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Free range?! Advice please!!!

A

Autumn

Warren Scout
Have had a good look around the garden today (we recently moved house) and it looks like bunny proofing would be pretty straight forward - simply a case of blocking access down side of house with a second bunny proof gate and blocking off access behind the shed. I would love for them to have access to the whole garden as they would enjoy it so much. The house wraps around the garden and during the day I am either in the kitchen, study or the kids lounge so have pretty much constant view of the garden. Obviously I would shut them away when I popped out to shops / school etc. I'm not sure I'm brave enough though??! Do any of you let your rabbits free range in the garden when you're home? The garden is not enormous, probably about 35ft by 25ft.....

Ooooh I don't know what to do!!!
 
a million times yes, would NEVER give my bunnies anything less than free range of the garden. Mine are usually let out 9am-9pm everyday when someone is home. Your bunnies will go mad when you let them out, it's so rewarding to watch :love:
 
Coco - do you manage to get yours back in okay? 2 of mine sit on my feet half the time im in the garden so catching them in a huge space is easy peasy, but 'Stroppy Moo' as she is nicknamed is not even remotely a fan of being picked up..... do you pick them up or just herd them in and they know the drill? x
 
Absolutely let them free range - they love it.

My words of caution are....

Be aware that foxes can strike day or night, and can clear a 6ft fence easily.

Cats can attack your buns so be aware of local cats etc.

If you are rural beware of birds of prey.

Rabbits can dig under a fence within a few minutes so make sure you have checked there are no vulnerable spots (my garden has bricks buried under the soil all around the edges)

Make sure they have the option to bolt into their hutch or shed if they choose


All my rabbits free range and they absolutely love it, but I am on watch whilst they do and my dogs patrol the garden too.
 
BB Mommy said:
Absolutely let them free range - they love it.

My words of caution are....

Be aware that foxes can strike day or night, and can clear a 6ft fence easily.

Cats can attack your buns so be aware of local cats etc.

If you are rural beware of birds of prey.

Rabbits can dig under a fence within a few minutes so make sure you have checked there are no vulnerable spots (my garden has bricks buried under the soil all around the edges)

Make sure they have the option to bolt into their hutch or shed if they choose


All my rabbits free range and they absolutely love it, but I am on watch whilst they do and my dogs patrol the garden too.
Click to expand...

Yes I have a dog on patrol too - makes me feel a whole lot safer about daytime foxes that's for sure. :D

Wow I'm getting quite excited now - they are going to love it! I'll be a nervous wreck though! Any advice for getting 'stoppy' back in??!
 
Autumn said:
Yes I have a dog on patrol too - makes me feel a whole lot safer about daytime foxes that's for sure. :D

Wow I'm getting quite excited now - they are going to love it! I'll be a nervous wreck though! Any advice for getting 'stoppy' back in??!
Click to expand...

How would your dog react to rabbits in the garden?
 
Yeah mine free range in the garden probably every other day, they take turns at the garden and the house to play in when I get home from work

I just call mine back into the house, I would never leave them unsupervised though
 
GrahamL said:
How would your dog react to rabbits in the garden?
Click to expand...

She totally ignores them when they are in their run, and we used to keep free ranging chickens and ducks who she was fine with.... The plan would be to start introducing the dog and buns without them being in the run very gradually - in fact as Oh is away tonight i will probably make a start in the kitchen tonight!:shock:
 
I have a pair of stroppy buns that I defy anyone to catch:lol:

With all my buns they have access doors from their runs that open into the garden, so I don't have to handle them in or out, and they can choose whether to come out, or go back in.

All of mine know the routine, and 10 of them happily trot back in when I herd them back (although the occassional one can't resist having an extra chase around once in a while)

With the stroppy pair I use two panels of a metal rabbit run which I position around their access door, and herd them into in, but they've been doing it so long now they're really good at going back.

For the first few times make sure you have plenty of time to get them back in, as if they're not used to it it can take a while.

The trick is to keep it calm and pleasant. If you have to start chasing/catching then it'll be harder next time.

I used to use food time to get them to bed, so the rattle of food will bring them to wherever I want them to be. That's a good starting point, they you can ditch the food once they know what to do.

Good luck!
 
I want to let mine free range when I'm home (can't leave them out unattended though, low fence, neighbour has a thick dalmatian, and there are cats about too, seen small birds of prey but not large ones). But I need to block off the end of the garden as there's a hole in the fence down there that's tricky to block off, and bushes I don't want them getting under.

Where does everyone get their puppy fencing etc??
 
Mine can usually be bribed back in with the offer of some SS pellets.Ozzie just needs to hear the rustle of a cereal packet and he's in :oops: [although its getting him to go out thats my usual problem-he's my indoor bunny who stops eating if left outside :roll:]
 
Autumn said:
Coco - do you manage to get yours back in okay? 2 of mine sit on my feet half the time im in the garden so catching them in a huge space is easy peasy, but 'Stroppy Moo' as she is nicknamed is not even remotely a fan of being picked up..... do you pick them up or just herd them in and they know the drill? x
Click to expand...

:lol: I know the feeling, mine don't like being handled at all, I sort of have to chase them in every single night... It does require a lot of chasing and a lot of swearing but I do it eventually :lol::lol:
 
I used to let Jasper out in the garden we had when I was growing up. He was always supervised but one day he escaped from the run and Frankie our tibetan terrier was out in the garden and came trotting back with Jasper in his mouth. Thankfully he was very gentle.

Having lost two buns to the nextdoor's dog this year, who were in a fox-proof run, I wouldn't be willing to let my buns free range in the garden unsupervised, even though the fencing has been improved. I would consider getting an extra moveable run for them for when I'm in the garden to go on the grass, but I think the kennel and eventually the aviary give them enough freedom and secuirty when we are not there. Also we have lots of cts that come in our garden, and theoretically a fox could come in round the back but we've never seen one. Thee are also lots of bulb plants in the garden, again another hazard fo the buns. So all things considered, no.
 
No, don't do it unless your are OUTSIDE WITH THEM.

Just being able to see them from the house is NOT enough. What on earth could you do from inside the house if a fox suddenly appeared and snapped up one of your buns?
 
our buns free range every day when someone is in

Our 'rabbit garden' is fully walled and securely gated, and our cat has been reared around rabbits and is 'top cat' in the neighbourhood. There are birds of prey around, so we would never have dwarf buns - our two are fairly huge. They love free-ranging and have made the garden their own. They've hollowed out little shelters under their favourite shrubs, and there's a hay-filled kennel they can use if they wish (but they never wish). There's a roof overhang they shelter under if it rains.

Catching them is the fun bit. Their overnight hutch is not in the rabbit garden - they have to be carried to and fro. That's our chance to handle them and do bum checks etc. Sausage is friendly and cuddly and quite happy to be picked up and carried home unless he thinks it is too early in the evening. Buffy never wants to go home, and thoroughly enjoys leading OH a right old dance. I think she figures he needs the exercise. When she's got him out of breath she lets him catch her.

We are lucky to be fox-proof - there's a 10 foot walled drop at the back and I defy a fox to manage that.

Free-ranging is never risk-free, but the pleasure they get from their freedom makes it worth while.
 
glossta1 said:
Our 'rabbit garden' is fully walled and securely gated, and our cat has been reared around rabbits and is 'top cat' in the neighbourhood. There are birds of prey around, so we would never have dwarf buns - our two are fairly huge. They love free-ranging and have made the garden their own. They've hollowed out little shelters under their favourite shrubs, and there's a hay-filled kennel they can use if they wish (but they never wish). There's a roof overhang they shelter under if it rains.

Catching them is the fun bit. Their overnight hutch is not in the rabbit garden - they have to be carried to and fro. That's our chance to handle them and do bum checks etc. Sausage is friendly and cuddly and quite happy to be picked up and carried home unless he thinks it is too early in the evening. Buffy never wants to go home, and thoroughly enjoys leading OH a right old dance. I think she figures he needs the exercise. When she's got him out of breath she lets him catch her.

We are lucky to be fox-proof - there's a 10 foot walled drop at the back and I defy a fox to manage that.

Free-ranging is never risk-free, but the pleasure they get from their freedom makes it worth while.
Click to expand...

I suppose it comes down to whether the quality of lives makes the risk worth while..... Oh dear..... now i am back to square one with the decision! :?
 
I wouldn't risk it with my own bunnies. I can't see every corner of the garden from every room, and it only takes a few seconds for a fox to jump over the fence and grab a bunny. I would also be worried about a dog being with the rabbits unsupervised.
 
Never, heard too many incidents about animals being taken in broad daylight from gardens which were bunny proofed with 6 foot fences.

Whislt I have only ever seen 2 foxes in my garden at night time in the past 16 years I stil think that this is too high a risk.
 
I can definately recommend free ranging them (With supervision of course!)

It's brilliant watching them binkying round the garden and having fun - You can see how much fun they're having :love:

Neither of mine will be picked up either, so all I do is put them back in at teatime - As soon as I come out of the house with the bowl of pellets/veg they know exactly what's coming (Dinner!) and have usually shot back into the shed and are waiting expectantly (ie chasing each other round in circles :roll:) before I've even got there :love:
 
I just don't know what to do!!!

I would be devastated if anything happened to them, but at the same time want them to have the best and most natural life that i can possibly offer them....

They have a 6x2 hutch but because of the way our garden is landscaped it is looking unlikely that i can attach a permenent fox poof run to it. Am trying to persuade OH on a aviary, but he is not budging at the moment....

The do have their 6x4 fox proof run on patio at the moment, and when i am home i put them on the lawn in 100square foot non fox proof run as i can see them the whole time from the house ~(can't remember who asked what I'd do if i saw a fox from inside, but i have been know to jump straight out of the study window in the past when i saw my son aim his water pistol at a wasps nest :shock::shock:!
 
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