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Muddy wet run and litter training

cat_ty5

New Kit
Hi everyone,

I have two outdoor female rabbits that are nearing 6 months old. I have a two storey hutch which is opens to a large run which is currently on the grass. The state of the grass within the run is starting to cause me some concern-I am struggling to keep on top of the amount of poop the rabbits produce (which is deposited all over the place) and combined with the wet weather and hay/straw the run looks muddy and messy.

I wanted to check if I should be concerned or whether this is fine for this time of year. I am assuming in the spring/summer when things have dried up a bit it will be easier to collect everything up and remove it. My garden (I rent) is all grass with a small amount of gravel.

I also thought maybe I could litter train them with a litter box placed in the bottom storey of the hutch. A video I watched said to place some poop on the litter box so the rabbits learn where to go, but they go everywhere so I don't think this would work! Has anyone had any success with litter training outdoor rabbits?

thank you :)

Cat
 
Hello, and welcome to the forum :wave: are your rabbits spayed? If not yet, once they are that should improve their litter habits and train ability no end, as a lot of it will be down to territorial pooping.:thumb: if they aren't spayed I recommend that they are done asap to avoid them fighting, and it also means that they won't get womb cancer, which kills 80% of adult female rabbits.

You could try to protect the run from rain using plastic corrugated sheeting, or clear plastic market stall cover type material.

For general litter training, I have found it much easier to line the hutch/shed floor with non slip vinyl, and then use a large litter tray with either newspaper, paper or wood cat litter in the bottom with lots of hay on top, as they like to eat and poop in the same place. You can then provide a snug place with fleece or blankets. I find by keeping hay to the litter tray only, with no other bedding it is much easier to litter train them :thumb:
 
If I were you I would pave where the buns run is. It might not be as nice in the Summer for them (although you could move their run onto the grass in Summer) but in Winter it will make life much easier and less muddy and horrible. It means you'd be able to sweep up the poo and the paving means that they can't dig out and nothing can dig in.

I have three buns who are all neutered and they still poo outside the tray sometimes..I'm afraid rabbits like to poo but they do do the majority in the tray. Do you have other animals in the garden? Dogs? Cats? etc? They may be marking their territory (bunnies do this by pooing and peeing) because they can smell "intruders".

As has been said above; it is pointless to try and litter tray rabbits until they are neutered so I'd recommend you do this first before trying other techniques.
 
Could you maybe sit the run on some rubber matting? I have my rabbits on rubber matting and it is really easy to keep clean. (and gentle on their hocks too). I understand if you are renting you cant really do anything permanent, but you could just lift the matting and move it around. Have you arranged the run so that they cant dig out (or foxes etc dig in)? I think thats the main worry with runs on grass.

My outdoor buns litter trained themselves but they were both neutered when they came from the RSPCA. I just put the litter tray in the corner they were using. They do have 3 litter trays around their hutch and run but I rarely find a stray poop!
 
I have two outdoor buns and trained them to use a litter tray from day one. They rarely poop anywhere else now and prefer to go in there than the garden which they have the full run of! Can be done definitely. I would also second some paving, we loved ours from grass to patio because it was ruining our garden and I thought it would get very mucky in the winter months
 
I would say if poss slab the run, it's murder if the grass is mushy...

Good luck x
 
You could lose lay slabs so they could be removed and the grass returfed if you moved out. Even if you didn't cover the whole thing it would give some dry areas.

Litter training is a good idea, the scattered poop is marking and can be a bit hard to control without neutering but do they have a wee corner? If so that's the best place for the tray and then you should fine they start wee-ing in it (making cleaning so much easier!) and you can then add the poop and they might go their at least sometimes :)
 
My 4 bunnies are on paving too, it's so easy to just brush their poops up and make their play area nice and clean. Stops them getting all mucky too xx
 
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