Housing Winter Rabbits in Cold Climates

Here in Alaska, we raise rabbits, ducks, and chickens for food. By mid-February, we had more animals than housing, but, for various reasons (like age, body heat, and pregnant rabbits), we did not want to “dispatch” any. This prompted some new housing ideas for the rabbits that worked out exceptionally well, in, of all places, in the chicken coop and greenhouse.

Rabbits in the chicken coop:

Because we know a woman who houses her menagerie of goats, poultry and rabbits in the

Zen (the rabbit) is on watch while the ducks nap
(note their heads tucked in, feeling safe) 

same enclosure, we decided to install two of the female rabbits in the coop with our harlequin ducks and Rhode Island Red chickens. One ran away the next day when we opened the run for “duck recess.” Her distinctive foot prints traveled extensively throughout the snowy yard. She successfully evaded predators (including an owl that killed one of the ducks). Ultimately, she settled under the hutches of the other rabbits, where she created a snug, straw filled burrow under their raised building. I hear her banging around as I tend to the other rabbits. When I feed them, she waits below their wire floors, much as my dog used to sit below my children's highchairs, assured of bits and pieces, sure to fall below. She looks healthy and content and has never chosen to return to the coop.

The other rabbit remained with the poultry. She has such equanimity that I named her Zen. At first it was startling (and delightful) to open the lid of the nesting boxes and see not only laying hens but a rabbit – popping her head up to look around! Clearly, though, she is “one of the guys.” She eats and drinks out the same bowls as the birds, and enjoys many of the same snacks, like green peas and birdseed. The rabbit and chickens will gather round me to eat out of my hand. During cold weather, she enjoyed a quiet siesta inside the coop, in a soft depression that she skootched into the straw, while the noisy ducks are outside, hoovering up the snow and digging into rotted tree roots. On sunny afternoons, I raise the nesting box lid, and each box is occupied by a duck, a chicken, or a rabbit, enjoying the sun on their face and the wind-blocking boxes around them. They look like commuters on a train, or kids in a school bus.. As the snow starts to recede and lay bare tempting patches of brown around the trees, Zen follows the ducks' peregrinations, ultimately spending most of the day with them - they guarding her or she guarding them!  She is not the far flung explorer that her erstwhile rabbit companion turned out to be. Zen is more of a companionable homebody.  

Rabbits in the Greenhouse

Among rabbits, it is imperative to separate adult males (bucks) from others, since they fight each other, can kill junior males, and will constantly try to impregnate the females (does), who can aggressively defend themselves. So we had “no vacancy” among our five hutches, occupied both by our rabbits and those of a woman who couldn't keep hers anymore: two males, two pregnant females, and a kindling of one month old bunnies.  As these juniors thrived, it was clear that they would soon outgrow their space, so we moved them into the (unheated) greenhouse. This turned out to be a great idea, both for them and for the raised bed garden!

Young rabbits munching on weeds from our garden

Although just as cold at night as the hutches, the double layered plastic walls offer a much better windbreak and a warm space during a sunny day. In fact, I would often spend an hour or so in the room, some 50 degrees warmer than outside, and watch the rabbits' explorations of their new, giant playground. Even in February in Alaska, the dirt floor and raised bed garden were soft enough for digging and sniffing (which, as winter rabbits, they had never experienced before) and they enjoyed playing hide and seek among the planters and clambering over empty beehives.

By their nature, they benefited the the raised bed garden in several ways. With gusto, they depleted the dried stalks of last year's tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and pepper plants. As they moved around, they deposited their blueberry-size pellets throughout (which is just about the only manure that should be mixed fresh into a garden bed). Finally, like fuzzy rototillers, they dug a maze of underground paths and burrows throughout. The berm of frozen snow around the building's base protected them from weasels and other wily predators, like ravens and owls, whose tracks were evident just outside the building.

This test case was working so well, that when the temperature took a nose dive to minus 15 F, we tried bringing in the two does, one at a time, one of whom was the mother of this group. The reunion did not go well. All rabbits seemed alarmed, especially when Bandit chased the does, one of whom turned to fight him.

I learned from this experience that even a separation of six weeks is enough to make one group territorial... even to their mother! Whether it was encountering adult females, I don't know, but BOOM! All of a sudden puberty hit the juniors, even though they were less than three months old. Clearly Bandit and Hitler (because of the moustache and pathetic little tail) were males. Each tried to chase and hump all of the others (male or female), and Bandit started to fight Hitler. We tried various threesomes and decided to banish Bandit to solitary confinement in the hutches. The other three got along well, as (this) Hitler is more of a lover than a fighter. He did indeed try to bonk Go (for Gray One) about every ten minutes one day, but her tail was up so she was receptive. So we will count 30 days and see if she got pregnant.

The other female, Nursie, hid in a nesting box during that period. The next few days, I observed no more amorous efforts, but, as before, saw the three of them grooming each other and napping, side by side, in between youthful chases around the various bins and boxes.

When the snow started to pull away from the greenhouse, I worried that the rabbits inside would be  vulnerable to ground predators (like weasels).  Instead, they started to act like teenagers - they dug a hole, started exploring outside, and returned only for occasional meals! We do need to corral them, because I don't want a large future generation of rabbits to jump in and out of my greenhouse and gardens!  At this point, we have captured only Hitler, who awaits his doom while enjoying banana and squash peels in the hutches.  Most of the males, adults and adolescent, will be moved along to their next role, which is to feed us during the four to six week “Break Up” of the lake, (when no transportation is possible, to a store or anywhere else). Their departure to the pressure cooker will free up space suitable for additional rabbits to grow during the summer.

Greenhouse, shed and rabbit hutches

In prior years, I was psychologically unable to cook animals that I had named, but I have adjusted my point of view. As my husband says, our animals have only one bad day in their lives.  Yes, I admit it will feel weird to eat Bandit and Hitler. But I am trying to think differently.  Just as I thank the ducks and chickens every day for their eggs, I thank the rabbits in the pot.  We know where they have been, what they have eaten, and that they were healthy.  Up to that last day, I feed them well, protect them from predators, separate them from bullies, provide clean housing and entertainments, and endeavor to make adjustments, like the greenhouse, to enhance their quality of life.
(But Nursie and Go:  we do need you to come in now, especially if you are pregnant!)  
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What are your past experiences or future hopes with rabbits?  Please leave a Comment as I would love to hear from you!