Raising uncaged rabbits

[Lakota_Elder]

I love raising animals and decided to raise Lionheads just because they are so cute. After 2 months of watching them in a cage I couldn't stand it anymore. I put all the cages on the ground (fenced in private back yard on a ranch) near each other and let one rabbit out. I arranged for a covering between the cages and put some hay, food and water there. Within 2 days this doe was running all over the place but always coming back and spending most of her time close to the rabbits in the other cages. Week 1 went by and I released another doe. There was territory chasing and bucking but no real fighting.. In a couple of days these 2 were buddies. About 4 days later I release the 3rd doe and another 5 days release the last doe... They all went wherever they wanted but came back to the fenced in area at night. I finally let the very small buck out and the girls chased him all over. He finally found his own space and now you see him with the girls at supper time. In the morning they are all in the front yard, in the evening they are all gathered to feed in the back yard. They go into the woods, pastures with the horses, under the house and just about wherever they want. Now they don't even bother to run when I walk by or go out to feed. It's truly a joy to see them running or loafing around the place. And lo and behold this weekend I saw two babies out with one of the does and they are already old enough to be on their own.!!!! In 5 months of letting everyone loose I have only lost one older doe and another buck that I brought in later... (I think the girls chased him off)....

Has anyone tried raising them running free... I seem to have been very lucky..!!

I have several photos if I can get them downloaded to the computer and uploaded to here..

 

[secuono]

Idk where you live, but eventually, hawks, foxes, cats and others will pick them off. As for letting them breed and just run wild, that is going to cause issues with others in the area and eventually the state will step in and either fine you and make you confine them or take them from you.

I have mine in 2x4ft cages, they have a 13x15ft fenced area I let them run in and they have 3x10ft mobile pens to be out on grass. Fox family lives behind the hill & live next to a major road on a blind, sharp turn, can't just let them 'go.'

 

[Bunnylady]

In areas with few or no predators, it is possible. There are some communities where people have released unwanted pet rabbits, which then bred, and become a major nuisance. A few municipalities have made keeping an unaltered rabbit illegal for that reason!

Around here, we have a very large, varied, and hungry predator population. A friend of mine tried to raise rabbits in large, open runs. She lost animals to hawks, owls, snakes, and water (burrows flooded during summer downpours); her own dogs dug in and killed a few, too. She was raising them to sell as pets, but babies that haven't been handled from an early age wind up as wild as, well, rabbits. Her animals didn't make good pets, so they didn't sell well once word got around.

Another friend had 5 or 6 Netherland Dwarfs that she turned loose in her farmyard when they were about 3 months old. She enjoyed watching them come and go - her dogs didn't bother them (and may have been keeping other predators away), and they kinda hung out with her chickens. When they were about 6 months old, the only buck in the group attacked her as she was carrying hay to her cow. She showed me the scar on her ankle from where he bit her. I had a hard time not laughing (all I could think of was the white rabbit in Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail) but it really wasn't funny. Fortunately, rabbits that vicious are fairly uncommon. Her husband got his gun, and her experiment in free ranging rabbits was over.

Please understand, I'm not criticizing your choice. They are your animals, what you do with them is your business. I just think that anyone who might be tempted to emulate you should be aware that it may not be all sweetness and light. Domestic rabbits are not wild animals, they have been domesticated for many generations. The very features that make them appealing to us (crazy colors, coats, and sizes; friendlier temperaments) make them sitting ducks for predators. If you have a secure area, they can be kept much like chickens, but like chickens, they are vulnerable.

 

[elevan]

My grandparents told me of how they raised "pastured rabbits" back in their day.

An area was set aside for the rabbits and a 3 foot deep trench was dug all around the perimeter. The small hole wire fencing was then erected so that it sat in to the bottom of the trench and then was 2-3 feet above ground (so you'd need wire that is 5-6 feet tall). Then a top wire was put on.

They said often the pasture was a 30 foot by 30 foot area. The rabbits dug warrens in the enclosure and lived quite naturally and were pretty well predator protected.

 

[Lakota_Elder]

I was concerned with getting overrun by the newcomers but decided that as they are born and old enough to be seperated I will catch them up. I have a trap that I bait in the back fenced area that the babies go into for the mixed greens. I keep it tied open so they can go in and out. The older ones get into it occasionally. Hopefully I'll be able to keep them under control. If not they'll have to be collected up and sold. I have a black, a sable, a pearl, a REW buck and one I don't know what the coloring is called. She's white with black rings around her eyes and an even mix of black and brown strip running down her back. Really eye catching and great coat. That's another thing I was worried about was the matting of the coat and that doesn't seem to be happening. Even running in the woods as they occasionally do. I have seen the girls grooming each other.

How do you post photos??