We are experimenting with rabbits. We bought two lovely does from a friend near Nanaimo last spring, and have been alternatively smothering them with fresh grass and attention, and ignoring them completely.
At last, in November, they were old enough to breed, and we acquired a lovely enormous meaty white buck to introduce them to.
A month later, BUNNIES!!
We keep them at the farm, but a storm soaked our bunny cage, so we had to bring them home to dry out.
We currently keep the rabbits in hanging cages, which is a standard way of doing it, but not our ultimate goal. We hope to form a rabbit colony, in a large enclosed space, that will allow happy cage-free (or cage-limited) foraging for 5-6 adult rabbits and their not-yet-weaned offspring. Once the babies are weaned, we’ll have another space where they can get fat on grass, garden goodies, and a few pellets if they feel the need.
To that end, we took a 40’x40′ space, and laid galvanized stucco mesh on the ground.
And then, we covered it in soil.
We’re going to fence it into 6 or 7 small pastures, with a home space on one edge that the rabbits will always have access to. Each pasture will be available for 4-6 days, and then the next pasture will open. We hope that we can make the plantings lush and abundant, and the rabbits won’t eat everything down to nubbins immediately. The plantings are mostly planned – next, we move the rabbits’ hanging cage contraption out, run the internal fencing, plant, make some little shelters and nesting areas, and wait for it to grow in.
Rabbit paradise, or a predator gorefest.. we’ll see!
