Since being at McCarthy Park 2, our rabbits have been really impacted by Calicivirus, which is released by the council to eradicate the feral rabbit population. We are fully supportive of this program- feral rabbits and foxes do not belong in Australia, however it has taken its toll on our rabbits over the last two years despite our breeders being vaccinated last year.

So, this year we have decided to do as much as we possibly can to prevent the virus impacting our stock. In addition to vaccinating the breeders (at $120 per rabbit!), we have fully enclosed all mesh areas of the rabbit pen with fly/mosquito netting as this is the main mode of transmission. As the virus can also be spread by contact with contaminated objects and food, including faeces (of which there is a huge amount on our property), we also have a sanitation tray at the entry.

The entry now has a secure step-in area where we have a bleach tray (10% bleach recommended) to step into before we walk into the main area where the rabbits have a ‘day out’ and their pens. Given that we walk across the property to the rabbit pen and there is an abundance of feral rabbit faeces along the way, this was an easy and effective first step.

Enclosing the rabbit pen with fly/mosquito netting was quite a feat! We had originally designed the rabbit pen ourselves to allow for air flow, which was then perfect for letting in the mosquitoes! So, step one involved moving a 6meter by 2.4 metre pen away from the side of the shed so we could reach all around it.

We already had four of these furniture/large plant trolleys as we put our bins of food on them for ease of movement, and they were perfect. Using a lever, were managed to get the four trolleys (two on each length) in situ, enabling us to move the entire pen away from the shed wall.

We then covered the mesh side (visible in the photo), roof and opposite side with one length of insect netting to ensure there were no gaps or joins. We used kick boards at the bottom of reach side to hold the netting taut and to help protect and neaten the edges. That was no mean feat, and required considerable gymnastics to reach all the areas!

Then we still had to cover the mesh areas on each end of the pen, above the tine. For this we bought security fly screens from a salvage yard, cut them to size, and secured in place.

It wasn’t easy on the fingers, but was very effective. Then the final stage was using corrugated foam to fill the open areas that are created when using corrugated sheeting such as this.

So, we have vaccinated rabbits living in a fully mosquito protected enclosure with a bleach solution to step in at the entry. Fingers crossed!