Safe outside pen..

[Chinclub]

I was given a beautiful New Zealand white rabbit last week. Iknew there was a good chance she was pregnant. Sure enoughshe littered 7 babies 2 days ago. Right now she is in a niceoutdoor hutch with a big wooden enclosed area full of hay.The babies are doing great and she is a great mom. The cageis plenty big for one bunny but when the little ones begin to leave thenest it will be extremely crowded. I would like to build anicebig pen on the ground for her and her new family but Iwant to make sure it will be safe. I need to know what sizewire will be small enough to keep in the newborns.

Also, I was thinking I might find homes for the male babies when theyare weaned and keep any females with mom. Will they get alongas the little ones mature?

 

[Fergi]

What I did to make sure the kits couldn't get outof the wire was put cardboard on the outside of the cage held in placewith cable ties (zip strips). That way no-one could escape and I couldbreath a little easier!

As for bonding the females, I have a female who had babies a few monthsback and is currently housed with one of her daughters. They seem toget along well for the most part although they are currently goingthrough a dominance issue, trying to work out rank but they are neverviolent with each other.

You can bond as many bunnies as you have the time and patience to bond.There have been many successful groups of bunnies bonded and members ofour forum have been nice enough to share their tips.

In the cheat sheet for rabbit care that is stickied at the top of theforum there is a link to bonding bunnies that is quite helpful. Also doa search for bonding bunnies on the forum and I am sure you will findsome helpful information.

Would love to see pics of mom and babies if you can! Good luck and Welcome to the forum.

Fergi's mom

 

[Chinclub]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'mthinking that I might use a 6 ft x 4 ft chain link dogkennel. I think I can wrap the bottom with hardware cloth,and wire the bottom and the to to keep them safe. Does thissound ok? Then I would cover the floor with hay and provide abig box for nesting and warmth.



What would be an appropriate time to more the family? From myreaserch I have read they begin to leave the nest by around 10-14days. Would this be an ok time or should I wait until theyare a bit older?



Here is a picture of mom. I havn't named her yet.

 

[Chinclub]

UGGG, Can you tell I don't proof-read my posts! Sorry for all of the typos.



Here is a picture of the babies in the nest. I havn't handledthem much since Mom is not used to human contact. I don'twant to freak her out. She is scared to death of me andanyone else who comes around. Given time I'm sureshe will warm up.

 

[Fergi]

That should be ok as long as mom and babies don't ingest the hardware cloth.

As for moving the mom and babies, you can do that whenever you feellike it. I moved my babies and mom into a new home at about seven daysand they did just fine with that. You are correct on when most kitsleave the nest. There always can be some early bloomers.

Mom is beautiful! Thanks for sharing her pic! Let us know when you a pic a name for her.

Fergi's mom


Oops, posted when you did. The babies are beautiful! I believe mom willwarm up with a little time as well. Make sure you are checking thebabies daily to make sure she is feeding them. They should have roundlittle ping pong ball bellies after they are fed.

 

If your cage isgoing to be on htegorund hardware cloth really isnta good idea theycan dig their way outof that and we all know howbunnnies like to sig , i wouldrather suggest 1/4 inch wireyou can pick it up cheaplyat any feed storeusually for less than $7.00 for10 ft, of course you mayneed more than one roll . iuse this for thefeeding and watering end of all my cages,but my cages are up onlegss off the ground andinside due to heavy predation factor inmy area , coyotes are prevelenthere and if youhave them in youratea i wouldnt suggest hardwarecloth on the ground for justthat reason

 

[Chinclub]

Its getting close to the date when the babiesleave the nest. How small do the wires need to be to keep thelittle ones from escaping? I certainly don't want to loose any!

 

[DaisyNBuster]

Sorry I'm not very useful on things like building a run, I'm sure someone else will know what size to have the wires.

All I wanted to say is congrats on the new Bunny and her kits. Have younamed her yet? Have you got any new pictures of the babies?

Vickie

 

[rabbitgirl]

gypsy wrote:

If your cage is goingto be on htegorund hardware cloth really isnta good idea theycan dig their way outof that and we all know howbunnnies like to sig , i wouldrather suggest 1/4 inch wireyou can pick it up cheaplyat any feed storeusually for less than $7.00 for10 ft, of course you mayneed more than one roll . iuse this for thefeeding and watering end of all my cages,but my cages are up onlegss off the ground andinside due to heavy predation factor inmy area , coyotes are prevelenthere and if youhave them in youratea i wouldnt suggest hardwarecloth on the ground for justthat reason

Isn't that stuff you're describing hardware cloth? The stuff on a roll....well, mine is 1/2 in. holes, but it works fine....

didn't know they can dig out!

Rose

 

i guess whatsconcidered hardware cloth depends on whoyou talk to, here they conciderharware cloth to something youwould put in the gardenfor rooting plants and keeping weedsout lol , AND oh yesrabbits dig lol i hadto chase one 3 yrs ago (my Bun Bun ) to beexact , little stinkerwaited for my attentionto be diverted andeach time dug a bit moretill he had a way out lol tooknearly a half hour to chasehim down , ahhh for a camcorder lol americas funniesthome vidoes would havebeen proud !!!!!

 

[rabbitgirl]

Ohhhh, that's landscaping fabric by me. Hardware cloth is the actual wire stuff.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I hope I didn't miss someone else saying these two things but:

1. Handle the babies A LOT soon. You want them people friendly.

2. Make sure you put some sort of "top" on that kennel. Hawks, etc., can get in and get the rabbits.