very content my grandchildren play back there amongst them and my two dogs also get along quite well . The neighbor cat has jumped my fence to see them but no harm has come she is just curious plus they escape to under the shed when scared ... So far it is wonderful seeing them be bunnies .. So yes u can have free roam rabbits that do well .....

 

[Kipcha]

I am sorry, but I have to disagree with having rabbits free roam outside, especially since you mentioned that other neighbours animals come into your yard. If that one cat can get in, a feral one obviously can as well and a rabbit is not going to be able to defend itself well against a feral cat. And just because there haven't been any escape attempts yet does not mean one of these days you aren't going to go outside and your bunnies will be gone, whether by escape or by predator.

What birds of prey do you have in your area? Hawks and owls would be a major concern. When Buttercup was in her old home the owners used to think it was just the coolest thing because the owls would perch on the fence to watch the rabbits. Thumper and Skittles, the two rabbits who came with Buttercup, had old wounds from a run in with something, so obviously things can happen.

I personally just don't agree with having pet rabbits outside as a permanent housing situation unless there are extenuating circumstances such as a sanctuary or something, or the yard is completely secure (And I'm walking over hanging netting, secure fencing to prevent digging out, etc. )

But that's just my opinion. We've had too many rescues where something has gone wrong despite it being fine to that point...

 

[LakeCondo]

Fine, until ... is the position you're in. The question is, when something happens, will you know what got them, or will 1 or more just be gone. Even a prey animal like a dog or cat isn't all that safe allowed to run wild.

 

[caustin4]

Something interesting to share about this: I was at the Oakland zoo (in Oakland ca) the other day as in the children's zoo they have a rabbit section. I was very surprised when I walked over as saw them to see they were all domestic rabbits. I'm pretty sure the zoo adopted them from the near by animal shelter. The rabbits were in a very large, open chunk of land. They were fenced in and on a hill so people could view them easily. The enclosure had large burrows dug out(man-made, but a few the rabbits made), trees, and some bushes placed in various spot. There must have been 10-20 rabbits living there. They all looked incredibly happy lounging out and hopping around, no fights I saw. Off to the side there was an indoor room with bowels of water food and seperate xpens. No rabbits were in there at the time, but I thought maybe they were brought in at night? (although it would be difficult to round them all up).

The zoo even had displays about domestic rabbits and how to keep them as pets, encouraging people to fully research rabbits before considering getting one. I thought that was nice. If you google Oakland zoo rabbits you can read all about them, there were too many links to post on here that had good information.

I thought it was all done very nicely, in fact I want to build some of the wooden houses and mock-borrows like they had. All I have is a cardboard maze as a borrow/house that half my bunnies are too big for!

 

[caustin4]

http://oaklandanimalservices.org/2008/10/oas-partners-with-oakland-zoo-to-help-rabbits/

I think that's actually a good one.

 

[Audrey Geier]

My daughter had about 6 rabbits she let free range on our farm with no fences. Our neighbour caught and took one rabbit as a pet, which was fine. One was killed on the road and one also in the field and 3 hung out around our property. 2 were female and one was a male. The male named Peter was the friendliest and has hung around for almost a year. We have put food out for him and he continues to come around and is so sweet he acts like a dog. He will run up to us and run around our feet and we can pick him up and cuddle him. The other 2 females got pregnant which we didn't think about happening. The one I found making a nest in the dead of Winter in Canada in the chicken coop with temperatures of -30 C. I took her in and kept her in a pen in the house and she had 13 babies of which 8 survived. The other female, I found making a nest in the chicken coop but it was too late and the babies did not survive. We have since given the one female away and the other female my daughter has taken back as a pet in a cage and Peter continues to run free. I really enjoy Peter as a free-range pet as he is so self-sufficient and friendly. He will come up to our door and get some fresh greens in the morning. My daughter has taken him in the house several times this winter to trim his teeth as they had gotten overgrown. I'm not sure how he stays warm in the winter but we do have a greenhouse that he did hang out in for many days when it was really cold and he just laid out in there like he was in Florida or something!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

I like having mine inside--less predation. A couple of weeks ago a hawk tried to carry off a Yorkie near here and there is a lot of Coyotes. When I was in Washington just west of Seattle we saw an Eagle snatch up a poodle--no one was happy but it does happen.

 

[Bucktooth]

There's a black bunny and a white bunny loose in my town. They must have been let go but they've survived winter in Canada so props to them Lol. They're always in the same area so I assume that person must feed them to keep them around. We have fox, coyote and lots of hawks and owls, plus dogs and cats since they're in town. They can survive outside despite our worries. (My buns are never going to be outside buns!)

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Not saying they can't survive, just saying that I don't want mine in the predator "Lotto".

 

[somebunnylovesme]

To be honest. I don't like any of animals going outside alone. I had one cat that pissed off the whole neighborhood of birds in my back yard. When the cat went outside they would swoop down on her. I had to go outside with the cat armed with a Super Soaker Water Gun or with the water hose to have the birds bug off.