How to let rabbits play outside safely in large yard?

[EmilyClick28]

Hi i have 4 rabbits right now and they all live in outdoor hutches. i built them a playpen a while back outside, but with putting them in there all the time not a lot of plants can grow. I live on a large 2acre lot that is fenced in but probably has a lot of holes here and there in the fence. I wouldn't want to just turn them loose in this huge yard, but i would like to be able to let them out to eat grass and stuff..... i have tried using harnesses but i dont like how if the rabbit panicks it can get hurt or even sometimes escape. is there any other way to let my rabbits out to play safely in my large yard???

 

[LukeMeister]

I have a big buck that I let run around the yard (3 acres not fenced in) and he's a real sweat heart so he'll let me just pick him up, so if you have any that are really friendly, you might be able to do that. I have mobile 8x4 and 8x8 runs attached to hutches so I can just move them to a new spot every time they run out of grass. Could you make it so you can move their play pen? Or lower their hutches on to the ground so they can eat grass in their?

 

[EmilyClick28]

hummmm well those are some pretty great ideas! thanks for the help! yeah maybe i could try just letting the sweet ones run loose so long as i closed the gate and checked the fence for holes... thanks for the help!

 

[LukeMeister]

You're welcome! Sounds like a plan.

 

[Animal Person]

Hi,
I have a bunny who loves to go outside, but she won't let me catch her when I let her out. I built a pen out of chicken wire to keep her in. But she always finds a way out of it. She loves to dig. Should I just let her run around the yard. She gets cramped in her cage if she's in it to long

 

[LukeMeister]

All rabbits need exercise especially if she gets cramped in her cage. You could put wire along the edges where she digs out, or put her outdoor cage on concrete or gravel.

 

[samssimonsays]

What some have done is do a sort of laundry line between trees that the leash can freely glid across to allow them to move but it is kept from getting close to the trees so they can not loop around and strangle themselves.

This is not my image. I found it on google.You can see how there is nothing they can get tangled around near the animal.

Otherwise, I have bought the garden t posts and a roll of chicken wire that I fence around them to create a pen cheaply and quickly. They would then be movable as well as easy to expand.

 

[Bunnylady]

I wouldn't think putting a rabbit on a tie-out would be a good idea, largely because of the nature of rabbits. If something frightens a rabbit, it has two responses - it freezes, or it bolts for cover. If you tie it out in the open so that it can't get tangled, "cover" is going to be out of reach, so a bolting rabbit will hit the end of the tie-out hard. Another reason that I suspect this would be a problem is because I haven't yet seen a rabbit harness that a rabbit can't get out of - usually by going backwards suddenly. Unless a person is intending to stay in the yard with the rabbit, there is a good chance that a rabbit left tied out in the yard would not be in the yard for long (it's actually illegal to do this with dogs in my county). If you are staying with it anyway, what's the point of tying it?

Lots of rabbits get really excited and skittish when loose on the ground, even otherwise friendly ones. If you want to let them out, you can build a playpen that you can supervise them in, or a large wire-bottomed cage like the tractors that a lot of people "pasture" rabbits in.

 

[TAH]

Our friend had a rabbit and it got so tangled up that she almost died. I would not think it is a good idea.

 

[TAH]

I just had a idea tho. You could make it so there is hardly any slack and there wont be anything for the bunny to get tangled on. And if you put the bunny in a harness it might work.