How to House Rabbits

Providing proper housing will keep your rabbits healthy and happy, and make maintenance easy for you. To determine the size of hutch needed, figure 1 square foot for every pound of rabbit.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Heavy Feeding Dishes
• Rabbit Bottle Waterers
• Rabbit Cages
• Rabbit Feeders
• Rabbit Feeds
• Rabbit Nest Boxes
• Rabbit Salt Spools
• 1/2-by-1-inch welded wire

1. Provide a dry, well-ventilated and easy-access hutch.

2. Provide each buck with his own hutch.

3. Provide one hutch for every three or four does if the hutch is of sufficient size.

4. Build movable hutches, which are easy to keep clean and can be transported around the yard to fertilize your flowerbeds or garden.

5. Use 1/2-by-1-inch welded wire on the bottom of the hutch to keep hutch free of waste.

6. Provide nest boxes for does and their litters.

7. Provide feed and water containers.

8. Build or hang hutches up off the ground.

9. Make hutches secure enough to keep predators such as cats and dogs away from your rabbits.

[lucygdavis]

on 8/31/2008 What do you recommend to keep rabbits safe from raccoons? We are planning on getting rabbits and keeping them outside in their hutch (and we will buy a secure hutch) but want to be sure we do all we can to keep them safe.

on 8/8/2006 More than 70% of these rabbits come to a tragic end:
Predators, even nearby, can and do induce heart-attacks in rabbits. Predators such as raccoons, cats, and dogs can get into the most secure hutch. I've known rabbits whose feet have been eaten through the grates, and many others who simply died of heart-attacks from having the predator in smelling distance. If they don't die, it is still an extremely frightening experience for them -- why would you want to put your pet through that?

Many hutch rabbits die in heat-waves.
Here is a quote from the house rabbit society:
"As a volunteer, I receive too many calls from people who say, "We're moving to an apartment. We can't keep him." In fact, a rabbit who never goes outdoors is much luckier than one who never comes indoors. The illusion that life in the yard is "natural" and therefore good has cost many rabbits their life. Nature's survival strategy for rabbits is harsh: reproduce a lot and die young. Eighty percent of wild rabbits don't make it past their first year. The average lifespan for wild rabbits is two years. As a game plan for the species it works, but is it what we want for our beloved companions?"

on 12/30/2005 Rabbits should be housed
indoors as permanent family
members. Neutering, out-of-cage
play and human attention are
very important. A rabbit treated this way makes an amazing pet! (see www.rabbit.org)

on 11/22/2005 Contrary to the previous two tips, domestic rabbits can live outdoors. They can actually stand the weather until it becomes less then 0 degrees, due to their fur (which keeps them warm). Rabbits shouldn't be moved from inside to outside on a regular basis because the temperature change can kill them.

Rabbits can stay in a wire bottom cage without getting sores on their feet (which is called sore hocks). Some rabbits get them more often. The Rex and mini-Rex breeds tend to get sore hocks more often because of their extremely short hair. If your rabbit does have sore hocks, you can do something about it. Use antibacterial ointment on the sores daily, and to prevent sore hocks you can put a plastic or rubber mat in the cage for them to sit on.

on 11/22/2005 Rabbits have no pads on the bottom of their feet, so any hutch with a wire-bottom floor is a no-no. If they must be put in a hutch at night or when you're out, make sure it has a solid bottom or an area that is solid that they can sit on.