Neighbour's loose rabbit

[Minimallow]

So. I put Rabbit's box with lots of fresh hay near "his" patch of bracken. He ran up to me for treats as usual, spotted the box and legged it down the field, treats forgotten. Sheep thrilled with box and a small brave one lay down so that it could get at the hay. One of the others, more adventurous than the rest, jumped on top of the box (these are a small breed of sheep) and knocked it flying scaring the small one with head in box witless. All sheep spooked and ran away spooking Rabbit. :roll:

I had to put a couple of breeze blocks on the cat box to hold it steady if the sheep nudged it while using it as a low-level hay rack. I left Rabbit half way down the hill munching enthusiastically on a small portion of rabbit pellets and a few bits of carrot while uphill the sheep formed a circle around the box and regarded it with intense suspicion.

I'll probably find sheep on top of the box tomorrow with Rabbit up in the sheep shed. :roll:

:lol::lol: Well at least he'll have lots of space in the sheep shed :lol:

 

[Tatihou]

So, three weeks on...

I solved the sheep's desire to participate in Rabbit's home by running a wire of electric fence around Rabbit's box and feeding area - high enough for Rabbit to pass underneath but low enough to be a deterrent for the sheep. This led to the entertaining sight of Rabbit sitting in his enclosure nonchalantly eating with 8 sheep all standing in a circle at a respectful distance watching him.

This worked well for a couple of weeks because it has been a mild autumn but then, about 8 days ago, we started a week of driving rain and wind. As Rabbit didn't use the box but sat outside it (possibly related to his desire to see as much as possible around him? Visibility was impeded if he was in the cat carrier?) so if it was raining he had no protection except a few fronds of half-dead bracken. So I lugged a couple of breeze blocks over, placed a board from box to breeze blocks and made him a rather nice lean-to. However, this didn't really protect him from the rain when it was being driven horizontally so the ground was running with water and he was looking increasingly muddy. All the box really did was provide a dry spot for his food.

After seeing him sitting in his lean-to for 8 hours on Sunday - when it didn't stop raining once and I could see he was drenched - I decided enough was enough. I picked him up yesterday and popped him in a big dog cage with loads of hay, food and water in our polytunnel. Not ideal because he doesn't have a proper run but for a few days it will keep him warm and dry.

Another problem we have had over the past few weeks is that one of our chickens wasn't well and despite antibiotics and (gentle!) force-feeding we had to come to the conclusion that she wasn't going to recover and we killed her. As we really wanted to know what was wrong with her - and therefore whether it would affect the other chickens - we got the vet to do an autopsy. Two vets looked very grave and said their best guess was avian tuberculosis :shock: and did we want samples to go to a lab for verification of the diagnosis?

Yes we did because avian flu is contagious and likely to affect not only the other chickens but also the rabbit if we bought him over here. So capture of Rabbit was put on hold until we heard back from the lab. Happily, on Saturday morning we got the results - not avian tb - but less happily, no diagnosis of what it actually was. But at least this meant we could safely "import" Rabbit.

I can give him supervised exercise out of his cage a couple of times a day until we get the run built this weekend. He does seem remarkably chilled about the whole situation - though he has already showed that he is very resourceful: OH was putting in one of those water bottles thingies and went out to fill it, just pushing the cage door closed but not latching it.

Two minutes later, Rabbit half-way down the hill, two cats and a dog in pursuit. Remarkably, cats and dog when told NO! stopped and Rabbit allowed himself to be picked up again and re-housed.

So that's the situation now. :roll:

A few questions:
He's got lots of good quality hay and I'm cutting him swathes of grass if he wants a touch of fresh chlorophyll. With a little rabbit food and some carrot and apple, is that sufficient?

Does he need some wood to gnaw on or will eating hay be sufficient exercise to keep his teeth occupied?

I want to accustom him to being handled. At the moment if I run my hands over his back or down his sides while he is feeding, he moves away a few feet before coming back for more food. Is there any sort of stroking / scratching that rabbits particularly like?

Will he naturally start using the water bottle - one of these things -

http://tinyurl.com/bunny-bottle

...or do I need to teach him? And if so... how!

How do I tell what sex s/he is? It is unlikely to have been neutered because French people don't believe in neutering - anything. It's not so long ago (about 20 years) that a man requesting a vasectomy was sent for counselling as it was practically viewed as mutilation. :shock: So in view of the fact there are no baby wild / and white kits running around, I'm guessing he's a boy?

As previously, any help and advice will be gratefully received.

 

[kaths101]

:wave: I hadnt read your story before today - what a fab job you have done for this bun ...

regarding the water it might be worth putting a bowl in as he wont be used to a bottle - even though mine have 2 bottles - all 4 drink out of a bowl...

Food wise - pellets are the best food instead of mixed muslie as this stops them selective feeding

I would guess he is a boy - as no doubt there would be little ones - though I guess now there will be little white wildies running about!! rabbits do what rabbits do ALOT!!

Could you vaccinate and neuter the bun - he would need myxi and VHD jabs...
(Edited - just seen your bit about neutering!! sorry)

Well done for what you have done so far!

 

[kaths101]

p.s dont feed too much apple and carrot as they are high in sugar - spring greens, dandelion, broccoli are all good - never feed iceburg lettuce...

They do like gnawing - can you get hold of apple sticks - my buns love them and stripping the bark off keeps them occupied too - willow toys are also great for playing and eating with... Hay is the main thing though for teefies - they need loads of hay!

With regards to stroking - most buns love nose rubs - starting at the nose and going up towards the ears - he might put his head down for you to do this to him

 

[Maizey]

Your an amazing lady and you obviously love your animals very much,my only advice is give rabbit a bowl of water to drink out of as he wont be used to a bottle xxxxx

 

[Tatihou]

They do like gnawing - can you get hold of apple sticks...

Are apple sticks just twigs from apple trees? If so, that's easy to accomplish - we've got a cider apple orchard so he can have as many apple sticks as he likes.

Willow toys - are these dried willow toys, willow twigs twisted into shapes? Because if so, we've plenty of willow and I can make twisty toys for him. Thanks for the advice.

PS: I have just found the topic on "sexing buns" - enormously helpful (and scarily graphic!) so I may investigate tomorrow!

 

[Lops]

I was so happy to see an update of this story

Well done you, You've done an amazing job so far! xxxxxx

 

[Tatihou]

Could you vaccinate and neuter the bun - he would need myxi and VHD jabs...

I certainly will look into vaccinating - I need to find a vet with rabbit expertise. We have a good cat & dog vet but I don't know if they are capable of treating and neutering rabbits, should it be necessary. But I can find out.

 

[Lops]

I certainly will look into vaccinating - I need to find a vet with rabbit expertise. We have a good cat & dog vet but I don't know if they are capable of treating and neutering rabbits, should it be necessary. But I can find out.

Have the neighbours said anything about their bunny? - Or still not bothered about it?

 

[angieb]

an absolutely fantastic story
i lost track, is he now housed in a dog crate and you let him out during the day?
he is lovely and very lucky. have you named him?

 

[lilbel]

I think this is the first time I have read a post word for word from beginning to end!!

This is such a lovely story and rabbit is very lucky to have come across you (or your veggie patch)
He/she is sooo adorable too!

You really are a big hearted person.
Changing your life for a rabbit is great and obviously wasn't something his/her previous owners were ready to do!

well done!

 

[Tatihou]

Have the neighbours said anything about their bunny? - Or still not bothered about it?

It escaped about June-time and they have made no attempt to catch it as far as we are aware. Though it spends much of its time in one of our fields, they will have seen it regularly because we've seen it down on their drive so they must have too. The pen is still visible on their drive but the wire has fallen in now and the box (hutch) has collapsed since the summer. It would have been very easy for them to have caught it - we asked them to as, during the summer, it ate most of our vegetable plants :roll: - but they've shown no interest.

I know it kind of looks like we've kitnapped him but you have to understand the French interest (or lack of) in their animals to understand why we're not surprised they weren't interested in catching him again. For us, it boils down to the simple fact that if I could get him used to taking food from my hand over a couple of weeks, it should not have been difficult for them to do the same thing and then (as I did yesterday) just pick him up.

i lost track, is he now housed in a dog crate and you let him out during the day?

Sorry! It was a long and involved post.

I caught him yesterday afternoon, popped him in a large dog cage and until the weekend I'll get him out several times a day to give him a run in our cat cage - which is like a long, wired verandah. It's not ideal but neither (imo) was leaving him out in the rain above ground. And he's much better off than how most French people keep their meat rabbits:
http://www.leboncoin.fr/bricolage_jardinage/153344236.htm?ca=4_s
Sad and horrifying or what?

In the spring, I may build him a warren in a bank with a couple of pipes for entrance / exits and see if I can persuade him to use that. It would at least protect him from foxes. Then he can live wild again until next autumn. But I am getting a bit ahead of myself there!

No, he doesn't have a name. Just Rabbit at the moment. I have an off-colour sense of humour so I may call him Mixie.

 

[glossta1]

well done you!

Very well done. This is what we hope to do with the two (separate) rews that were almost certainly a pair abandoned simultaneously in the summer, but got separated as they ran away from the main road. I hope we can do as well as you did. Both are in fields about half a mile from our house and about a quarter of a mile from each other. Wish us luck please!

 

[angieb]

i think the set up sounds fine, as like you say its got to be better than getting soaked.
he is very lucky.
we all look forward to future updates. :wave:

 

[lildebs]

:shock: Wow, I'm so glad I've caught up with this thread, and so pleased you have took him in.
It's very heart warming, as I can tell you're smitten and care a great deal.....well done and he's adorable.

Btw I love the name Mixie....don't forget the piccies soon

ETA Those piccies are awful...there are 3 in one box ....poor bunnies

 

[dizzyg]

This is a lovely story to brighten up a miserable Wednesday morning!!

Sounds like Mixie is going to be THOROUGHLY spoiled. I'm glad he found you.

Oh, if you put some tunnels and bits of apple tree in his run, he'll really enjoy them.

 

[Tatihou]

Very well done. This is what we hope to do with the two (separate) rews that were almost certainly a pair abandoned simultaneously in the summer, but got separated as they ran away from the main road. I hope we can do as well as you did. Both are in fields about half a mile from our house and about a quarter of a mile from each other. Wish us luck please!

Good luck! The distance is a bit of a problem for you - at least Mixie was mainly within about 20 metres of our workshop building so it wasn't a hassle "getting to know him".

Initially I couldn't get any closer than about 12 ft but discovered that if I walked with my destination apparently to one side of him and I didn't look at him, I could get within about 3 or 4 ft. So that was close enough to start throwing him some food. I made a clicking noise - the sort of noise you make to encourage a horse to move off - each time I threw him some food so he associated the sound with the food.

It took me about 10 days to gradually progress to the stage where he'd take biscuit pieces from my hand and another week or so before he'd run down the field to me when he heard the clicking sound. At that stage he'd reach up for the treats, resting his front paws on my shin so he was quite accustomed to me and trusted me... as a source of food.

It being winter now (and not September when I was doing the Pavlov thing) I guess you'll want to catch them faster than that? If they're not sufficiently trusting to come up to you, will you use a net?

 

[Lops]

It escaped about June-time and they have made no attempt to catch it as far as we are aware. Though it spends much of its time in one of our fields, they will have seen it regularly because we've seen it down on their drive so they must have too. The pen is still visible on their drive but the wire has fallen in now and the box (hutch) has collapsed since the summer. It would have been very easy for them to have caught it - we asked them to as, during the summer, it ate most of our vegetable plants :roll: - but they've shown no interest.

I know it kind of looks like we've kitnapped him but you have to understand the French interest (or lack of) in their animals to understand why we're not surprised they weren't interested in catching him again. For us, it boils down to the simple fact that if I could get him used to taking food from my hand over a couple of weeks, it should not have been difficult for them to do the same thing and then (as I did yesterday) just pick him up.

I'm sorry if my post sounded liike I was saying you'd kidnapped bunny :shock: It certainly wasn't meant to

As I said in an earlier post, Well done you've done an amazing job xxx

 

[Tatihou]

I'm sorry if my post sounded liike I was saying you'd kidnapped bunny :shock: It certainly wasn't meant to

:lol: Well, I do kind of feel we have kidnapped him - he's not ours to take.

But they weren't taking care of him so... :rabbit2:

 

[Lops]

:lol: Well, I do kind of feel we have kidnapped him - he's not ours to take.

But they weren't taking care of him so... :rabbit2:

In my mind, He's your bunny...because you care and they dont! xxx