25d • Health and Wellness
Let's Talk Managment .
One of the hardest lessons new rabbit keepers have to learn is that rabbits are prey animals, and keeping prey animals safely requires planning before the animals ever arrive.
Housing and predator management are not optional parts of rabbit care. They are the foundation of it.
Before bringing rabbits home, you need a system in place that protects them from the things that naturally try to kill them: dogs, cats, raccoons, weasels, rats, hawks, and even neighborhood pets that wander onto your property.
A safe setup usually includes a few basic things.
First is secure housing. Rabbits should be kept in a barn, garage, shed, or other enclosed structure whenever possible. This creates the first barrier between them and predators.
Second is proper cages. Wire cages with secure latches prevent rabbits from escaping and prevent predators from getting in. The wire spacing should also be appropriate so babies cannot fall through and predators cannot reach in.
Third is height and positioning. Hanging cages several feet off the ground helps prevent dogs or other animals from reaching rabbits through the floor and reduces predator access.
Fourth is barriers and management protocols. Doors, gates, fencing, or kennel panels around the rabbit area create additional layers of protection. If you have dogs on the property, rabbits must be physically separated from them.
Dogs are predators. Even very good dogs can revert to instinct if given the opportunity.
I learned that lesson firsthand.
Years ago Bernie my mini schnauzer, Like most ratters had a very strong prey drive. One day a four-week-old kit managed to fall from a cage and Bernie did what schnauzers were bred to do and killed it.
That was not the dog being “bad.” That was a management failure.
After that incident I made several changes. I blocked gaps near feeders where small kits could slip out, switched sections of cages to baby-safe wire, and tightened the overall cage setup so young rabbits could not fall through or escape.
Bernie was eventually trained to be “rabbit safe.” Over time he learned the " leave it ," "wait" "down" commands extremely well and could be around the rabbits calmly.
But even after years of training, he was never allowed unsupervised access to the rabbits.
Training reduces risk, but it never replaces good management. Predatory instincts can always resurface in the wrong situation, which is why physical barriers and secure housing remain essential.
Predator pressure doesn’t only come from your own animals either. At our current barn we occasionally have a neighbor’s dog wander onto the property and bark at the livestock. Because of that we added additional barriers around the rabbit area to prevent it from getting close to the cages.
Good livestock management is built in layers of protection.
No single precaution solves everything. Instead you build a system where multiple safeguards work together: enclosure, cage security, height, barriers, and supervision.
Sometimes management also means making difficult choices. At one point we had another mini schnauzer Cole , that developed a habit of killing ducks and chickens. Rather than continue risking the birds, we chose to retire the poultry until that dog was no longer part of the household.
When you keep multiple species, sometimes the responsible decision is separating them or choosing which animals you can safely keep.
Rabbits rely entirely on their caretaker for protection. They cannot defend themselves against predators.
Accidents can happen, especially while people are still learning. The important part is recognizing where the system failed and fixing the management problems before more animals are put at risk.
Safe housing and predator management always come first.
Everything else in rabbit keeping—breeding, showing, or keeping them as companions—comes after that foundation is built.
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Let's Talk Managment .
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