Need Ideas for Outdoor Pen Please

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angela

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Location
Chiang Mai, , Thailand
We are moving to a new property soon and I will be able to use an old rundown chicken coop as a rabbitry. It is VERY rundown and in need of many repairs, however, I believe it has some good potential. Please help me to put together a great plan for my 4 buns. I'd like to build an individual run for each bunny off this central building.

Note: I have 2 females (who may be able to get along somewhat and therefore share a pen. I also have 2 males (father and son) who definately DO NOT get along and I cannot trust them together for a moment. We are not wanting any more bunnies, so males and females cannot go in together either.

That said....the photos below are of the new bunny barn to be:

[URL=http://s668.photobucket.com/user/angelathailand/media/1430195528543_zpscyem3gzc.jpg.html] [/URL]

[URL=http://s668.photobucket.com/user/angelathailand/media/Existing%20Chicken%20Coop%202_zpsfwcdgpni.jpg.html] [/URL]

[URL=http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv48/angelathailand/VID_20150428_113235_zpsuddzgfwg.mp4] [/URL]
 
Definitely need to replace the wire since it's so rusted, but depending on whether you have predators around just make sure the wire you replace it with is sturdy. It looks pretty big!
 
Yes, it needs a really good scrub! And, I'll be removing the plant material around the bottom and replacing it with sheets of iron. The structure is reasonably sound, and is metal framed. The wire I'll replace with new stronger hardware cloth..maybe 1/4" to stop rats and snakes. We have rice fields over the back fence, just behind this structure, so I will need to ensure the bunnies are safe from these predators. Mosquito/fly screening over everything will be a must too.

What I'm needing help with is arranging this accommodation into suitable living quarters for my buns. Would rice hulls be ok for flooring? And I'm thinking of dividing it into 3 or 4 sections, with a separate run off each section to the outside. The runs won't be able to be very big, but it's gonna be WAY better than their current living situation.

How would I be best to handle the poop from the bunnies? Should I still put them in cages inside this structure at night?

Thanks :biggrin2:
 
I would coop them at night, for protection. The only experience I've had with rice hulls was when we used them as bedding for my daughter's goat. I wasn't real happy with it because it isn't absorbant, so we went back to shavings. We had it on top of the stall mats in his pen. It might be okay if you're just using it as a padding, but it was messy...we were always having to sweep it back in the pen. If your rabbits are litter box trained it would be easy to just have litter boxes out.
 
You might not have much luck with the males, but you could try giving them litter trays and training them to poop and pee in them.

Otherwise, in terms of the housing, you will want to make sure that you either have a solid barrier or a double barrier (mesh, approx 1 inch gap, then more mesh) between your females and males because rabbits can mate through wire, so you'll need to ensure that they can't do that. That and making sure the wire is small enough so they can't bite each other through it (if you house the males next to each other).
 

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