Rabbits

Rabbits!!! what's the best way to get shot of as many as possible?? there everywhere, i did start on my plot and grew some bits and bobs, then i had to stop as i became very ill so I'm starting slowly again, i have a good chicken wire fence already, at the standard hight etc., but i need more drastic measures to cull them more

 

The most effective control is the fence. Its not always practical though. I'm guessing (seeing as the thread is in the allotments section) that this is an allotment we're protecting?

If so, it should be easy enough to keep them out, but the fence has to be right.

Chicken wire is not the most humane control, as the wholes tend to be just big enough for a rabbit to get its head stuck in. You can get rabbit mesh which is just chicken mesh but with smaller holes.

The bottom of the mesh has to be buried. I think the official advice is 9 inches deep, but if that's not practical, another option is to fold the bottom foot or so out over and then bury that, so that when the rabbit reaches the foot of the fence, it goes to dig under, can't (because you've folded the mesh out for a few inches and then buried it) the rabbit gives up.

Don't forget your gate. They can easily get under most gates, so you'd need to bury some mesh under the 'doorstep' too and ensure there are no gaps that a rabbit can fit through (wild rabbits are mostly fur and teeth, so they can fit through much smaller gaps than you might think.

Rabbits are creatures of habit. They make little paths and usually stick close to them. You can spot them easy enough in grassy areas, just look for the 6 inch wide grazed path with rabbit poo on it at intervals. If any such path goes anywhere near your boundary, fortify that part of your fence extra well.

They are also lazy. If there is a more accessible source of food for them, they will take it. That doesn't mean grass. They'll eat grass, but they'd rather destroy your crops, or someone else's. If you make your patch better protected than your neighbour's, the furry demons will ignore your patch and go and see your neighbour instead.

I don't think there's a magic bullet with rabbits. Lots of little steps are needed I think. I've been fighting them for about 4 years now. I've made a lot of progress, but they still get in.

 

I agree with Clueless 100% with ref to Rabbit defence. It's how I have protected part of my plot...see here Fencing | The Nook

This is the outside boundary so no plot holders where I was digging this trench, so I was able to splay the chicken wire outwards towards the Rabbits. The rest of my plot is bordered by other plot holders so a fifferent approach was needed.

For the rest of the plot I have still dug trenches and then buried corrugated iron to form a physical defence against the little blighters.

Rabbit defence | The Nook
Tins | The Nook

It's expensive to protect against them, but then again it's expensive AND soul destroying if you dont.

One note of caution here, Rabbits at our allotment have been seen jumping two feet high corrugated fence defence, so build higher! I have a metre of Chicken wire above my tins.

Steve...

 

Get some cats we have rabbits in the field that backs on to our garden , our cats frequently catch and eat rabbits we get none in the garden

 

Fencing & rabbits,

Hi,
Now im feeling im going to upset one or two people here ref fencing against rabbit's but this is my idea and why and how it works.

Now the idea is to stop rabbits from getting onto the allotment/garden.

Cats are only good when they are there, when they are not there the rabbits get in, So forget about cats,

How do rabbits get in in the first place ?

They dig," just think about it" they live under ground anyway,

The materials used have to be rabbit proof, ie small enough holes so that the rabbit (including baby rabbits) cannot get through the fencing,
The fencing needs tobe strong and the post need tobe able to with stand all nature has to offer, and the fencing "Bottom" needs tobe tough and strong enough to with stand not only rabbits but other animals,


chainlink fencing with good strong post metal or concrete, and a concrete skirt higher than the bottom of the chainlink fencing (in other words the bottom of the chain link will be on the outer of the concrete 6inch high skirt, (ridge)

This way the fencing is very tight due to the holding bottom wire being pulled tight against each post (these post are concreted in the ground, and the 6inch skirt or ridge is on the inside of the fencing, even the area we're the gateway onto the allotment needs tobe skirted so that this gate is'nt a weak spot for the rabbits to get in.

Now i know some people are going to say its a hell of a lot of work and its costly but ive done it on my old allotment and the land ive bought thats going to be the next allotment has both rabbits/deer / fox & badgers all in the same area so ive got to make sure what inner fencing i do will work and its tried & tested and this has been,

Hope ive not upset anyone but this i feel is a job that needs doing once and once only.

 

For the gate on my plot I made a "window frame" and fitted the gate to those dimensions, two of the sides extended two feet beyond the frame and it was dug in and protected below ground with more wire, no gaps in the gate so rabbits cant get in.

Rabbits wont get past the defences detailed by Clueless above, it's tried and tested, using the same methods on my plot this year, all the plots surrounding mine had Rabbit ingress...I however...did not!

Moonraker, I doubt very much anyone will be upset with you for having an opinion, but there are many methods to the same end and what works for one persion may not work for another. Ask three gardeners how they plant onions, you'll get three different replies.

Steve...

 

True very true

Yes what your saying is true very true,

Talking about gates,
Ive seen a smashing idea here in france by an old farmer,
What he did was because he didnt want a swinging gate (one that opens in or out )

And as he's can't lift a lot of weight, he's got two post opposit each other (approx 6 inch gap between these post and he's done the same the opposit end of the gates length,

The gates made of just the retangle shape frame "but with 4 long strips of wood to complete the gate, (no other wood) used.

He 's then put 3 rounded pieces of wood fixed to each set of post's,
ie the first pole is under the top setion of the gate, the 2nd pole is under the second lond piece of the gates structure, & the 3rd pole under the 3rd gates long piece of wood strucure, the gate is now resting on these 3 crossed poles and at the far end of the gate he's fixed an old wheel barrow wheel to the bottom corner of the gate & he's also fixed at this end a wire hoop that fits over the posts to hold the gate shut at the gates top.
all he has to do to open the gate is lift the hooped wire off the post and push the gate, the gate is secured via the 3 crossed wooden poles and this method takes no room up as its in line with his fence and all the gates weight is running over the ground via the old wheel.


It's a smashing idea and one ive not seen before.

His opening is approx 8 feet wide so as you can see its not a small opening .

 

Sounds like a typical farmer's ingenuity, taking the idea from the sliding barn door and applying the principle to his gate.

Proper farmers (ie the 'old school' farmers, not the businessmen that some of them are nowadays) are fantastic people. They just make stuff work. No engineering degrees, no CAD packages, half the time not even the right tools, yet they make stuff work. Mind sometimes they lose limbs in the process, but I guess that's an occupational hazard.