Summer housing consideration - would love your thoughts.

[Cuthbert&Dillon]

Friday was an odd day, the Fire Brigade came round to assess Dad - he sleeps in the room above Kanga's shed. The Fire Brigade said that if they needed to get him out they would get him out of the window above the shed. BUT they would have to destroy the shed to do so.

I did try and explain that there would be two bunnies (hopefully) in the shed but like they said in an emergency they would do what they need to do to get a human out of a burning house.

Did speak to OH about moving the shed but (well I cant repeat on here what he said) and told me not to be so dramatic as we would be in the house with him and hear a smoke alarm very quickly.

So in addition to all that I have learnt about bunny sheds - dont put them near a fire exit window!

In other questions how or to what do I attach drinking bottles too - there will be no mesh - please can you share your solutions that you use please?

Photo - Pearl Grey inspecting the next bag to go in the moving pile.

 

[Omi]

Friday was an odd day, the Fire Brigade came round to assess Dad - he sleeps in the room above Kanga's shed. The Fire Brigade said that if they needed to get him out they would get him out of the window above the shed. BUT they would have to destroy the shed to do so.

I did try and explain that there would be two bunnies (hopefully) in the shed but like they said in an emergency they would do what they need to do to get a human out of a burning house.

Did speak to OH about moving the shed but (well I cant repeat on here what he said) and told me not to be so dramatic as we would be in the house with him and hear a smoke alarm very quickly.

So in addition to all that I have learnt about bunny sheds - dont put them near a fire exit window!

In other questions how or to what do I attach drinking bottles too - there will be no mesh - please can you share your solutions that you use please?

Photo - Pearl Grey inspecting the next bag to go in the moving pile.

Sheer bogglement from me re the Fire Brigade

We use a heavy drinking bowl.

 

[Shimmer]

Use bowls for water?

Or you can make a mesh cage for it to drop down into, with the nozzle sticking out. Basically something like a wide mesh / chicken wire tube scrunched at the bottom. Permanently fasten it to a wall.

Or make a wire bottle 'cage' with garden wire. Bit like a figure of 8. Get a length of wire, loop in half and place the loop around the bottle's neck (with the lid on), twist it together to form a spine up the bottle, then separate the strands and loop around the main body of the bottle, just above half way (when it's nozzle down). Retwist the wires to form a loop or hook (in line with the 'spine') to go over eg a large screw or eyelet in the main frame of the shed. This stays permanently on the bottle. Just make sure you can undo the bottle lid OK and it doesn't leak - partly depends on the type of bottle and lid.

Also have a look in your local big pet shop - animals there will have water bottles in different types of cradle that you may be able to copy / adapt.

 

[Cuthbert&Dillon]

Thank you both, will have a go at the wire bottle cage - and why didnt I just think of a bowl

 

[Shimmer]

I find bowls a lot easier to use than bottles. They are more reliable all year - no frozen nozzles and you can easily see if they are full or not. It's a more natural way to drink and rabbits can consume more, more easily - which is important in hot weather. Heavy ceramic bowls don't get knocked over if positioned properly (ie in a corner rather than in the way of a running / jumping route). Metal ones can get knocked or blown about. Coop cups (metal bowls with a bracket to hold them off the floor) can be fiddly to get in and out of the bracket for cleaning, or get knocked out by the rabbits. They are colder in winter and tend to freeze over more easily.

I highly recommend a couple of heavy ceramic bowls. Straight sided cat / dog ones work well. Minimum of one in the run and one in the shed.

 

[Cuthbert&Dillon]

I find bowls a lot easier to use than bottles. They are more reliable all year - no frozen nozzles and you can easily see if they are full or not. It's a more natural way to drink and rabbits can consume more, more easily - which is important in hot weather. Heavy ceramic bowls don't get knocked over if positioned properly (ie in a corner rather than in the way of a running / jumping route). Metal ones can get knocked or blown about. Coop cups (metal bowls with a bracket to hold them off the floor) can be fiddly to get in and out of the bracket for cleaning, or get knocked out by the rabbits. They are colder in winter and tend to freeze over more easily.

I highly recommend a couple of heavy ceramic bowls. Straight sided cat / dog ones work well. Minimum of one in the run and one in the shed.

Thanks Shimmer, I have found two and put them ready to go in the shed. I think they were fruit bowls in a former life but they are heavy and straight sided.

 

[Shimmer]

Wider top ones are more prone to being tipped up than straight sided ones. My cats are particularly good at jumping off kitchen units and catching the edge of a water bowl. I often have a minor flood to clear up.

 

[Cuthbert&Dillon]

Oh dear - you paint a very good picture of chaos! brought about by our beloved pets.

 

[Cuthbert&Dillon]

Giddy update, I have been to work today and got home to OH doing stuff in the bunny shed. Its really coming together. The ramp is not fixed or even those planks he was just checking out the design.

 

[joey&boo]

Looking good

 

[tulsi]

Looking good indeed. What a great shed set up.

 

[Cuthbert&Dillon]

Flooring and painting has commenced and I found some tents in Ikea so they are in too. 3 days to bonders meeting and counting, I feel so mean as the they both spend so much time alone. (Dad has had an accident so we are down there all day at the mo) They so need this to happen now.

 

[Omi]

It's certainly looking super

I was thinking today when I saw your other thread about a carrier to come home from bonding, just how your life has changed since the day you saw Kanga at the edge of the car park. And very soon we will have the joy of seeing two happy bunnies in this shed.

I hope your Dad is OK.

 

[Cuthbert&Dillon]

Just wanted to share that despite the cat the bunnies played out at 10pm this evening.

Usually Pearl sits by the screen door but I am thrilled that she is playing out.

 

[Omi]

Excellent I like the colour of their shed too.

Were they easy to coax back into the shed?

 

[Cuthbert&Dillon]

Excellent I like the colour of their shed too.

Were they easy to coax back into the shed?

I don't regulate their shed times, if I am cleaning out I do move them and lock them out of the shed but other than that they have free movement. My rationale for this is that sometimes they might want the cooler of outdoors early morning or late evening. The only thing I do do is open the shed door and prop back around 6am each morning, shutting up again about 8pm. Should I restrict their outdoor time?

 

[Omi]

I don't regulate their shed times, if I am cleaning out I do move them and lock them out of the shed but other than that they have free movement. My rationale for this is that sometimes they might want the cooler of outdoors early morning or late evening. The only thing I do do is open the shed door and prop back around 6am each morning, shutting up again about 8pm. Should I restrict their outdoor time?

If you are certain that there are no risks to them remaining outside during the night, then no, there is absolutely no need to restrict their outdoor time.

I shut mine in the shed when it's dark, as I have camera evidence that we have foxes roaming the garden. I know there are those who say that if outside accommodation is secure, that's the case 24/7, but I am concerned about the consequences of a fox trying to predate them outside during the night. I am concerned about the shock and also the panic it would cause with the two of them trying to get quickly into the shed via the cat-flap. I do appreciate the principle that they should be able to choose where they are though.

There's no right or wrong here, it depends on circumstances.

 

[Shimmer]

I have foxes regularly patrolling here every night. The can clear a 6' fence with ease, they go past my gates and in to next door's garden - so just a few feet away from my rabbits. They sit on the grass over the road from dusk. Local people feed them, so they will keep returning.

I've also had rabbits stolen from their runs by 2 boys (and were returned a few days later by their mum), and my first rabbit was released from the run by a load of kids with a dog (neighbour saw them too late)- it didn't end well. There's a limit to the amount of security I can put on the runs so that I can still access them, so my rabbits and guinea pigs are safer in their hutches at night, with locks on. I use standard padlocks and hasps or loops on solid areas, or bicycle cable locks fixed into metal loops / hooks across mesh doors.

I have dogs (lurchers) and am confident that they won't get into the runs as they are supervised, the runs are in a separate area and are reasonably substantial (as much as any mesh structure can be - weldmesh is much stronger than chicken wire). Foxes are another matter entirely. They have all night and will use any force they need to access prey, dig underneath structures, kill indiscriminately, and will keep coming back. The foxes at my mum's house are there at all times of day - so I don't know how I would protect a rabbit run there. Stray ferrets and similar can also be a problem as they are very agile, confident killers that can get through very small gaps. A solid wooden structure gives much more protection against attack if you have known predators.

If I knew there were no foxes around, I would be happier to leave the runs accessible all night as the rest of the garden is more secure now (from people, anyway), and the dogs do deter foxes and other predators. I do wish they could have better access, but I try to compensate by giving as long as possible in runs and as much space as I can for hutches / small sheds. Your set up is fabulous. Just use your judgement.

 

[Cuthbert&Dillon]

Thank you both, I have had no evidence (yet) of foxes in the area - we used to at home before I moved to Dads. The run and the shed have hasps and padlocks and the run is not only chained but (and I know its a plastic waste) I have put two cable ties on the door. The chain is wrapped round and one I used to secure my Triumph to a ground anchor. The locks are only B+Q but okayish. The shed is hasped and padlocked, then one of those catches that you move round over the door - with the internal door fastened with a bolt. I sleep (not very well as Dad needs me) above the bunny shed with the window open and if you understand the expression with good parents ears - Pearl occasionally stamps in the night and I do get up to check her.

The pigs have a similar set up with the run padlocked shut - due to them having access to a hutch - their preferred sleeping place (I leave the door to the hutch open.) the tubes on both are fastened do the run and shed with screws and cable ties. The shed door for the pigs is not as robust as the bunnies but hasps and padlocks are used on this too.

The garden access, we have put extra bolts on the gate but the gate down the other side of the house is missing - easy access to anyone wanting. The fence is an metal 6 foot fence but like you say foxes would get over. Then I have trained brambles and nettles through a dead hedge that will go behind the metal fence. This is into a field that has a steep slope to the brook and one this is massive nettle beds and a spiky hawthorn.

The tubes for them both are quite small - a cat could get up them but I am not sure about a fox, the pigs on is the shorter at 5 feet the rabbits at 6 feet - the entrance then into either the sheds or runs is only 5 inches diameter.

It is something that worries me and I will restrict - but not when it is it very hot over night. There is no opening windows on either the pig or bunny shed and I do worry about overheating. I would not leave only the screen doors closed at night.

I do really value your council and sharing your stories - that is so horrid that you have had people taking your rabbits - how utterly horrid. Nature, whilst awful is maybe understandable but how on earth people can justify taking someone else's pet is unforgivable - they must have known it was wrong and there is no excuse for this.