Keeping rabbits will not be successful if you do not provide them with comfortable living conditions. A strong, spacious, properly equipped rabbitry allows you to maintain the health of the animals and ensures the productivity of the livestock. If it is not possible to purchase a ready-made structure, then you can use the scheme for making a rabbitry with your own hands. A rabbit's home should be cozy, convenient for cleaning, disinfecting and caring for pets.
Primary requirements
A good rabbitry should be:
- optimal size for rabbits;
- built from inexpensive but high-quality materials;
- designed with the possibility of complete and partial assembly and disassembly;
- wear-resistant;
- having a strong frame;
- corresponding sanitary and hygienic standards;
- designed with the possibility of insulation for the winter;
- structurally convenient for cleaning and disinfection, feeding and watering pets.
Types of designs and their features
There are 3 main types of rabbit hutches, intended for keeping mature and young rabbits who have given birth to female rabbits. Each variety has its own dimensions and design features:
- For a couple of individuals. Typically, beginning breeders buy a pair of rabbits for breeding: a male and a female. For animals, you make a cage with your own hands, divided into two sections. Dimensions of the rabbitry: length – 140 cm, width – 70 cm, height – 60-70 cm. The sections are separated by a mesh hay feeder. Multi-tier installation of cages is possible, but in this case the lower rows must be artificially ventilated.
- For young individuals. The rabbits are kept in these cages for up to 2 months, then they are moved to standard rabbitries for mature rabbits. The dimensions of the building are determined taking into account the young livestock: each rabbit requires at least 0.2 m2. Standard dimensions of a self-made rabbitry: length – 300 cm, width – 100 cm, height – 35-40 cm.
- For a mother rabbit with cubs. The pregnant female is placed in a comfortable cage, where she will remain until the born rabbits get stronger. Part of the queen cell is occupied by a nest made of wooden boards, its length is 35 cm, width – 28, height – 30.The queen cell must be equipped with a round hole so that the female can climb into the nest, and an upper door so that the owner can monitor the condition of the offspring. The floor is densely lined with sawdust. If the queen cell is located in the yard, then separate space for the infrared illuminator.
How to choose a place
Rabbits are less sensitive to cold than to heat, so direct sunlight should not penetrate into the cages. It is advisable to make a canopy over the rabbitry, protecting it from both the scorching sun and precipitation. Rabbits are susceptible to drafts, so the chosen location should be protected from winds by buildings or dense vegetation.
Many farmers build rabbit sheds with their own hands near the barn where the feed is stored. In this case, you don’t have to run back and forth to feed a large population.
You cannot build rabbit hutches near a compost heap. It is a source of many pathogenic microorganisms that can cause infectious pathologies in rabbits. Pets also get sick when they live in damp conditions. Therefore, a dry and elevated place is chosen for the construction of a rabbitry.
You should not place rabbits near a barn, chicken coop, or dog kennel. The noise made by other animals will frighten eared animals. And stress negatively affects the condition of the rabbit’s body.
Dimensions and drawings
The planned rabbitry must be depicted schematically to make it easier to construct it, as well as to select the necessary materials.
When choosing a scheme, you need to take into account the number of rabbits and the dimensions of the representatives of the breed:
- the optimal area for one young animal is 0.2-0.4 m2;
- for a rabbit selected for breeding - 0.8-1 m2;
- for a mature animal when kept in groups – 0.5-0.8 m2;
- for a nursing female and cubs - not less than 0.6 m2.
The scheme itself is simple, do it like this:
- Draw a rectangle that repeats to scale the parameters of the rabbit’s home.
- Define sections.
- The location of feeders, doors, partitions, and nests is noted.
- Taking into account the drawing made, a side sectional diagram of the rabbitry is made. Moreover, the cut is made where there are the most structural elements in order to more accurately calculate their position.
How to make a rabbitry with your own hands
Even an inexperienced farmer can make a home for rabbits with his own hands. The main thing is to prepare the necessary materials and draw an accurate diagram. A standard rabbitry is a timber frame structure covered with mesh or moisture-resistant plywood plates, particle boards, and boards.
How to make a floor
There are two options for laying the floor. In the first case, wooden boards are placed on the frame. Make a distance of 1 cm between them. Through the holes, feces will fall into the waste tray. The downside is that rabbits often gnaw this type of flooring. In the second case, a fine-mesh mesh is placed on the frame, the diameter of the holes in which is no more than 2.5 × 2.5 cm. Before winter comes, a plywood plate is placed on the mesh so that the pets’ paws do not become numb.
Doors
When building a rabbitry, the door frame is made exactly to the size of the opening. Boards, mesh or chipboards are used as door panels. The handle, locking mechanism and hinges are taken as usual.
Roof
It is best to build a rabbitry with a pitched roof. To do this, the front and rear walls of the building are made of different heights. Any roofing material can be used.The main thing is that the roof should not allow cold to pass through, so thermal insulation is placed on the roofing sheet. Most often, the roof is made of planks, and roofing felt film or flexible tiles are laid on top.
Sennik, drinking bowls, feeders
Drinkers are chosen so that they can be easily removed for washing and changing water. Typically, designs are chosen that are mounted on a door screen or wall. The haybox is a V-shaped structure between two sections of a cage for two rabbits. For a cage where young animals are kept, another option is used: part of one of the walls is made in the form of a lattice, to which a plywood or particle board is attached in an inclined position. You can also attach the hay box to the mesh door, then the drinker will have to be moved somewhere.
The feeder is made from any available material: plastic, metal, wood. If the feeder is wooden, then it is covered with tin plates, otherwise the rabbits will chew it.
What materials are the frame and walls made of?
The frame of the rabbitry is made with your own hands, either from wooden beams or from a galvanized wall profile. It is less common to see frames made of welded pipes. The design is heavy, so it is suitable for creating only stationary rabbit hutches. And the lightest frames are profile ones.
To create a rabbitry with your own hands, do not use synthetic materials. They may contain toxic substances that are harmful to rabbits.
Most often, wood materials are used for the frame and walls. The problem is that rabbits can gnaw at a wooden structure, so when building a structure they try not to make protruding corners. If some parts of the structure still protrude, they are covered with a mesh or tin plate.For young rabbits being fattened for slaughter, cages can be made entirely from fine mesh.
Arrangement inside
The rabbitry must be ventilated. If the cages are mesh and placed in the yard, then artificial ventilation is not required. If the cages are wooden or plywood, then for better air circulation several narrow holes are made in the roof or upper part of the walls.
If the rabbitry is located indoors, then artificial ventilation is indispensable. An anemostat is used as a ventilation device, which can be purchased at a hardware store.
The most convenient drinking bowl for rabbits is a nipple one. It is made from a nipple, a 2-mm plastic pipe, a plug, and a tee. They construct either a separate drinking bowl for each section, or a common pipe, from which branches ending in a nipple extend through a tee into each section.
It is advisable to make a visor on the cage to simplify the cleaning procedure. It is made of a metal plate 10 cm wide and attached under the doors along the entire length of the cage. The visor prevents debris and feces from getting back inside after being washed out with water, as well as from staining the door.
How to heat in winter
The rabbitry located in the yard is insulated for winter. The optimal winter insulation is foam boards that cover the walls of the cells. And plywood, particleboard or plastic panels are placed on top of the foam.
Rules of care
You need to properly care for your rabbitry:
- regularly change soiled litter;
- clean feeders and drinkers daily;
- throw away uneaten food, change the water to fresh;
- regularly wash cages, remove feces and dirt;
- Once every few months, disinfect the rabbit’s home.
Rabbits are susceptible to unfavorable living conditions. If you ignore the rules for caring for your rabbitry, your pets can contract serious infectious pathologies.
