Our pen in progress...pics.

[BCBeagles]

Here would be the back side of the pen area. You can see all the tops they left. It should make for tough running and plenty of refuge for rabbits to reproduce.

We are going all wild rabbits there are some there already. We will catch more.

[BCBeagles]

This would be the front side. It is grown up pasture, a pile of black berries..lol and a bunch of great natural grass and cover.

The pen should be somewhere in the vicinity of 20 acres. It lies with a ridge right thru the middle. We have planted out the logging roads in clover and grass. That is coming up nicely. It is a work in progress, but it will be well worth the work!!

Our fire pit will be right on the top ridge for late night excursions and some great stories being told while the hounds run a few. Looking forward to it!

[Chuck Prather]

Looking good!

[FarCry]

Looking great Jim. It will definitely be worth it. Good luck!

[Aubrey Holcombe]

Hello:
Yes sir,,, that is an excellent looking piece of property, and I can, Relate to what you about to Experience !

I likewise, went through the same thing,, long time ago,, here at my place. I been working on it for about 25 or 30 years now. Yep, now I call it Rabbit town, USA . What ever you do,, don't waste your time or money with, any other kind of Rabbits,, use Only Those that are wild in the area..

There was one thing for sure,, once I did get my pens, all set up, I have three that I call my starting pens, from about 1.5 A. to 8 A. then I choose to keep about 30 A. in the wild, as I love running my hounds,, among the Deer, bob cats, fox, coyote etc.

Plant all the good stuff, that rabbits like, I been plant for years and after a long time have it about like I want it to be,, cover is the most imported thing, as the Owls and Hawks here in my area, are bad, send me a P.M. and I can give you some advise what I had to do to keep them under control !

Good Luck and God Bless.
D.R. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>Rabbit Town,. USA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>

[BCBeagles]

Thank you all! Yes we are going to stock it with more wild rabbits.

I am confident once we get a decent population the cover and food supplies will allow them to thrive. It takes time, but will be fun to have!

[Mike Gibeaut]

Looking good Jim

[rabbitearl]

Don t put to many rabbits in there. its bad on the dogs and here comes the other stuff. I build my first one in 87 and not only did it serve to run dogs but it serve me to see.Why is that dog losing the rabbit? I now have 7 pens. Used the one nail on the post and you will have better luck on the wire in the long run. One nail is all you need to hold up the wire. Believe me I been there. deer hits it its nothing to put back up and your wire is not mess up that bad. The last pen I build.10 1\2 ac.18 hr Nobody but me.As far as rabbits in it.Go wild but down here they will get gone in Aug and sept.I believe ticks and fleas are the worst thing on rabbits. Its like I told some around here.if you donot know how to catch wild rabbits.Don t build one. rabbits got as high as 40 dollors each this year. good luck.

[Chip E]

looking good you will enjoy it also

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Nice pics and I'm sure you will enjoy the fruits of your labors.Glad to see you went with the 20 acres that you had available rather than a smaller one.I'm a firm believer in enclosing as much as you have available and can afford.Better for the rabbits,better for the dogs' running and more resembles natural conditions on the outside.
Twenty years ago I built a pen and I would agree with rabbitearl.Don't overstock your pen with too many rabbits.Better to have a decent population in there than have rabbits running in every direction which leads to some screwed up running and dogs developing some bad habits.Some guys think the more the better but I've had the opportunity to see some pens that had way too many rabbits in them and the running was a joke.
Good luck and enjoy!

[BCBeagles]

Thank you all for the advice.

We are going to start by trying to add a dozen rabbits to it. That is our goal.

We shall see how it all comes together!

[sammiller03]

looking good

[JUDE]

Super nice!

[bear128]

looking good Jim

[BCBeagles]

Thank you guys. I sincerely hope some of you all, if traveling thru WV at some point, can drop in and bring a hound and you can see it up close and personal.

Once my dad retires in 2016, Lord willing, we will condition some hounds and start a few pups for folks...that is a long term goal.

It is mainly for us to be able to keep entire litters, or multiple pups from litters, and evaluate them for our use....time will tell if that all works out.

Take care and good running to all!!!