keeping run in one place?

Hiya, I have two baby bunnies currently living indoors but in the Spring we will be moving them outside. We have a front garden with lawn but we live on a busy, noisy road which gets flooded quite often (nice eh!) and our garden gets soaked when cars go past and splash it. I also think it is pretty horrible leaving them where all the noise and fumes are. We don't have a back garden as such as we are in a row of old cottages with outbuildings running along the back. The space in between our house and outbuilding is paved and gravelled, however I have raked up the gravel and it is a 6X6ft square, all soil underneath. My plan is to turf this area so my bunnies will have a 6ft square area where I can get a big run with a hutch attatched, to basically fill this whole square up with a 6ft square run. My question is.....this run will never be moved, the bunnies will always be on this square of grass as there is nowhere else to move them. Will they just eat all the grass within a couple of weeks and then it will just always be mud because it won't get a chance to grow back? Would I be better off buying a 4x4ft run and hutch so at least I can move it from one side of this square to the other?!

I would pave the area for the run and forget the grass at the back. Let the grass grow long at the front and then you can cut it for them to have a munch every day.

They will eat all of the grass within a couple of days! Within a few weeks it will just be dirt/mud.

I have two smallish rabbits in a 15ftx7ft run which in the summer I have to move once a week. I'm currently having to move it twice a week, because the grass can't grow fast enough! When they were in an 8ftx4ft run I had to move it every day (I could leave them two days at a push).

I would either pave it or use wood chippings (which you'll have to replenish every few months). However, mine aren't on a hard surface so I'm not the best one to advise you; I'm only going on what I've read on here. I do know however, that if you grass it, they'll rapidly demolish it.

:wave:
steve lives on concrete and does just fine, when its nice and not bad waether in the summer i intend getting a cheap bale of hay and using it to cover the floor but at the mo he spends 12 hours a day on concrete and there are no probs and is soooooo easy to clean.

i'd pave it and pull up grass for them in the summer

hiya, thanks for your replies, i've never heard of keeping bunnies on concrete before! Is it alright for their feet to always be on concrete then? Would it be a good idea to grow a little container of grass and soil for them to dig about in that I could put inside? It is so annoying, the guy next door to us on the end has a massive side garden, we got the wrong house!

Mine have all been on concrete for over four years with no problems. Every bunny is different though. Keep an eye on it.

A digging tray/grass would be good although they will demolish it pretty quickly :lol::lol:

Lorenzo's hutch and run setup is too heavy to be moved and I have also put a wire base on it and turfed over the top (seemed a good idea at the time!)

I wanted a wire base so that he couldn't dig out of it (or other things dig in) but then I wanted him to have a soft surface so we turfed it!

In the nicer weather this was fine as the grass took nicely and he hopped around happily! However now the grass isn't growing it has compacted in places and where he goes to the loo it has died. It isn't muddy (I put a cover over the run when it rains during the day) but there isn't too much grass left! Now I am wondering what to do! I can't move it as it is basically set into the lawn now (and it is too heavy to move easily).

If you get the slightly smaller run you can give your grass a rest but the 4ft by 4ft run won't give them too much room to hop around - Loz is a (quite large) mini lop and the 5ft by 5ft run is just about ok for him. Difficult decision!

Same as other have said, it will just turn to mud! My outdoor buns had a concrete slab with their dirt patch at the front, however if you don't want to ruin your garden you'd be better paving the whole thing. Mine never had and problems and it kept their nails trimmed too. If you slab the whole thing you're also eliminating any digging problems.
What I did with regards to grass was get two big rectangular flowerpots and grow grass in them. The buns hop up onto the pots and have a nibble at the grass, but aren't constantly standing on it so it bears up better. I had four pots which went in a rotation and gave the grass a chance to grow. A bit of a faff, I had a walk-in run which made it easier to lift the pots in and out.
I also used to collect grass from the embankment behind my house, obviously it depends on wether you have grass near you but as long as you wash it well (in case of dogs) it's fine and normally more juicy than the grass you get in your garden.

Unless you have rex bunnies (who are more prone to sore hocks) I'd agree you'd be better with concrete or paving slabs under the run. If you are planning on giving the buns 24hr access to the run bu attaching the hutch this is a safer option than grass because nothing can dig in or out. Its also easier to clean/disinfect if needed. You can always grow grass in low seed trays for your bunnies to munch.

Also I have found that the hard surface helps with keeping nails shorter.

awesome, thank you so much for all your replies we actually have a few spare paving slabs from the front garden so that will be my project for Spring!