Plans for Rabbit tractor/Goat pen?

[RogueAPBT]

Hi Patti,

Do you have any pics/info online, or plans for building your rabbit tractors? I can see they are different from your chicken tractor, but can't tell much from the videos they appear in.

Also, same for your goat pen? Is that modular, also, or do they stay in one spot?

Thanks for sharing your ideas. Your site is great, and so perfect for what I was looking for, it's uncanny. I'd had this idea in my head to make 4x8 frames for the garden beds, and make a cage to fasten to that frame, so I could move some chickens around, and possibly put the rabbit to work as well (and have room for more than one). I stumbled upon your site (thanks to a link from Path to Freedom's chicken page), and just couldn't believe it. I had this thread of an idea, and here someone had done it, but so much better than I'd imagined it. I've been doing lasagna gardening and square foot gardening for a few years, but never tried the raised beds. Now, I can see the advantages for animal pens and for gardening..my back thanks you already! It also solved my dilemma of how to keep the bunnies from digging out, with the bonus of keeping the moles from digging in, with your simple but brilliant wiring of the bottom garden bed frame. It's just been amazing to me to see that this type of system can work, and work so well. Anyway, you're a genius, thank you, thank you!

Cheryl

[AbbeyLehman]

Hi Cheryl! I just wanted say Welcome...I'll step aside and let Patti take over...

[gardengirl72]

Cheryl,

Thank you so much for the kind words and joining up.

My rabbit tractors are the same as the chicken tractors, minus the roost. If I put Angora's in there, it MUST have a wire bottom to keep them off the soil.

Now the goat pen isn't truly sufficient by itself. You should also get an electric fence kit, and move them frequently, and pen them for security reasons.

All livestock, Cows included, should be rotated frequently. Nothing is happy if it is stuck in feces for long. By rotating you keep the entire system healthy.

The order of rotation is important as well, birds(chickens) after mamals(goats, rabbits, cows) never the other way around.

[RogueAPBT]

Patti, thanks for the reply. Sorry for the confusion about the rabbit pens. Why did I think they had covered sides and a hinged top/lid? I probably just watched too many videos and went mental...it happens! ;) I think mine will need to have some cover on the sides and possibly a sloped roof, because it rains all winter here.

ETA: Abbey, thanks for the warm welcome!

Cheryl

[AbbeyLehman]

...ETA: Abbey, thanks for the warm welcome!

Cheryl

You're welcome!! Both ways!! LOL

[gardengirl72]

Cheryl, you are not crazy. My 1st generation Tractors have a hindge top lid. But I have since stopped doing that in generation 4 which we are currently on.

What is your area? I simply drape a tarp over it durring the really bad weather.

[RogueAPBT]

Patti, or anyone, how often do you rotate the bunnies? Do they just rotate through the 4x4 beds, or do they rotate through the 8 ft beds as well?

I'm curious to hear what your rotation order looks like, as well. Like, when a bed is "done", then do the rabbits go on it for a month (or however long), then chickens, immediately, or is there some lag time between? I'm trying to figure my rotation schedule/order and how many beds I need. Any help would be appreciated! I'll check the other forums to see if anybody has asked this before, but thought I'd ask here, just in case.

Edit: Sorry, I had a phone call, so you both posted before I could send this. Patti, I live in Tacoma, WA. Rarely gets below freezing here, thus we end up with a lot of rain in the winter, instead of snow, at our low altitude.

Cheryl

[RogueAPBT]

Ooh, you know, I just thought of something... I could use the pvc hoop frame and just binder clip a tarp to that when the weather is nasty. That would give a nice protection from the weather, be easy to pull back, and wouldn't complicate the construction of the tractor itself. What do you all think?

Er....nevermind...looking back at the pics, the hoops wouldn't fit with the tractor in place. I'll just make one, and see how it goes. It looks like it gets pretty good coverage already.
Cheryl

[plantoneonme]

I have 1 long bed of 4 ft x 24 ft...is it possible to make a tractor for the quail I could rotate. If so how would I go about rotating it? I was thinking like 1 or 2 ft x 4 ft. I would plant things near each other that I could pull up to make room for rotation.

Kim

[RogueAPBT]

Kim, I think you have the right idea, just move the pen down the bed. I can't wait to hear how the quail experiment goes for you, and for Patti.

[gardengirl72]

Nothing is set in stone with my rotation. But in general, I leave livestock in one place based on smell. If it starts to get too stinky I move it. I find spilled or wasted feed is the biggest problem, not so much waste. I have also found that it is easy to extend the time on a bed if you add soil and carbon organic material like straw or hay.

You may be able to tell, but I never let the soil in my raised beds ever get to the actual top of the raised bed. That way when livestock are on the bed I have room to leave it there for a good while(four to six weeks). I generally lead off with rabbits. They dig tunnels and burrows and do a solid number on the plant and soil matter. I let the bed rest a day or two, or at least a rain. If it is spring, summer or fall I might let whatever seeds are in the bed germinate and provide a tasty treat for the birds who will feast on the tiny plants.

Each bed in my garden probably has two monthes of Livestock, and two months fallow and nine months of planting production time. But again with the livestock, I base it on the smell. If it gets too funky I move them.

In terms of the quail I might have started on a bad foot. My daughter and husband have them in a make shift thing, that may have cooked them already. I may be trying again.....we'll see.

[RogueAPBT]

Patti, thanks for the reply regarding rotation. That makes sense, and sounds like a good plan. I'm not sure how many beds we'll end up with, but we do have the option of putting chickens (and now, bunnies) on grass, so if we don't have enough beds at first, we'll still be okay and able to keep the animals moving to clean spots as needed. We moved my son's rex bunny into his new deluxe GG bunny tractor today, in the grazing frame, and he seems to love it.

Cheryl

[Shannon]

Patti,

So if you don't let your Angoras dig in the dirt, what other breed of rabbits do you keep for digging and are they as mild mannered as your Angora?

Thanks!
Shannon

[gardengirl72]

I mostly have mutts or what people would call "meat" rabbits. I have selectively bred mine so most come out looking like wild rabbits, just much bigger because of the Giant angora in them.

[herb girl]

Patti,

I was just wondering, do you find 2 months "fallow" time to be adequate for composting the manure so it isn't still "hot"? It seems it takes my composting longer so maybe I'm doing something wrong :confused: Rabbit manure seems to stay pellet-like for a long time.
Maybe you have more worms??

[Kittikity]

You don't have to compost rabbit manure.. It can go right in the garden.. Chicken manure does have to be composted though..

[gardengirl72]

Lorian, yeah rabbit poo is fine right out the bunny. The chickens tear the bunny poo up very well. For each tractor I would have four to six garden beds for an ideal rotation.