This weekend we went to a local Rabbit show in Chino, CA. (you can read @creationofcare's post about it here). We ended up picking up a beautiful American Buck named Devon. We were about 98% ready, so we rushed home, introduced Devon to his new home (you can read about building the hutch here); then rushed out to pick up the few supplies we had remaining on the list. By sundown, Devon was comfortable in his new home with Timothy hay, some rabbit pellets, fresh water, and a nice box to hang out in and bed down.
The next day we set forth building the first 'rabbit tractor' (shown completed, above). This will be used to keep the rabbits safe while they exercise, play, and EAT all the Bermuda and other pasture plants we have (and will have) growing in the back yard.
The project once again starts with gathering all the tools and materials. This is a fairly large project, so we will be using the sawhorses and OSB panel as a worktable again. For this tractor, we are trying a PVC frame and vinyl coated chicken wire. We determined the best size for the tractors will be about 7'x3', and they will be 2' tall. This allows for the efficient use of the standard 10' long PVC pieces. We also want to have at least 2 of these tractors in the back yard, and much larger than this would make it really hard to maneuver them around.
Here is frame for the base is complete, and just needs to be wrapped in the chicken wire. The bases ended up a bit longer then 7' because I did not bother removing the extra length that the "T" fittings created. between that and the radius of the corners it is about 7.5 feet long...
The coated chicken wire is secured to the frame using zip ties. The coated wire is Soooo much nicer than working with un-coated wire. We are also hoping it will last a bit longer...
The completed 'tractor'. the dimensions it is built to allow for just enough PVC pipe left over to use as a prop to hold the lid up so you can more easily add/remove rabbits from the tractor. The roof section is made from the same PVC as the frame, and uses corrugated polycarbonate roof panels to keep the sun off. The rabbits wont be pastured when its raining, so I wasn't worried about sloping the roof.
Devon inspects the final product. He seems to approve, although it seems he is not really sure what to do. He has likely been confined to a cage his entire life (the past 10 months). We are slowly introducing him to new experiences, and new foods. He has probably only ever been fed pellets and Timothy (he very much knows what to do with these) but isn't sure about Bermuda, Dandelion, Mallow, or any of the other tasty bits that will eventually make up a significant portion of his diet. Wait till he discovers the barley sprout fodder that is headed his way soon!
