HOUSING
My rabbits are housed in wooded hutches that are made by my friend. My rabbits are housed
outdoors so they need a hutch that is very sturdy and weather proof. The hutches are built out of 1/2
inch plywood and 2x4's. These wooden hutches are 8 feet long and 3 feet wide and is a double hutch for holding 2 rabbits.
Giving each rabbit a 4 feet long and 3 feet wide cage to its self. We put rolled roofing on the roof top of each hutch, the
roof of the hutch is a complete sheet of plywood.
All the wire on the hutches is 1inch x 1/2 inch, to keep rodents out. There is 4
feet between the ground and the bottom wire of the hutch that makes it harder for the preditors to get the rabbits feet. These
hutches are very very heavy and it would be extremely hard for a dog or such to knock the hutch over. Every evening the rabbit
hutche's fronts are covered with a tarp.These hutches cost me $185 to make, that includes latches,wire,rolled roofing ect..Then
it takes my friend & I a whole day to build it. So now you, add a 8+ hour day of your time to the price.
Inside the Hutch
All my rabbits have everything they need to stay happy inside their hutch. Inside of every rabbits
cage they have :
A resting board (piece of plywood) also a mighty mat to sit on where they eat.
They have 2 toys, a rolling ball with a bell in it and a plastic ring that has plastic keys
on it. The rabbits really enjoy picking up their key ring and tossing them. All the plastic toys in their cages
are extremely hard plastic they can not chew it a apart.
They also have hay racks in each cage, this saves the hay from falling thru the wire floor and
it being wasted.
How I feed my Rabbits
I am very picky on what my rabbits eat. They get the highest quality of everything possible and
I try to buy everything from my grain mix ingredients to the fresh fruit and veggies organically the less chemicals the better!
I only feed high quality hay.
Which includes grass hay, orchard grass and oat hay.
My rabbits are fed twice a day, every 12 hours. They get fed at 7:30am and 7:30pm. Every
morning the rabbits get a get 1/4 cup of my grain mix. The grain mix goes into its own little metal tin bowl hooked
in the cages.
When my rabbits are fed in the evening they get a fresh veggie slice, large handful of hay
and another 1/4 cup of my secret grain mix. It's no secret any longer though...I share this recipe as I want
see healthy, happy and well fed rabbits for everyone.
I like to feed the following fruits and veggies to my rabbits.
FRUITS: pears all kinds, apples, strawberrys,blackberrys,raseberrys, watermelon,cantelope,
asian pears,peaches,pineapple,bananas and oranges. I make sure my rabbits always have a orange slice once a week, I believe
this helps their coats stay shinny and it gives their immune system a good dosing of Vitman C.
VEGGIES: For my veggies that I feed my rabbits there are only 3 main veggies I rotate with, and
they are cucumbers,carrots & tops and celery. I allow each rabbit to have a whole carrot and only a slice of the celery
& cucumber because they are a "watery" veggie and to much of a watery veggie can upset the rabbits digestive system and
give the rabbit diahhrea. For an example a 1 celery stick gets cut up into 3 pieces.
Chews:
Well, I give my rabbits apples branches to chew on. We usaully have apple logs so they can chew
& play with it at the same time. No matter what I put in there for them to chew on, they always rather chew on their
hutch. When this happens I find the Hottest Hot sauce and put it where they are chewing, sometimes it works and other times
the hot sauce is yummy and makes the chewing even tastier.
