Suitable Outdoor Pen?

[MelissaPenguin]

I plan on having hutches as well as an outdoor pen for my rabbits to be living in. I have had rabbits before, but they were in rather small hutches, and in order to maximize my room for my buns, I have a few questions.

My aunt breeds rabbits, and she has hers in basic wire cages, outside. She puts them under trees, and have a very well shaded backyard, but sometimes during the summer, she sets up a pen, or just lets them roam the backyard since it's a giant yard and she keeps it very well fenced in for her ducks and the dog (who knows the rabbits are his babies!) I've been told that rabbits need 100% shade all the time, and HAVE to be in hutches with covered tops during sunny days. But I was also always told by my aunt, that rabbits can do fine in fairly hot weather, as long as it's not sudden, and they are given a frozen water bottle once, sometimes twice, a day. I've never heard her, or anyone else in personal experience, say anything about rabbits dying of heat in my area, and I know I never had a problem with it when I was younger.

I have a 8' x 8' dog kennel that I plan on converting into a rabbit pen, with 4 sections, with a tarp over the top. Would this provide adequate shade for them? Would I need to block off the sides that are exposed to the sun with a tarp as well so they don't get ANY sunlight? I was very excited about finally being able to use the dog kennel for something, and giving my buns a fairly large area to play, then my mother said she talked to her boyfriends neighbor who used to breed rabbits, and he said they can NEVER be in any sort of sun light.

Is there a way I can make a dog kennel (chain link) work? I have no problem tarping it all off, but then I wouldn't be able to see my buns. And I just don't think it'd be fair to them to have them in a tarp box.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Personally, I think the "rabbits must be kept out of the sun" bit is a bunch of malarky. Even nocturnal animals have been shown to benefit from UVB exposure, and while rabbits are heat-sensitive, they aren't so head sensitive that they'll die if a ray of sun touches them. Sustained direct sunlight? Horrible idea. But IMO, if you are smart about it - don't put them out on super hot days, provide a frozen water bottle and shade, ventillate their enclosure well, etc. time outdoors isn't an issue at all. I have always let my rabbits go outside for the cooler hours of the day all summer long, and they have always benefitted from the space, grazing, and stimulation.

My main concern with a dog kennel is that the bunnies could probaly dig out if they wanted, and they also could potentially get their heads stuck in the chain link. I would keep a VERY close eye on them, supervised outdoor time only, if you are going to put them out in it.

We keep our rabbit Lucy outdoors most of the day. However, we have an 10 x 12 pen with metal walls that go three feet above and below the ground, a heavy duty mesh roof, and about 50% shade plus an under-ground hide with a cold tile bottom (frozen bottles when needed). She has been thriving out there compared to her smaller indoor pen that she stays in during temperature extremes.

 

[MelissaPenguin]

Oh I guess I forgot to mention, yes we do have a place inside as well for those super hot days, when needed. And I know they are capable of digging out, we are probably going to put wood around the inside of the kennel, and cinder blocks around the outside. I'll definitely watch them, especially in the beginning. I have smaller breed rabbits (with plump bodies) so I don't think getting their heads stuck would be much of an issue. I thought the 'never being in the sun' was a silly rule, too, but I thought I would ask since he felt so strongly about it.

 

[MelissaPenguin]

Would this be the best way to do this? Or should the poultry wire that is underground be folded so it goes literally under the cage? (Does this make sense?)document.write('/images/emoticons/confused.gif');

:?:?

 

[snap]

I always heard to curve the underground fencing into the pen to further discourage digging and make it safer. With straight fencing they can just keep digging down and around, but if its curved in they'll hit it and stop. It also discourages digging predators because they'll have farther to dig around the fence.

It's been awhile since I really researched it, so I won't go into much detail so I don't lead you the wrong way. All I remember from my research was to curve the fence!

 

[MelissaPenguin]

Alright =) thanks!

 

[majorv]

If you have sustained sun into the kennel on one side you could hang shade cloth on that side. We get ours at Home Depot or Lowe's and it comes in various size rolls. We have it on the sides of our hutch and put it down for sun or to cut down on the amount of wind hitting the rabbits...helps some when it rains too...otherwise, weroll it up.

It can get prettyhot here in the summer. When it hits the 90's we use theliter bottles withice, ice cubes in the water andfans.