Best Outdoor Rabbitry Setup Ideas For The Backyard Farmer

Alright, let’s talk about the best outdoor rabbitry setup. Let me clarify that by outdoor rabbitry set up I simply mean that they are not in your home. 

The rabbitry is set up in either an outbuilding or is a space in your yard using outdoor hutches. 

You know your rabbits need shelter. They can’t just be outside in a wire cage and not be able to get out of the elements. 

This post is all about the key things you need to think about while starting your rabbitry and giving you outdoor rabbitry setup ideas.

Work With What You Have To Use To Set Up Your Rabbitry

Well, you may only have one or two options but I am going to talk first about what your rabbits need to stay healthy and safe. 

Then talk about the things you can do to make your rabbitry operate at its best. 

The Two Keys To An Outdoor Rabbitry Setup

Temperature and airflow. 

Both of these things are equally important to the health of your herd. If the rabbits are too hot they will get heatstroke and airflow is paramount to healthy respiratory systems. 

I personally believe that it also affects your rabbit’s production and litter health.

How To Get The Best Temperature And Airflow In Your Rabbitry Setup

People think that being in a barn, outbuilding, or garage is the best option for their rabbits but I have to disagree. 

The coolest and best airflow option is going to be outside in rabbit hutches under shad trees.

Even on a fairly cool day, the difference between the shade from being under a building or under a tree is HUGE. They don’t even compare. 

Even if I was able to have my rabbits in a barn I would choose not to do so because of this. I would much rather them be in our current setup in their lean-to-stype hutches with cages hanging underneath.

Now I realize that if you live in an area where stray dogs or neighborhood pets are a problem you may have to have your rabbits in a secure building. You may just have to work with what you’ve got. 

If you want to learn more about rabbit housing and ventilation check out this post.

The Flow Of Your Rabbitry Setup

Once you know the location where your outdoor rabbitry will be think about the flow in which you will move. 

You will likely be doing hard work in there some days like cleaning out the pens so you don’t want to cause yourself problems down the road.

Here are something to think about.

• Will you be having guests come to the rabbitry to pick up their rabbits? 
• Do you need to get a wheelbarrow down the rows? Make sure to leave space.
• How much space do you need to get nesting boxes in? 
• What about loading up for a rabbit show?
• How will you likely do the feeding? Give yourself a nice smooth line to work in. Not back and forth slowing down your natural movement.

Creating A Work Space

Create a spacious easy-to-access workspace. 

You will need a spot that can handle some weight so you can put the rabbit on the table to look them over either for grooming or to work on an injury. 

You want to make sure it is completely flat if you are showing your rabbits because you want to be able to evaluate them in a posed position. 

If there is a bow in the table or if the workspace is not level the rabbit will not sit completely correct. Giving you a skewed view of the rabbit.

My “work space” in my current rabbitry used to be a junky piece of siding board across a stack of bricks. And every few days I would flip that board over because it would start warping and sagging which was hilarious. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just work with what you’ve got.

Storage For Your Outdoor Rabbitry

Storage can be one of the most frustrating things about having an outdoor rabbitry set up.

If you don’t have a barn close by to have your supplies in you have to make do. 

THE BEST thing I ever got was this patio trunk for the rabbitry. I see stars every time I look at it. 

Make sure it is level and put it up on cinderblocks because if you don’t have airflow underneath you will get some moisture and water up underneath. It will also be much easier for bugs to get in and cause issues with the feed, supplements, and not to mention if you have treats. 

Security For Your Outdoor Rabbitry Setup

The biggest thing you are going to run into is predators coming into the outdoor rabbit area and scaring them badly enough to injure themselves. Or worse actually biting toes through the wire floor.

You might have a litter tray underneath the cages but even if that is the case I would highly recommend you take fencing or even chicken wire and put it up around the rabbit cages to keep predators out of the rabbitry. You can see that this fence goes about halfway up the back of the lean-to.

Never Let Rabbits On The Ground In Your Outdoor Rabbitry

I have a few pictures of rabbits on the ground that I took for brand photos and it made me cringe doing it. 

Never let your rabbits run free in the yard or ground outside. Rabbits go down hard and fast.

Diseases can spread like wildfire and the herd you have to spend decades building could be wiped out in a matter of weeks. All because you chose to have a soft-hearted moment instead of sticking to the safety rules. 

You have no idea what wild rabbit or wild animal ran across that piece of ground when you weren’t looking. 

Could it be ok? Sure.

But you don’t know that or have a way to know. To me, it’s not worth it.

Rabbits Should Never Be Together If Not Fixed

I don’t like rabbits being together either way but hands down never have rabbits together if they are not fixed.

Breeding can happen in a split second and rabbits of the same sex will fight each other any second they get. One bite to the face could cause a rabbit’s showing career to be over. 

As well as rabbit injuries can become infected so easily. You could have weeks of wound healing chores to do if a fight broke out.

I perfect example was this very week I had two nine-week-old sisters decide they had enough of each other and got into a squabble causing one doe to nip the other in the ear and the upper lip.

Outdoor Rabbitry Setup Ideas

Here are some of my favorite outdoor rabbitry setups. 

I love this hutch above because there is lots of airflow for the rabbits. The one thing I would be careful of is which way the wind blows and if the rain could get blown into the rabbits. The other thing could be to be able to put some kind of covering over the front during the winter.

Here is another great option where the poo falls to the back for the top row and the waste falls to the ground for the bottom row. Either way, it gets the rabbits further away from the waste helping them heave a healthier respiratory system.

Now this is pretty typical for most rabbits and it’s great if that is what you have to work with. But by having this setup you are causing yourself A LOT of extra work. Ventilation gets difficult and keeping good airflow is not easy.