keeping the ground dry?

[shazza]

i keep my growout rabbits in a colony pen behind my house. it is generally well-shaded but there is a tarp over one half of the pen to allow them some constant shade. the problem is that our "winter" here in texas is just a rainy season. every time it rains the ground gets incredibly muddy and takes at least two days to dry out enough that the rabbits can groom themselves and stay clean - and by then it may just be raining again because that's how it is here. laying straw helps a little bit, but when it rains 3 days in a row there's not really much i can do to keep it from getting gross. my poor rabbits look miserable out there, like little muddy hairballs. what can i do to keep the ground dry back there besides wait for the sun to slowly evaporate it? like i said, it's pretty shady back there so it dries slower than the rest of the yard.

 

[TheChad]

i keep my growout rabbits in a colony pen behind my house. it is generally well-shaded but there is a tarp over one half of the pen to allow them some constant shade. the problem is that our "winter" here in texas is just a rainy season. every time it rains the ground gets incredibly muddy and takes at least two days to dry out enough that the rabbits can groom themselves and stay clean - and by then it may just be raining again because that's how it is here. laying straw helps a little bit, but when it rains 3 days in a row there's not really much i can do to keep it from getting gross. my poor rabbits look miserable out there, like little muddy hairballs. what can i do to keep the ground dry back there besides wait for the sun to slowly evaporate it? like i said, it's pretty shady back there so it dries slower than the rest of the yard.

Best bet is to change the drainage for the spot. Add a slight hump or maybe install a drain line under. More in depth option would be to dig it out a foot or more and add a layer of rock covered by sand then your ground cover. That is probably over kill, but would help. I would go with raising making a slight mound. This would give you better run off. Hard to really tell without seeing it. Hope this helps.

 

[UFCreel]

I built a four foot by four foot by 20 inch grow out cage out of treated 2 x 4's and cage wire. All wire is on inside of cage. So there is no chance of them eating the treated 2 x 4's. The bottom of the cage sits 24 inches off the ground. It also has a metal roof. Plenty of Timothy hay and pellets. In 10 to 12 weeks my Red New Zealand's are 5 lbs.

 

[Lowstorm]

I prefer to do things on the cheap. Add a couple of pallets on the ground so they can get up off the actual ground and chill on them instead of the dirt. If you want to get really fancy you can do pallets with some plywood to make a mini horse shed for them.

 

[Dood]

Line all or part of it with patio stones or pavers or flagstone type rocks

 

[BelleVie]

I have a large tarp completely over my colony pens, and then I just add a bit of dry hay, straw, or wood shavings as things start getting too damp. I think the trick for you is just to build up the ground inside the pen so it is higher than the surrounding ground -- so everything drains off. Or maybe get a larger tarp and mount it in a way that it is high in the middle and there is a pretty good length overhang on all sides extending out past the walls of the pen. Mine doesn't have an overhang so when it is windy/rainy the pen gets quite wet in areas.

 

[shazza]

we ended up having an outbreak of an illness (not sure what yet, likely coccidia,) that killed 16 of my growouts so we build a bit pen up off the ground for them to eliminate that as a vector for disease. we may try again but we plan on moving later this year and the breeding season is over for me, so any more colony plans will be in the fall/winter.

 

[Lowstorm]

That stinks, sorry to hear. I have 18 babies growing out in my old colony hutch that the adults outgrew right now. Its off the ground and I need to modify it a bit still... I should really do that soon!