Yay! An article about raising rabbits! I have raised them in a variety of ways, from cages to pens on concrete, to a fenced half acre. It was unbelievably fun and I'd still be doing it if we hadn't moved back to the city for a bit. I put a hammock up for myself and we'd all laze in the shade together. Rabbits know how to lounge. :)

I believe the Romans would dig a pit, line it with bales of straw (they baled straw in Rome?) and give it to one pregnant doe. There's also a permaculture technique of keeping rabbits in the lower part of a greenhouse during the cooler months, with the plants on shelves above. A rabbit's body temperature is high (around 101F) and their ears radiate heat. The breath exchange benefits both. I'd like to try this method, but probably just with one rabbit or friendly sisters in the greenhouse to start because not everybody gets along and males are more likely to spray the walls. I'd also bury hardware cloth for that technique and have a cat door in the greenhouse with a run beyond to keep them from tearing up the floor or ever getting overheated.

My saddest rabbit story (don't worry, it's funny) was when I created a new pen on fresh grass and decided to see if anyone wanted to join me there for the afternoon. So, I put some carriers down and moved the first two that came running over. I repeated but only one more was immediately interested so off we went. Adding rabbit #3, I realized what I'd done. The two who were in the new pen already happened to be a mated pair in love. The female, Dora, had thought this was going to be their new pen alone, like a married couple getting their first house. The third rabbit I'd brought over, Diana, was her bitchy mother. I saw the look of joy and wonder on Dora's face turn to horror. It was too late to take Diana back because she was already busy asserting her authority. I paid much more careful attention to the delicate social fabric of the colony after that.

Thanks for giving me an excuse to tell rabbit stories. :)