Feeders in Colony Pens

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Rabbit Talk Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
O

Oxankle

Active member
Joined
Sep 13, 2011
Messages
29
Reaction score
0
Location
Oklahoma, USA
Whoa!!!!

Now what Coach? I have my bunnies in a 20 foot square pen. The ground is well-drained but flat. There is an A-frame pig shelter in the center.

I originally had a feeder out in the open so that the rabbits had free choice. I left town for a few days and thinking it might rain I put it in the A-frame.

When I looked this morning the feed was covered with dirt. The rabbits had been tunneling inside the A-frame and had tossed dirt in the feed.

How do those of you with outdoor pens handle this? Do you have a shelter for your feeder? It appears to me that I am going to have to make a rainproof feed station.
 
A dedicated feeding station is a good idea. Maybe a covered platform with walls on three sides to keep the wind, rain and snow out. Nothing elaborate, but with a floor, which should solve the dirt problem, even if the rabbits decide to burrow underneath it.
 
Maggie; that sounds pretty much like what I'll have to do, but the more "structure" I put in the pen, the smaller the colony space becomes.
Ox
 
Not necessarily. "Furniture" is very useful to provide variety and hiding places; it helps to reduce friction and boredom. If you want an analogy, picture a spacious but barren schoolyard versus a smaller yard with trees, climbing equipment, swings. sandbox and so forth. Where will the kids be happier?

Maybe you can build your feeding station on posts with a ramp or step so they can have a shady place to hang out in summer.
 
build up. a raised platform with a roof and plenty of room to play, and dig, underneath.
 
OK; I've got the sucker started. Tomorrow I fashion a roof of some sort, and I need to buy sheet metal sheathing to enclose the sides.
Ox<br /><br />__________ Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:19 pm __________<br /><br />Sheesh!!!! I went to town to buy sheet metal, 24" valley materiel, a light-gauge galvanize sheet that comes in rolls. $2.25 per foot!!!!! The last I bought cost something like fifty cents a foot.

Came home got out the tractor and lifted out some heavy old galvanized duct-work that a former tenant left on the place maybe twenty years ago. I un-zipped one of the ducts and have all the metal I need, but first I have to cut it to size. This is turning out to be more work than I planned.
 
We built a raised 3'x3' deck platform and then put a 3 sided feeding box on top of that. The rabbits like to hide under the deck and also have started burrowing under there. The only trouble I'm having is that they like to throw their feed dish around, and have even taken it under the deck with them at times. Wascaly Wabbits!
 
Do any of you have hay feeders in your colony pens?

I think I have acquired a big round bale, 1200 pounds or so, of alfalfa. If so I need a feeder for that. What to use? I think it would have to have a trough under it to catch shattered leaves. and broken stems. They will eat every bite of it if it is not dirty.

Anyone with experience here?
 
Ooh, wow, that's a tough one. Maybe some kind of cattle panel cradle on low legs with a bit of a raised platform underneath? I guess feeding it incrementally isn't an option? Heck, sitting it in there on a pallet might be your best bet, just see what they do with it.
 
I think they would scatter it if they have access to the whole thing. I'd store it elsewhere and just fill a good-sized hay feeder when necessary. I tried a hay silo made of field fencing -- the holes were too big and the rabbits used it for a lounge. Then I tried a dog crate but the young ones still hung out inside it and the older ones only had access to the hay if it was well pushed down on a regular basis. Still haven't figured out something that I am happy with.
 
Oh Foo!!!! Last night I was a bit late getting out for a final check on my animals. When I started toward the rabbit pen my light picked up pink eyes in the pasture. Rabbit out. Two of the three were in the pasture, the third still in the pen. I was unable to catch either of the two out, went to bed. Within a half hour I heard one of them scream and all the dogs around started barking. I went out, but could find only one, and that I could not catch even with a spotlight and net.

Went out this morning, even the third was outside, both went into the woods at a run. It appears that I may be out of the rabbit business again. Certainly I will not try again until I can dig-proof the fence. I will also be trapping again, possum, coon and coyote.
 
Yeah, you pretty much need to "dig proof" the perimeters. Frequently, escapees will come back on their own, looking for easy food and water.

Here's a link to an excellent blog about a rabbit colony in West Virginia. You probably remember Turtlehead from HT... it belongs to her. If you scroll down to November 2007, you will see a one-way rabbit door she used to allow escapees to return to the colony.
http://gardenplotter.com/rospo/blog/labels/rabbits.html
 
Thanks, Maggie. It appears that I am at least part-way back in business. One of the does, the one that has been tunneling, is back in the pen and I have set bricks in the ground under the fence. I also moved the present feeder-shelter out about a foot from the fence so that there is a clear passage along the fence. They seem to have dug behind the feed shelter, and in so doing discovered that the fence did not go into the ground. They've not dug anywhere near the fence in any other place.

Whatever it was that died last night was not one of my buns. I went out late this evening and saw both the escapees; they've taken shelter under a steel equipment platform I have lying in the pasture. It is on the ground at one end, on an eight inch post at the other so that they can go back as far as they can squeeze. The platform rests on four-inch I-beams, so they have s shelter that most varmints cannot penetrate. I set a live trap baited with apple where they come and go under the platform. We shall see.
 
I would suggest a feeder in a colony be as close to center as possible--rabbit feed will also attract deer. depending on the fencing-- deer will jump, or if the feed is close enough, reach through. BUT, the good news, they won't work too hard if easier pickings are outside the fence.
 
Thanks for the good advice. I set my box trap beside the colony pen, baited it with apple and rabbit pellets and on the second evening caught the loose doe. I've not seen the buck lately, so he may be eaten. The doe seemed happy to be back inside. I've a spare buck, but I'm not going to put him in the colony until I see whether or not the does are pregnant. I think both are, but we'll know in a couple of weeks. \
Ox
 
We have an indoor colony, so it is not the same set up as yours, but what works for us is an entire small square bale (still strapped) on a stall mat. Takes mine over two weeks to eat (about 17 rabbits), they do not waste much, I can't imagine how long it would take them to eat a round bale... I have a feeling it would become a "bunny city" more than anything else. If I had to feed loose I would probably make a pillow type feeder out of chicken wire or something else about the same size, similar to a slow feed net for horses. We feed concentrates and cubes out of the square plastic holders they sell for 50lb salt blocks... work great. Hard to move, impossible to tip over, they can feed out of all four sides at once (look like a bunch of little cows, funny), and they have small holes for drainage/fines to sift out. We have had great success catching escapees with a humane trap baited with sweet feed, buns love it.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top