• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Q for people who let their rabbits go free range in garden

gemmam

Alpha Buck
Hi, not really wanting to get into the debates as to the safety/fox issues etc of free range buns here as I have seen this discussed many times on here, but for those who do give their bunnies access to the whole garden, can I ask a question?

Do you/would you leave the bunnies in the garden whilst you are not at home?

I do give my rabbits the run of the garden every day, but only while I'm at home. I do check on them regulalry, but at the same time, don't watch them constantly, yet I still don't feel as though I could go out without putting them back in their hutches.

Assuming most people don't leave them out unattended, do you get them in and out of their hutches a few times a day if you are popping out a few times etc? Or just give them one long stretch later in the day?
 
Smudge used to have free range of our garden when we were out. Didn't start off that way, but we gradually got more confident about leaving her. That said we had an enclosed garden, to our knowledge no one has seen a fox in the neighbourhood (probably because there's so much countryside nearby) and there were no cats that regularly came into the garden. There was an evil one that did look like it was stalking Smudge to start with, but it got run over, and its replacement was a total wuss and never came near.

Had that other cat been about still, then Smudge would only have been allowed out when someone was about. When that cat was about Smudge normally got a straight stretch of about 2 hours out at a time, several times a day and of course was tucked up in the summerhouse with her tea when it got dark. If you hadn't put her in for the night & she thought it was time she used to sit by the patio doors until you put her to bed. Bless, she also used to press her nose up to the patio doors when she wanted a stroke or some attention too. Aww I miss her, although Dad doesn't as she decided her toilet was going to be on the patio right outside the patio doors :roll: Definitely a case of marking her territory! :lol:

Sorry, waffled on and gave you no useful information:oops:
 
Hi, I think you have answered your own question in your first sentence. :)

Purely for security reasons I don't think anyone on here would go out leaving their bunnies in the garden.

I guess how you manage their free range time is entirely up to you and what works best for your buns.

Personally, I wouldn't let them in and out regularly because it's not always easy to round them up and there's nothing worse than a stubborn bun hiding under a bush when you've got an appointment to keep.
 
I do go out and leave my own rabbits free range in the garden, I have never had any problems at all.

As regards foxes I was told a few weeks ago by a farmer that if you or a dog wee's in the vacinity of where your other animals are then the fox won't enter. It mus be true as he has chickens in a field in a coup and he told David to let the dogs wee near it when they are out omn their walks as it will keep the chickens safe. So now everyone, get your o/h's weeing around your gates and hutches:lol::lol::lol:
 
Mine have free run of the garden and yes I do leave them when I am out.

I am a bit wary if it is more than a few hours (because of the mischief they could possibly get up to) but my buns have established a routine - generally they come out until about 11am and then they toodle off back to the shed, usually not coming out again until 4pm ish (after they have had their afternoon nap!!! :lol::lol:).

They are also really good to get in - I just go out and stand behind them and they know they have to toodle off back to the shed. There are a few times when I have to chase them round and round the garden, but generally things are OK.
 
Aw Glingle, Smudge sounds as though she was a fantastic bun with personality!

My bunnies will go back in their hutch no problem at night as they know they are getting their tea but not always so easily if I let them out for a short spell earlier in the day, so I normally have to wait until I know I'm home for the rest of the day to let them out. I wish I could leave them out all day every day though. They are somemes out for the whole day if one of us is always going to be around but other days they only get a few hours out.
 
Ooh, it is reassuring that some people do leave them out! I think maybe I could try it for short periods e.g. if popping to shops or something but not if out for whole day etc. My rational head says they've been fine all these years and it's not as if I constantly watch them so what difference does it make if I don't check on them for an hour or two whether I've been in or out of the house? Cherylwares, your white bun is exactly like my Dylan :love:
 
My rabbits are given free range of our garden every day, even if we are out. Like Glingle, ours started off just being let out when we were at home and we just left them if we popped out for a few minutes and it gradually increased as we found that they didn't get into mischief or anything and were happier free range.

That said, our garden is completely enclosed with a 5ft fence (we do have a gate but that has a deadlock on it!), there are no foxes to be wary of and our cat strikes fear into any cat that would even THINK about coming into our garden (but she is strangly scared of the bunnies though:lol:)

Our garden is paved over and has a raised grass "flower" bed for the bunnies and a regular flower bed that is fenced off from the bunnies so there is nothing dangerous for them to get into trouble with.
 
I do go out and leave my own rabbits free range in the garden, I have never had any problems at all.

As regards foxes I was told a few weeks ago by a farmer that if you or a dog wee's in the vacinity of where your other animals are then the fox won't enter. It mus be true as he has chickens in a field in a coup and he told David to let the dogs wee near it when they are out omn their walks as it will keep the chickens safe. So now everyone, get your o/h's weeing around your gates and hutches:lol::lol::lol:

:? When I lived with my mum we always had dogs, so obviously always had dog wee in the garden, but that certainly didn't stop foxes wandering in when the dog(s) got shut in for the night.
I would never forgive myself if I left my rabbits for even 5 minutes and something happened to them - be it a fox, a cat, a bird of prey, or them injuring themselves on something I'd missed when rabbitproofing a garden.
 
We let them free range but only under supervision. We've got a lot of cats in the neighbourhood. I will pop in for a while to make a cup of tea but I can still see them from the kitchen window. :lol:

Country foxes tend to be a lot more wary of dogs than urban foxes. Chris parents lost a lot of chickens to foxes when they first got the land before they were living there, but now the dogs are about the foxes don't come near.
 
When I'm home, I open the run and give the rabbits free choice as to whether they want to stay in or have the run of the garden. They usually come out for a run round for about half and hour and then go back 'in' for the remainder of the day, before becoming active again in the early evening. For that reason, I have been known to pop to the shops for an hour whilst their run is open. But if they're being 'active' I don't go out and leave them because it's amazing how quickly they can dig a lovely hole or get themselves into trouble! I know there's the risk that they could become active whilst I'm out but I've yet to see it happen or to suffer any consequences.

I think if I were contemplating doing this for the first time, I'd watch them over a period of a few days to see what they did at certain times of the day. They're usually quite predictable. If they're pretty quiet during the day, I think I'd be prepared to go out and leave them free range. As you say, you know the risks and it's a decision only you can make.

And don't believe the stories about how having dogs deters foxes. I'm lucky that we don't seem to have a fox issue where I live but my parents live in North Kent and they're inundated with urban foxes. They also have four dogs (three of which are male) and the foxes are in their garden every night, usually playing with the toys the dogs have left laying around! Mum and Dad even tried using various fox deterrent products that you paint on fences etc but nothing stopped them scaling a six foot fence to get to where they wanted to be.
 
I let my lot out free range. I don't always stay outdoors with them, but I would be in the kitchen, the dining room or the bun room - all have exits to the garden & the whole place is in full view of me then.

I wouldn't go out & leave them loose. My garden is secure - I have 1 fence over 7 foot & a smaller fence stopping them get access to the back bit. I've never seen a cat or a fox or a wild bun near me, but once my neighbour removed a fence behind my hedges without telling me & his dog chased my foster bun - luckily, as I was only in the kitchen I got outside fast enough. All the hedges have been cut back now, so I can see my new fence:D
 
Hi all mine are free range in the garden even if I go out.I never try to be out for more than a couple of hours because I worry when Im not here.
 
Mine are free range but only when I can supervise them. I can see them from the settee if I'm in the lounge but if I go anywhere else in the house or pop out, they go back in the hutch. So yes, they are in and out numerous times in the day for differing lengths of time.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone :)

My boy bun often stays in the hutch/run anyway, or if out spends most of the day under a bush in the corner until 4pm when he goes mad for a couple of hours. My girlie on the other hand likes to amble round munching grass or sprawl out in the middle of the garden and only goes back in to use the litter tray, so I know she much prefers to be out.
 
Back
Top