Why are rabbits often kept in cages?
For every single animal I’ve ever had, I put significant time and effort into making sure that they are happy, receiving adequate attention and stimulation and are comfortable. In fact, most of my days are spent with some level of wrangling, coddling, editing, or revising various accommodations to make sure that everyone is safe with plenty of space. In the same way that I want to live close to nature, I believe that all animals should have the privilege of living as close as possible to their natural environment. I treat meat ducks with the exact same love, respect and value that I have for our laying or breeding stock.
Whether it’s livestock or pets, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I didn’t believe that my animals weren’t living a great life.
Our cuddle-bun buck, Walter
I’m just getting started with rabbits and when I first began researching, I felt that cages were not going to be an option for me. It seemed uncomfortable, boring and depending on the size, a little inhumane. I wanted to know why so many rabbit owners and breeders choose cages!
I learned that years ago in Europe and North America, rabbits were originally domesticated and raised free in barns. With no real monitoring system in place, rabbits were left to their own devices to feed, breed, succumb to illness, and often escape as they pleased. Raised on the ground, they were highly susceptible to each other’s various diseases, parasitic infestation or getting trampled by other livestock. Housed in a wooden barn, they often easily chewed through to fall prey to predators and though somewhat ‘freerange’ and living in borrow, were overall not healthy, safe or productive as livestock.
Later on, the Morant hutch (portable floorless enclosure) was created to move place to place. The idea was to provide a bit more safety and better access to the rabbit fertilizer. Though the rabbits were then able to forage and fertilize areas naturally, with no floor, they often still burrowed out and were still very vulnerable to parasites.
“You may hear from well-meaning, nut naive and uninitiated, that any confinement housing robs rabbits of their freedom. The fact is, however, that well-bred domestic rabbits have been raised in wire hutches for thousands of (rabbit) generations. Not only are they not used to hopping great distances or leaving the safety of their burrow all day, but they now lack the fear-inspired instincts of their wild cousins.”
Cages were introduced as a way to create more sanitary living quarters and to be able to better control breeding and kindling (giving birth). Any time a rabbit steps in or is forced to live among it’s own feces, problems inevitably arise. Wooden hutches may look cuter, but there’s no good way to sanitize them. Raising on the ground offers more freedom, but drastically impacts health risks due to the inability to monitor individual rabbits. The most important qualities for appropriate rabbit environments are cleanliness, dryness, ventilation and safety. Wire hutches provide all of this and more.
Cleanliness: Rabbits are naturally fastidious animals and thrive in sanitary conditions. When grooming, rabbits need to lick their paws. If regularly kept on the ground or stepping in waste, mud or damp bedding, diseases flourish. Parasites and flies are also a huge problem with other types of housing, and they have free access to burrow directly into rabbits skin.
Wire hutches are also the only types of housing that can be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected using a germ-killing cleaner or propane torch.
Dryness: Rabbits cannot tolerate damp conditions at all. If kept in a wooden hutch or directly on the ground, it is impossible to control urine soaked areas. Wire cages are designed to allow any waste or dampness to fall directly through the floor so that a rabbit never has to step or stand in it’s own filth.
Ventilation: Rabbits are extremely intolerant of heat, but incredibly cold hardy. Open wire cages allow for maximum ventilation and air flow 24/7.
Safety: In wooden hutches or when kept directly on the ground, there is always the possibility of the rabbit gnawing it’s way out or a predator digging it’s way in. Especially in wooded areas with lots of predators like we have, cages provide security.
The number one gripe many people have with cages is believing that the wire mesh will hurt rabbits feet. But in fact, the opposite is often true!
Unlike wire mesh, many rabbits on solid floors develop sore hocks because wood floors are impossible to keep clean, sanitary and completely dry.
The wire myth has persisted for years, but modern flooring mesh is just barely large enough to allow droppings to pass through, while still small enough to never create any pressure points on a rabbits feet. Rabbit feet are also incredibly thick-furred and padded to allow them to dig, thump, and maneuver through briar patches. For huge rabbit breeds such as the Flemish Giant (weighing up to 15 pounds) special accommodations must be made regardless, as their sheer size and weight makes them highly susceptible to sore hocks on any surface. I’ve added such rubber mats to my cage floors, mainly in case I ever switch to larger breeds.
If you are worried about sore feet, you can always add a rubber floor mat like this one over the bottom of your cage floor.
Domesticated rabbits are no longer the same as wild rabbits in many ways. I do not personally believe and do not intend to ever keep any animal in a cage for it’s entire life. My plan is to regularly bring the buns into the house for playtime, cuddles and attention, allow them to romp around on the porch or supervised in the garden. If possible, I also intend to allow the bonded does to play together, but many often become territorial after they reach sexual maturity.
Our set-up has expanded and changed a bit over the year, but we love having our rabbits housed on the porch!
Ultimately, I want my rabbits to have a long healthy, disease-free life in a clean living environment. When regularly provided lots of attention, affection, stimulation, foraging fodder and playtime, cages are arguably one of the most humane way to house a rabbit.
To each their own though! How do you keep your rabbits? Or are you just starting out and considering your options? There are many ways to set up a rabbitry and I’m always open to suggestions and input. Thanks for reading and if you’re researching for your first buns, be sure to check out our beginners blog post!
