The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Land Management => Topic started by: Orinlooper on March 02, 2021, 03:38:14 pm
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Looking for ideas to build a moveable rabbit and guinea pig hutch and run in one unit.
Nice accommodation and then netted run as large as possible
Thinking of something that could be moved over lots of blackberry bushes until they have eaten it all and then move it further along every now and then
Any ideas of designs?
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Looking for ideas to build a moveable rabbit and guinea pig hutch and run in one unit.
Nice accommodation and then netted run as large as possible
Thinking of something that could be moved over lots of blackberry bushes until they have eaten it all and then move it further along every now and then
Any ideas of designs?
I don’t have a tractor to pull it but I think my land rover would do, or even the quad bike.
Would it be possible to have drag over lots of blackberry bushes but still be heavy enough to not stick up at all letting in foxes?
I wish I had a steam roller to pull it over all my blackberry bush🤣🤣🤣
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I once came across (ont' web) a US broiler chicken farmer who had a large netted frame with wheels at one end: he would pick up the other end just enough to move the frame regularly while hustling the in-mates as it moved along.
Not sure that would work with much smaller creatures unless one has some sort of loose netting closing off the gap created at the lift-end and along the sides.
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What are you planning on keeping in there - rabbits or guinea pigs presumably?
Rabbits will tunnel out - they will do it overnight depending on your soil (we live on sandy soil and once had a rabbit tunnel 3+ feet during one night) - and guinea pigs don't like brambles that much.
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I told you in the other thread that thisnis exactly what I did with my rabbits ;)
My rabbit tractor is only 2 x 4 ft. You could make it much bigger obviously.
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I once came across (ont' web) a US broiler chicken farmer who had a large netted frame with wheels at one end: he would pick up the other end just enough to move the frame regularly while hustling the in-mates as it moved along.
Not sure that would work with much smaller creatures unless one has some sort of loose netting closing off the gap created at the lift-end and along the sides.
thinking a very large rabbit and guinea pig tractor combined. I read you can even include chickens all three get on well with each other as long as you don’t have a cockerel in with them.
I’m thinking of quite an ambitious project of making a rather large 60x30 foot run with good hutches and walk in accommodation one end. It would house meat rabbits, guinea pigs and laying chickens.
It would only just be movable due to the size but only need moving every week or so. I’m hoping to move by a very low geared winch.
Looking for rainwater harvesting and a float valve and have a few watering systems for redundancy so they always have plenty to drink.
I’m looking for some ideas how it could cope with a little uneven ground maybe chains and loose netting and hope to drag it over lots of blackberry bushes
Even considering have a goat pen and a goat chained to the outside of it to clear a lot of the blackberry brambles before I drag the tractor over it and constantly move it to new areas
Is it really difficult to stop foxes digging under and getting in? What are the best anti fox measures?
I also wondered about having fox traps all around it even included on the outside of the run using my rabbits and guinea pigs as bait👍
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What are you planning on keeping in there - rabbits or guinea pigs presumably?
Rabbits will tunnel out - they will do it overnight depending on your soil (we live on sandy soil and once had a rabbit tunnel 3+ feet during one night) - and guinea pigs don't like brambles that much.
Also pondering metal meshed bottom which would stop tunnelling out and foxes or other predators tunnelling in
But still allow feeding
This may also solve my problem of uneven ground and possible gaps
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Chaining a goat to anything is NOT a good idea.
For someone who is looking for easiest animals to keep, you seem to have some grand ideas which involve a LOT of work.
You cannot keep animals and hope that they will look after themselves. It doesn’t work like that.
Foxes will get in/under/over and through anything to get a food source.
Best anti fox measure ...........
DO NOT HAVE ANIMALS in the first place
You say you want to clear brambles and keep grass short......
Buy a tractor, mower and a very heavy duty brush cutter and clear it your self.
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My rabbit run is sort of similar to this one:
(https://opimedia.azureedge.net/-/media/images/men/editorial/articles/magazine-articles/2016/12-01/homestead/hacks-7-jpg.jpg)
Keep it lightweight and simple. My one looks a bit heavier, it has metal corrugated roof. As I said before - metal grill as the floor, and also an attached pellet feeder (metal)
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Rabbits will tunnel out - they will do it overnight depending on your soil (we live on sandy soil and once had a rabbit tunnel 3+ feet during one night) - and guinea pigs don't like brambles that much.
And foxes will tunnel in overnight - we had this happen to our meat chicken tractor, which we'd used without issue for 8 years, then one night a smarter fox dug in. It now has skirts that we move with it daily.
I once came across (ont' web) a US broiler chicken farmer who had a large netted frame with wheels at one end: he would pick up the other end just enough to move the frame regularly while hustling the in-mates as it moved along.
Sounds like Joel Salatin at Polyface Farm? They also do rabbits on pasture: http://www.polyfacefarms.com/forage-based-rabbits/
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You should not ever have a goat on its own, nor is it recommended (and actually illegal) to "chain" them. Goats will clear areas of bramble and other weeds/trees etc, but have to have free reign, otherwise you will soon have a dead goat. Your best bet would be to fence of a largish area and let the goats eat it down, then use pigs in smaller enclosures to tidy it up and dig out the roots. This is done successfully in the US, where goats clear over grown areas for fire breaks.
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Rabbits will tunnel out - they will do it overnight depending on your soil (we live on sandy soil and once had a rabbit tunnel 3+ feet during one night) - and guinea pigs don't like brambles that much.
And foxes will tunnel in overnight - we had this happen to our meat chicken tractor, which we'd used without issue for 8 years, then one night a smarter fox dug in. It now has skirts that we move with it daily.
I once came across (ont' web) a US broiler chicken farmer who had a large netted frame with wheels at one end: he would pick up the other end just enough to move the frame regularly while hustling the in-mates as it moved along.
Sounds like Joel Salatin at Polyface Farm? They also do rabbits on pasture: http://www.polyfacefarms.com/forage-based-rabbits/
Yes! Joel Salatin does pastures rabbits. My idea came from him. And I have been doing it successfully for several years. However my rabbits were always only for home consumption and pets ;)
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What are you planning on keeping in there - rabbits or guinea pigs presumably?
Rabbits will tunnel out - they will do it overnight depending on your soil (we live on sandy soil and once had a rabbit tunnel 3+ feet during one night) - and guinea pigs don't like brambles that much.
Also pondering metal meshed bottom which would stop tunnelling out and foxes or other predators tunnelling in
But still allow feeding
This may also solve my problem of uneven ground and possible gaps
How can you move a mess bottomed pen onto brambles?
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What are you planning on keeping in there - rabbits or guinea pigs presumably?
Rabbits will tunnel out - they will do it overnight depending on your soil (we live on sandy soil and once had a rabbit tunnel 3+ feet during one night) - and guinea pigs don't like brambles that much.
Also pondering metal meshed bottom which would stop tunnelling out and foxes or other predators tunnelling in
But still allow feeding
This may also solve my problem of uneven ground and possible gaps
How can you move a mess bottomed pen onto brambles?
Good point
You have to clear them first nd slowly feed them inside the run
I can get hold of some of these bulging site fencing and wondered about using them on the bottom and then upright posts and more of them on the top, maybe use 4 with mesh on the sides and a well designed hutch at the top that they can get in and out of
I just hope the grass and weeds will still be edible for them through the bottom
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Rabbits and guinea pigs should not be kept together. The rabbits might kick or try to mount the guinea pigs, causing injuries.
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Rabbits and guinea pigs should not be kept together. The rabbits might kick or try to mount the guinea pigs, causing injuries.
And they have different nutritional requirements.
What will you do with them in the winter? If you are serious about using rabbits etc to "clear" ground you will need an awful lot. But during the months when things aren't growing you will need to feed them hay, veg etc. They won't live on old brambles - rabbits only enjoy the young tender shoots.
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We have rabbits tunnelling in not tunnelling out. If I can catch them all you can have all of our wild ones :roflanim:
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Rabbits and guinea pigs should not be kept together. The rabbits might kick or try to mount the guinea pigs, causing injuries.
Can you keep chickens and guinea pigs together?
Or chickens and rabbits together?
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I quote;
"One common practice that many well intentioned rabbit owners do is putting their pet rabbit in the same pen that houses their chickens or goats. Some will even let the rabbits live on the ground loose without an elevated area inside the pen that the rabbit can retreat to.
It simply is not an ideal situation to house rabbits together with other outdoor animals such as chickens or goats, and here is why:
The most common intestinal microscopic parasite of rabbits, goats and birds (especially chickens, ducks and geese) is Coccidia. These parasites found in the animals’ stool multiply invisibly on the floor close to the ground, especially in chicken floor spaces.
Chickens carry lots of Coccidia. Rabbits, especially young rabbits, who get infected with Coccidia can develop growth retardation and stop eating. They can also experience diarrhea, constipation, liver failure and eventual death.
Goats who are housed next to chickens are even more susceptible to developing Coccidia induced diarrhea. They can stop eating, become dehydrated and eventually die. Very young goats (those who are less than four months old) are especially susceptible.
Outdoor rabbits need clean living areas that are kept free from manure of any sort daily. They need hutches with good ventilation so they don’t get stressed and be at increased risk for serious Pasteurella respiratory infections.
Chickens defecate constantly. They are messy and create dusty areas due to the way they eat. So again, chickens should not be sharing the same floor space with pet rabbits. Furthermore, rabbits who eat chicken food are at risk to develop an intestinal blockage, and this is cause for an emergency situation to an unsuspecting pet owner"
There is also of course the issue that chickens could possibly attack and eat any baby bunnies..... :'(
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We have rabbits tunnelling in not tunnelling out. If I can catch them all you can have all of our wild ones :roflanim:
Do they get on with your other rabbits?
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Rabbits and guinea pigs should not be kept together. The rabbits might kick or try to mount the guinea pigs, causing injuries.
What will you do with them in the winter? If you are serious about using rabbits etc to "clear" ground you will need an awful lot. But during the months when things aren't growing you will need to feed them hay, veg etc. They won't live on old brambles - rabbits only enjoy the young tender shoots.
We have wild rabbits thriving all through winter we never feed them
And they have different nutritional requirements.
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This guy keeps rabbits and chickens together
https://youtu.be/MK5TH_VaC6o
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This guy keeps rabbits and chickens together
https://youtu.be/MK5TH_VaC6o
No....
Thisnguy keeps RABBITS ON TOP OF CHICKENS. I had the same sort of setup up for a while. Rabbits were pooping through their wire bottomed cages and chickens were scratching underneath making beautiful compost
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Think a lot more research needs to be done by the poster on this topic before any animals are introduced......... :-\
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Rabbits and guinea pigs should not be kept together. The rabbits might kick or try to mount the guinea pigs, causing injuries.
Can you keep chickens and guinea pigs together?
Or chickens and rabbits together?
Iwouldn't, for the reasons already mentioned. Also, chickens might attack your rabbits, they almost certainly will attack guinea pigs. Well, mine would anyway, they go for large rats....(trapped on their run).