ramblingrabbit
Well-known member
I experimented a little with a portable grazing pen I recently made out of recycled materials. It seemed like such a cool idea conceptually, but my results were mixed. I came to the temporary conclusion that it doesn't really do much for me right now to have the grow outs in a grazer, although it may still prove to be a nice option to have handy some day.
What I found (which probably should have been obvious from the beginning) is that when you are already operating a cut-and-carry forage-based style rabbitry, adding grazing pens to the mix isn't particularly convenient. I still have to cut some things for the rabbits in the grazer anyway (high protein greens, etc), and having them located in a different place from the breeding hutches makes servicing more bothersome--it feels like having two rabbitries to service instead of one. The rabbits are well accustomed already to eating cut fodder of all sorts, but they didn't actually seem to eat that much grass while they were in the pen. Maybe I didn't give it enough time though. A lot of people I talked to seemed to have this notion that the rabbits would be happier or have a more natural life being able to be on the ground. But I could not see any sign of this by observing the animals themselves, so for me this gets dangerously close to the area of projecting thoughts or notions into the rabbits heads and making assumptions about things that the rabbits themselves may not actually care about. I'm more concerned with what's good for the rabbits (based on tangible signs of well-being) and convenient or us, not with doing what's fashionable or what people, many of whom don't keep rabbits, THINK a rabbit wants! It also thought it seemed a lot hotter in the grazing pen than in the hutches, because there was no way for air to circulate underneath. Rabbits in Hawaii don't need extra warmth! Also, I don't really have a lot of "good pasture" to exploit with this tool. It's more like lawn at this point, with the occasional overgrown corner here and there. They don't actually get any more space in the grazer either, because due to concerns about making it too heavy to move, it's actually slightly smaller than the hutch they are in right now. There's also the still small but very real risk of worms and other parasites from being directly on the ground to factor in.
And the kicker came when I tried to move the pen eight feet down, and the rabbits started bouncing off the walls, thumping in terror, and otherwise virtually having heart attacks--and I was afraid I was going to crush a leg or something under the edges of the pen. Not something I want to do twice a day. Even if they got used to it after a while, I'd have to go through it again every time I put a new litter in there. When I brought the test rabbits back to their siblings in the growout hutch they looked really happy and relieved to be home.
I'm not trying to discredit the idea of grazing pens itself. I think that if you were feeding free choice pellets and had good pasture readily available it might be very handy. You wouldn't have to do much except put the rabbits in, keep the feeder and waterer topped up, move the thing once or twice a day, and watch the feed bill go way down. Like they do at Polyface Farms for example. But if you're cut-and-carry feeding, as I am, and already have to service the breeding hutches anyway, it provides no economical benefit and isn't really more convenient--unless, possibly, you had some really amazing pasture to exploit right next to the hutches (in which case though it might still be nearly as easy to cut the pasture with a sickle and bring it to the hutches).
In short, its just a perfect example of what happens so often in farming and gardening, of how what seems like the "holy grail" for one situation may not be all that great an advantage in another. It reminds me how we should think about what makes the most sense for each person's unique situation and goals, not just leap for what's fashionable or looks sexy.
What I found (which probably should have been obvious from the beginning) is that when you are already operating a cut-and-carry forage-based style rabbitry, adding grazing pens to the mix isn't particularly convenient. I still have to cut some things for the rabbits in the grazer anyway (high protein greens, etc), and having them located in a different place from the breeding hutches makes servicing more bothersome--it feels like having two rabbitries to service instead of one. The rabbits are well accustomed already to eating cut fodder of all sorts, but they didn't actually seem to eat that much grass while they were in the pen. Maybe I didn't give it enough time though. A lot of people I talked to seemed to have this notion that the rabbits would be happier or have a more natural life being able to be on the ground. But I could not see any sign of this by observing the animals themselves, so for me this gets dangerously close to the area of projecting thoughts or notions into the rabbits heads and making assumptions about things that the rabbits themselves may not actually care about. I'm more concerned with what's good for the rabbits (based on tangible signs of well-being) and convenient or us, not with doing what's fashionable or what people, many of whom don't keep rabbits, THINK a rabbit wants! It also thought it seemed a lot hotter in the grazing pen than in the hutches, because there was no way for air to circulate underneath. Rabbits in Hawaii don't need extra warmth! Also, I don't really have a lot of "good pasture" to exploit with this tool. It's more like lawn at this point, with the occasional overgrown corner here and there. They don't actually get any more space in the grazer either, because due to concerns about making it too heavy to move, it's actually slightly smaller than the hutch they are in right now. There's also the still small but very real risk of worms and other parasites from being directly on the ground to factor in.
And the kicker came when I tried to move the pen eight feet down, and the rabbits started bouncing off the walls, thumping in terror, and otherwise virtually having heart attacks--and I was afraid I was going to crush a leg or something under the edges of the pen. Not something I want to do twice a day. Even if they got used to it after a while, I'd have to go through it again every time I put a new litter in there. When I brought the test rabbits back to their siblings in the growout hutch they looked really happy and relieved to be home.
I'm not trying to discredit the idea of grazing pens itself. I think that if you were feeding free choice pellets and had good pasture readily available it might be very handy. You wouldn't have to do much except put the rabbits in, keep the feeder and waterer topped up, move the thing once or twice a day, and watch the feed bill go way down. Like they do at Polyface Farms for example. But if you're cut-and-carry feeding, as I am, and already have to service the breeding hutches anyway, it provides no economical benefit and isn't really more convenient--unless, possibly, you had some really amazing pasture to exploit right next to the hutches (in which case though it might still be nearly as easy to cut the pasture with a sickle and bring it to the hutches).
In short, its just a perfect example of what happens so often in farming and gardening, of how what seems like the "holy grail" for one situation may not be all that great an advantage in another. It reminds me how we should think about what makes the most sense for each person's unique situation and goals, not just leap for what's fashionable or looks sexy.
The thing that put the lid on my grazing attempts was that the bucks started fighting each other since they were in a new pen. They lived happily in peace once they got back to their regular pen.. and I wasn't prepared to let them stay in the grazer overnight so it didn't feel like a good idea.
