Raising Bunnies Inside My Home

People marvel how tame and calm my English Angora rabbits are.  They are "trained" from day one for the last 40 plus years.  When the doe is due, a maternity ward is set up inside our house.   The mama rabbit gets used to the comings and goings of daily routines.  I hope to see the babies born, 24 hours around the clock I am on baby watch, even getting up every 2 hours to check.   

When babies are born, I handle and check on them immediately.   Bunnies get used to human touch and mama rabbit learns to trust me.

Kitties Bao Bao and Bei Bei watch the mama rabbit and babies. 

Would I be worried about cats being too curious and potentially destructive?  Yes, I do.  I keep a watchful eye on cats and rabbits/bunnies.  They need to learn that they are family and be good to each other.

Babies are handled and checked everyday.

When bunnies are old enough to jump out of nestbox, they go into a large carrier with a little "bed".

They learn to drink from a water bottle. 

They learn to have treats in addition to the regular rabbit pellets.   Notice a piece of wheat bread at the top of the photo?

I prepare two large carriers, one for the bunnies to live in and the other to be used and cleaned on alternate days.   And there is a basket on the top of the carrier, what for?

By then their mama rabbit is back to her condo in the barn, the basket is used to carry the bunnies to the barn to visit mama and to get nursed.

Here are the curious but very calm bunnies.