Best of Breed

Cookie Monster's first leg as a junior.

The New Rabbitry

Our new rabbitry is just what we've always wanted.  It is fully enclosed, has windows, sky lights, can be locked, single door and double barn doors, can be easily hosed off and has a hard floor.  Yay!  It is so easy to keep clean.  It looks nice in the yard and is very comfortable.  We spend a lot of time out there enjoying our bunnies.

We are using stacking cages with pelleted pine in the drop trays.  This keeps things very dry and odor free between cleanings.  Used bedding and droppings go into the compost bins next to the garden.

We put the old canopy (frame with top only) over this rabbitry.  This provides shade over the rabbitry for more efficient cooling as well as a shaded work area for grooming.  We can put x-pens around this area to make a nice, shaded run for the rabbits to romp.

We keep pellets inside the shed in a Vittles Vault.  We store bedding in a covered trash can outside under the canopy.  Hay is kept in a storage bench from Costco that is pefect for keeping an entire bale.  It matches the rabbitry.  Bonus.

Our air conditioner is a Sharp, also, from Costco.  It cools, fans, vents, and dehumidifies.  It has a remote and is programable.

So far there is nothing I don't like about this new rabbitry.

The (old) New Rabbitry

Our new rabbitry is a 2 1/2 inch tubular framed carport. It is roofed and walled with a very sturdy, tarp-like material. It can be opened, to varying degrees, at both ends to adjust the breeze that comes through it.  While it is just not as pretty as the old one, it is much bigger and has a neat, clean look to it.  

We have enough space for more cages, a utility shelf filled with rabbit supplies, feed and hay storage, carry cages, rabbit cart and space for sitting and grooming the rabbits.  

The rabbitry has electricity and water available to it.  We added a bright overhead light for the evenings that I am working out there.  A mister line is attatched to the front entrance to cool the air a bit in the summertime.  I have added an automatic fly control spray mechanism as well as an electric bug zapper.  

Ahh, perfect.  Well, not quite.  I really miss having that nice, clean, red, brick floor we had in the other rabbitry.  It made it much easier to maintain cleanliness.  It was so easy to scrub and disinfect.  I've tried a rock path down the middle of the new rabbitry and letting the droppings fall to the dirt floor but I much prefer the fresh clean look and feel of the brick.  Brick floor - my next project.

The Old Rabbitry

The rabbitry was made of an existing structure here in the backyard of our new home.  My husband put a roof on an arbor and hung some cages from it.  There is a fence on two sides of it as it is situated in the corner of our yard - wooden fence on the side and chain link in the back.  

A nice breeze comes off the school fields behind the house and helps cool the rabbits a bit during the summertime.  We put up a misting line that we turn on when a wireless thermometer (monitor inside the house, remote in the rabbitry), tells us it's getting too hot for the bunnies.  

We also planted some fragrant star jasmine to grow up the chain link for esthetics, privacy, a little more shade, nice scent, and breeze control in winter.  While the jasmine is growing, it is being fed bunny berries courtesy of the Woolies.  Extra poop and disgarded hay goes into the compost bin that is just one bush away from the rabbitry.  The ground beneath the cages is paved with red bricks and is quickly and easily hosed off.

It's very clean so that makes mom very happy.  And when this tired mom has had "enough" I can go out to the backyard and hug a bunny.  It's very theraputic.

Our Security System

Apache Tears, CGC

Sharp, white teeth attached to a big black dog does the trick just fine.  LOL.  Apache Tears is our pure black Great Dane - a Valinor Great Dane from Everett Van Dyken.  She is very loving and protective of our home and the rabbits.  She knows the rabbits are hers to watch over.  She enjoys spending time with them in the rabbitry almost as much as she loves hanging with the family.  She keeps our property clear of people and predators.