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do they have any sense!?

B

bunnylove

Wise Old Thumper
i am thinking of moving the rabbits hutches into the runs perminanetly, it seems a shame that they have to wait for me to get up to put them into there runs,

i am just wondering whether i can leave there hutches open of a night or i would need to close them and cover them up.

i have four 10 x 6 runs, one i attached to a shed and i leave that open all night as i know there is no way mr fox can get in there!

my question is i am wondering whether having most of the rabbits free range in the runs all night will attract the foxes more frequanetly (currently have 6 free range so to speak) and if they did see a fox would they have the sense to run and hide or would they have an heart attack on the spot!??????

eve x
 
Sometimes just the sight or even SMELL of a fox can cause them to be frightened to death, and you know what foxes can be like, no matter how safe you think somewhere is, they will come back night after night until they figure out the way to get in... i personally wouldn't leave them free range all night if they are outside buns.

Not sure what anyone else thinks?
 
allyandtobey said:
Sometimes just the sight or even SMELL of a fox can cause them to be frightened to death, and you know what foxes can be like, no matter how safe you think somewhere is, they will come back night after night until they figure out the way to get in... i personally wouldn't leave them free range all night if they are outside buns.

Not sure what anyone else thinks?
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believe me we spent twelve weeks building the enclosure and alot of cash and the pet mesh (gavlanised) i dug into the ground by two feet and patio slabs round that, unless there are hodieni there is NO way in !

whatalife.jpg



please note this was in construction! has now been finished!
 
Lovely run you have constructed, but I think I would still ere on the side of caution. Even if the fox cannot get in, having them around would still make the bunnies nervous, and I personally could not forgive myself if in a similar situation, something happened through fright.

It sounds like your bunnies are very lucky and are well cared for. I'm sure they don't mind waiting for you to get up in the morning and let them out. Mine have to wait although I do admit I sacrifice my Sunday lie in to get up and feed them.
 
I'm not sure buns would have the sense to run away from foxes: when I was looking after a dog and it got in Jack's room, instead of him running away he charged straight towards it :shock: !!

I don't know if the buns would know that a fox is a predator until it's too late?

I love your runs!! I wish I could build something like that!!
 
Fab runs eve! They look great.
My bunnies are in permanent runs, but we don't seem to get many foxes here. However, at my last house (same run, so no way in) we found a fox asleep on top of the bunny run :shock: and the bunnies didn't even seem to notice. Don't know if this helps.
 
HS said:
Fab runs eve! They look great.
My bunnies are in permanent runs, but we don't seem to get many foxes here. However, at my last house (same run, so no way in) we found a fox asleep on top of the bunny run :shock: and the bunnies didn't even seem to notice. Don't know if this helps.
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I AM JUST THINKING IT WOULD BE OK AS LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE THOUGHS HUTCHES WITH ATTACHED RUNS (WHICH AR LESS SECURE) DO THOUGHS PEOPLE SHUT THE BUNNYS IN THE HUTCH AT NIGHT, AND A FOX CAN SIT IN FRONT OF A HUTCH
 
True, it may be easier for a fox to get at them through a hutch too. I think as long as the bunnies have somewhere to hide, they'll be fine. Mine don't actually use the inside of their hutches - they prefer to sit on top, if it's hot or they're hiding, they sit underneath. I feel much better that they have a huge space to roam around in all the time.
 
I have 2-story hutch + runs and the door to Pip's run is left open every night. Been like this for 6 years and never had a problem!!! Amy's hutch sits on top of her run, again she has access to it all, all the time and no problems here either. I don't really get many foxes around here, but still make sure all is secure. I would have thought that if you are happy then the buns would be happy :)

When I was fostering a puppy last week, both the buns in hutches ran upstairs whenever he was in the garden, so thinking the same would apply to a fox. They did get used to the puppy but that was only after lots of treats + positive reinforcement for both parties!! :D

Nicola
 
I have my hutches in the runs, but always put them in for the night. The thing is if I didn't I would never catch them :roll: It is useful for them to know the routine of jumping into the hutch at supper time. Your runs aren't as big as mine, and maybe your rabbits are tamer, so you may not have this same concern.
Mine are out from 7 or 8 until it gets dark, which I think is plenty of time. In the winter I like to know that they are wrapped up warm. There isn't much point covering a hutch against the weather if the rabbit isn't in it :lol: So although their days out are shorter they are nice and secure and if the weather is too foul I have the option of not letting them out. The daft creatures will sit out and get soaked even when it is near freezing :roll: I don't often leave them in all day, but sometimes I will wait until later when it is warmer or dryer.
It isn't any more work catching them every night as they just jump in when I feed them. They really don't seem to mind being shut in. They all have at least 5 by 2 by 2 hutches, so can still move about.
They like having the hutches in the runs as they can go under them and on top of them as well as in them. But they may give them a leg up over the dividing fence Eve :lol: I have to position mine so that they don't use them to escape and start a war.
 
doorkeeper said:
I have my hutches in the runs, but always put them in for the night. The thing is if I didn't I would never catch them :roll: It is useful for them to know the routine of jumping into the hutch at supper time. Your runs aren't as big as mine, and maybe your rabbits are tamer, so you may not have this same concern.
Mine are out from 7 or 8 until it gets dark, which I think is plenty of time. In the winter I like to know that they are wrapped up warm. There isn't much point covering a hutch against the weather if the rabbit isn't in it :lol: So although their days out are shorter they are nice and secure and if the weather is too foul I have the option of not letting them out. The daft creatures will sit out and get soaked even when it is near freezing :roll: I don't often leave them in all day, but sometimes I will wait until later when it is warmer or dryer.
It isn't any more work catching them every night as they just jump in when I feed them. They really don't seem to mind being shut in. They all have at least 5 by 2 by 2 hutches, so can still move about.
They like having the hutches in the runs as they can go under them and on top of them as well as in them. But they may give them a leg up over the dividing fence Eve :lol: I have to position mine so that they don't use them to escape and start a war.
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nope louise i remeber we have been here before :D , and the dividers have been lifted to just over four foot, (as its says, the pictures were taken before they were fnished) and i realised i had two champion show jumpers, who can stilll make it but have bit more trouble now! :lol:

Eve x
 
Through most of my childhood we kept rabbits in a hutch/run combo in the garden and I never shut them in the hutch. We backed onto a golf course and often had whole families of foxes visit the garden and none of my rabbits ever seemed to suffer problems from fright and none of them ever died from it. They seem to know that they are somewhere secure where they can't be "got at". I guess if you have a particularly nervous rabbit, or one with an underlying health condition, the shock could kill it, but I would say it is more unlikely than likely.

Do you have motion-sensitive security lights? They are supposed to be good for scaring off foxes (although you would have to set the detector at the right level otherwise it would go off every time a bunny moved :lol: ) or how about putting an electric fence round it for a short while - foxy would soon learn there's no point in visiting your garden, even if it smells good!
 
mine are out all the time they go in the hutch if its raning or too cold there own choice i havent seen eney foxes around here but the buns are happy and come to me for food so i still can check them over
 
AlisonA said:
Through most of my childhood we kept rabbits in a hutch/run combo in the garden and I never shut them in the hutch. We backed onto a golf course and often had whole families of foxes visit the garden and none of my rabbits ever seemed to suffer problems from fright and none of them ever died from it. They seem to know that they are somewhere secure where they can't be "got at". I guess if you have a particularly nervous rabbit, or one with an underlying health condition, the shock could kill it, but I would say it is more unlikely than likely.

Do you have motion-sensitive security lights? They are supposed to be good for scaring off foxes (although you would have to set the detector at the right level otherwise it would go off every time a bunny moved :lol: ) or how about putting an electric fence round it for a short while - foxy would soon learn there's no point in visiting your garden, even if it smells good!
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the light detection is useless i live near the forest but because we are in london it is very urban and so are the foxes, they are not scared i have had light on in the garden with my head out of the window shouting at them before and they dont move!

and No electric fencing i have kids!
 
I would prefer to have them in the hutch covered up in this weather, My Mums rabbit was attacked by a fox recently and had its ear torn off this was through the bars of the run.

If they are in the run in a hutch they will be much more protected.
 
L McGreig said:
I would prefer to have them in the hutch covered up in this weather, My Mums rabbit was attacked by a fox recently and had its ear torn off this was through the bars of the run.

If they are in the run in a hutch they will be much more protected.
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AS ALREADY SAID MY RABBITS ARE WELL PROTECTED NO FOX CANT GET TO THEM!
 
bunnylove said:
and No electric fencing i have kids!
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I was thinking more of turning it on at night when you go to bed, and off in the morning!

Maybe you could try leaving one of your more confident pairs out overnight and see if that seems to attract more foxes, and if not, move onto some of the other pairs? Personally I think that if the run is totally secure (and the mesh small enough that a fox can't grab at a bunny with his paws through the wire) I don't see why they can't stay out. Like I said before, mine always have done and have never seemed bothered.

It's probably a better situation than many rabbits find themselves in, where they are inside a hutch which isn't in a run, meaning the fox can jump on top of it and prowl right round it, which must be quite stressful as the bunnies will know that it is very close. At least in your setup they have somewhere to go where a fox can't get that close to them.
 
I would personally keep them in there hutches over night.

If for whatever reason you need to get them out quick your know exactly where they are. You could spend ages catching them in the dark if they where loose in the run. Our house Rabbits are shut away at night for this reason.

Even through Foxes cant get in I would still worry that they would frighten the Rabbits. Do bear in mind Foxes can dig and climb. Wild Rabbits maybe more inclined to come and say hello to your Rabbits if they are loose in the run overnight. Obviously they wont mean any harm but they may have Myxie.

If your garden is near a public path or road and your Rabbits are visible I would worry about drunks/ children daring each other to let your Rabbits out of there runs etc. This happened to a friend of mine and because it was late at night she didn’t hear anything and woke up to find her Rabbits loose but unharmed and there run broken. Again if there in their hutches they will probably be more secure and out of sight so people don’t get any silly ideas in the first place.

Last point if a Rabbit was to get sick or injured overnight it would be far safer in a warm hutch then out in a run on a cold night where it may not be able to move.

Louise
 
ellepotter said:
I would personally keep them in there hutches over night.

If for whatever reason you need to get them out quick your know exactly where they are. You could spend ages catching them in the dark if they where loose in the run. Our house Rabbits are shut away at night for this reason.

Even through Foxes cant get in I would still worry that they would frighten the Rabbits. Do bear in mind Foxes can dig and climb. Wild Rabbits maybe more inclined to come and say hello to your Rabbits if they are loose in the run overnight. Obviously they wont mean any harm but they may have Myxie.

If your garden is near a public path or road and your Rabbits are visible I would worry about drunks/ children daring each other to let your Rabbits out of there runs etc. This happened to a friend of mine and because it was late at night she didn’t hear anything and woke up to find her Rabbits loose but unharmed and there run broken. Again if there in their hutches they will probably be more secure and out of sight so people don’t get any silly ideas in the first place.

Last point if a Rabbit was to get sick or injured overnight it would be far safer in a warm hutch then out in a run on a cold night where it may not be able to move.

Louise
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louise i was talking about putting there hutches in the runs with them! :shock: my garden has never been visited by a wild rabbit (as nice to my eyes as that would be) they cant get in and as i said the runs are SECURE no fox, rabbit can get in or out!

my garden is not visited my drunks (although i have been known to have one 2 many on a friday night! :lol:

all of my rabbits are well handled as they are used to being caught twice a day to be put into there runs and out again of a night.

i my only question is would they hide from a fox or would they go into shock, my other rabbits have a shed attached to theirs ad they dont have any problem but hutches are different to shed!

eve x
 
If they're going to die of fright when they see a fox, surely whether they could have run into a hutch or shed isn't going to make a lot of difference? I think as long as they know that the hutch is their safe place, they would be fine. Back years ago, my rabbits didn't even necessarily bother running inside when they saw a fox, I think they knew that they were in a secure place and so it never panicked them. How do your bunnies react to dogs barking nearby? Maybe you could record a dog barking and play it to them and see what they do? It might give you an idea of what their instinct is going to be if faced with a predator.
 
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