Show Me Your Outdoor Rabbit A!reas and Some Questions

[Mocha]

Hi everyone! First, I house my rabbits indoors, so don’t jump to conclusions with the title. There are practically no dangerous animals/predators/cars where I live, except horses, cows, chickens, sheep, and squirels. At night there are lots of racoons and skunks, but my rabbit’s won’t be living outside.

So, right outside the “bunny room” in our “backyard”, there is sort of a mini backyard, and then it drops down a couple feet to big field. 

On the mini backyard, a quarter of it is brick, and the other quarter is pebbles, plants and a gazibo. I want to put some netting+fencing around the entire mini backyard, so I can leave the door to the bunnyroom open, and for a few hours the bunnies could run around outside. I would like to get some inspiration and ideas for it, and would love to see any outdoor runs/play areas your bunny has.

Also here are some general health questions I have.

– Does anyone use flyprotectant? I live in the U.S so my rabbits aren’t vaccinated, and I can’t seem to find flyprotectant (only flea and tick). We live on a ranch, and the chickens are free range so there are some flys, not a lot though. 

– Are there any disieses that can be picked up by rabbits outside, like by dirt or something else?

– I know not a lot of people will know this, so don’t answer it if you don’t, are there any disieses that can be transfered from chickens to rabbits? I know a lot of people who house rabbits in their chicken coops, and they don’t seem to be sick, but I just want to be sure (the chickens run around the whole property, so yeah

Thanks for any help and pictures!!!!!

[tobyluv]

Unless you can totally predator proof the area the rabbits are in – meaning it has to be enclosed top, bottom and sides, there is always a chance that a rabbit will dig out or that a predator will get in. I know someone who was in their fenced backyard, very near their rabbit, and a hawk swooped in and attacked it. A stray dog or cat can suddenly appear and jump in to an enclosure. A predator doesn’t even have to touch the rabbit for the rabbit to get scared and injure itself. Netting could be chewed through.

Fly strike is always a concern and having chickens does draw them in more than usual. Then there are ticks and fleas to contend with, and in my area, there are fire ants in the yards that could cause nasty bites to a rabbit. I have no idea if there is such a thing as flyprotectant, but you don’t want to put any harsh chemicals on your rabbit unless necessary.

If rabbits eat vegetation where other animals have gone to the bathroom, they can get worms. They could possibly get worms from digging in dirt, then cleaning their paws.

I don’t really know anything about diseases that could be transmitted to rabbits from chickens, but it seems like it wouldn’t be healthy for rabbits to breath in dust and dirt that might be kicked up, if it contained chicken droppings.

I’m sure this wasn’t the advice you were looking for and I’m sorry to be such a downer, but I think there are a lot of dangers in the outdoors for rabbits, and it’s best for them to be inside.

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