(introduction...)

59. The first thing that you will have to do is to build pens for your rabbits.

60. To begin you will need one pen for each full- grown rabbit. You will also need one pen for the young rabbits of each female.

61. If you decide to start with two females and one male rabbit, as you were told to do in Item 51 in this booklet, you will need five pens.

Starting with two females and one male rabbit

Where can you put your rabbit pens?

62. The best place for rabbit pens is near your home. That way you can watch your rabbits, take care of them easily and protect them from animals.

63. You have already been told that rabbits are easily frightened. So, try to choose a place that is quiet and peaceful, away from animals, people and noise.

64. You were also told that wind is bad for rabbits. So, try to choose a place that is protected from the wind.

65. Perhaps you have a place that is protected from wind by the walls of your house, a fence, some trees or a hill.

Wind

66. If it rains a lot where you live, put your pens in a place that is sheltered from the rain. You can also build a shelter over the pens to protect your rabbits and keep them dry (see page 43 in this booklet).

Shelter

67. If you have a wall around your house and farm buildings, put your rabbit pens inside the wall, as shown below.

Put rabbit pens inside the wall

What materials can you use to build rabbit pens?

68. Wire mesh is the best material for building rabbit pens. It lasts a long time and is easy to keep clean. However, wire mesh may be hard to find and it costs a lot of money.

wire mesh 1.25 x 1.25 mm

69. Later, if you begin to sell rabbits you may want to use some of the money that you make to buy wire mesh for your pens.

70. You will be shown how to build pens with wire mesh floors and walls in the next booklet in this series.
71. You can also build good pens using materials that cost little money such as used wood, old boxes, crates, poles from straight tree branches or bamboo.

Use cheap materials