How do I share the grass?

You may have seen a post last week about 2 of my pairs of bunnies. I was thinking about trying them as a foursome but have decided to keep them as 2 pairs. (They were originally a trio (Sweep, Merry & Hollie) that had a falling out and so Sweep and Merry stayed together and Thumper came to live with Hollie).

Anyway here is their setup:



As we had to separate them, Merry and Sweep have a 5 x 7 foot shed all to themselves with a run built on the right hand side of the shed accessed by a tunnel from the shed:





Hollie and Thumper have a 6 x 2 foot hutch with 6 x 4 foot under run and currently have access (when we are around) to an enclosed area of garden:




Now my dilemma is this:

Do I split the grass (approx 12 foot by 6 foot) in 2 so each pair has their own area, or do I let each pair have a few hours a day on the whole area?

Is this likely to cause any territorial problems?

Obviously I can shut the shed door when Hollie and Thumper are out and cover the run over when Sweep and Merry are out.

I would really welcome any suggestions that you have.

Thanks

:wave: Such fantastic set-ups Jo

I think I would be tempted to divide the grass ... could you put a little fence in line with the edge of the shed to give Merry & Sweep their own little bit of grass?

Lots of people have bunnies that share their grass, but if you divided it it would mean less fussing for you and more grass time for both pairs. Hope that makes sense? x

Wow what gorgeous homes! I have a few combinations of rabbits that dont get on so I rotate turns on the grass. Its never caused any problems for me apart from the constant droppings outside the other ones hutches that need sweeping!

Thumper & Boo said:

Wow what gorgeous homes! I have a few combinations of rabbits that dont get on so I rotate turns on the grass. Its never caused any problems for me apart from the constant droppings outside the other ones hutches that need sweeping!

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Yes - I noticed the droppings issue too! Yesterday I split the grass up (temporarily) but still only put one pair out at a time. Today I have given each pair a few hours of grass time each with the whole area.

Have to watch where you walk! Sweep is digging holes everywhere too!

Do you cover the hutches over each time so that they can't see each other?

If Hollie catches sight of Merry she seems to go a bit mad and takes it out on poor Thumper.

oh poor thumper! I dont cover them up, after 10 minutes or so they seem to just be more interested in pooping in front of them than bothering them!

about the dropping I bought a fab garden vacuum (black & decker) that I use a few times a week on the grass, it blends them all up as well so I just empty the sac straight into the compost!

Splitting the grass sounds a good way to give both access, the logical point looks like along the edge of the shed.

However, giving them perminant access might be too much for the grass. You may find it quickly becomes short and patchy. Plus it means neither pair gets the opportunity for a really giant exercise area (not that the amount of space split 50/50 would be anything to sniff at).

I shouldn't think you'll have any problems with them sharing. You may need to cover the run while the other pair are out as sometimes they get frustrated if they can see other rabbits near their pad. They should get used to the routine pretty quickly, they'll already be aware there are other rabbits about.

Tam

Was going to say what Tam said but she beat me to it May I add how lucky your buns are..... and clean .

Thank you everyone for your replies. I am very lucky - my bunnies are all very clean and (mostly) use their litter trays (bless them!)

Today worked well with Hollie and Thumper having the grass for a few hours and then changing over to Sweep and Merry (covering the run over).

I think that I will stick to that and see how it goes.

You are right Tamsin - the grass needs to recover! They all have plenty of space whilst they are shut up so it is great for them to also have a big run area to share.

They are amazing

You can always grow grass in pots/tubs if you need to provide something to nibble in the other area too. It grows really fast too, I've been growing tonnes of it.

timb0h said:

They are amazing

You can always grow grass in pots/tubs if you need to provide something to nibble in the other area too. It grows really fast too, I've been growing tonnes of it.

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That is a great idea - I think that I will give that a go - thanks