Sunday, January 22, 2012

The Big Reveal

Except for a few details, we are FINALLY finished with the rabbitry!  Both Nate and I are so glad it's done as it has taken up most of our free time lately.  He doesn't believe me when I say I don't enjoy huge time-consuming projects like this.  I enjoy the end result and what it means for the homestead, but such a project takes me away from other tasks.  We both only have so much time in the day, so it is a major item off my list as our little micro farm continues to grow and we lay the foundation for self-sustainability. 

I spent alot of time researching rabbitries online and talking to Nate about how we could modify them to fit my ideas.  I'm so lucky to have someone who can translate my ideas into something real and tangible.  Though I know sometimes he wishes he wasn't so talented! 

My plan was to have eight holes, four over four with sloping droppings boards beneath the upper cages.  Here you can see the basic framing with a lattice wall along the back.













I also needed to be able to clean up the droppings from the upper cages, so we created a little alley behind the cages.  Eventually I want to place worm bins beneath the sloping boards to catch the droppings for vermicomposting. 


















Here Nate is installing the roof and the droppings boards.















Here is an interior shot with all of the lattice doors closed.















And, this photo is of the finished rabbitry with all of the doors shut.  There are four doors across the front and two side doors that open to the alley.  We chose to use lattice on the exterior to hopefully provide some predator protection, good ventilation and weather protection.  On really cold nights we can always hang plastic sheeting for extra protection, but being able to take advantage of breezes in the summer will be especially nice. 















The rabbits moved into their new digs this morning. 














I didn't notice until I opened this picture that the upper right cage is not exactly level.  Oops. 

What I like about this setup is the cages hang independent of one another unlike the stackable hutch system with the pull out trays I was using.  Since the cages were connected to one another, I could never just clean one cage at a time and I couldn't turn them over to clean them thoroughly.  Also, I really hated the pull out trays.  They always smelled and looked dirty no matter how often I emptied and cleaned them. 

Oh, and after almost three years of housing animals, the garden shed is mine again. 

Now I need some more rabbits.

Happy homesteading,

Candace

12 comments:

  1. Wow, what a classy rabbitry! Those should be some happy rabbits. Isn't it cool how you can come up with a really good design that is just right for you after having an animal for a while in a less than desirable set-up? I just love the lattice look that you came up with. Happy, healthy rabbits!

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    1. Thank you, Mama Pea! I think it turned out wonderful.

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  2. Holy cow those are some fancy digs! Glad that you have finally reclaimed the shed.

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    1. They are fancy digs. I only wanted to build it once and good enough to last. And now I can move around in my greenhouse because it's not a storage shed anymore. Time to start sprouting some seeds!

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  3. Excellent set-up! I wouldn't like pull-out trays either. We just used to keep ours in a row and I'd collect the compost under the cages once in awhile. It sounds too, like you've got the rabbit addiction. Can't ever have enough! :)

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    1. Those trays were disgusting! I don't see how anyone likes them, but to each her own. If I wasn't so concerned about predators and I had the space, I may have just lined mine up too. I'm looking forward to some new kits now from both pairs of rabbits.

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  4. That looks great! We haven't started rabbits yet....still debating (and waiting just a little bit so DH warms up to the idea). I may just have to steal your set up idea.

    New Follower, found you from Mama Pea's place, looking forward to reading your past (and future) posts!

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    1. Welcome to my blog, and I hope you enjoy what you read. I am fairly new to rabbits mayself, a year with the angoras and about 3-4 months with the meat rabbits. My DH has not warmed up to the idea of meat rabbits yet either. Feel free to use my design as inspiration. I certainly used other designs to come up with mine.

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  5. I also found your Blog at Mama Pea's
    I just started with Rabbits. Got my breeders two weeks ago, 2 1/2 year old Californian Doe (she lost a litter of 8 just last week!), 7 month old Silver Fox Doe and a 2 1/2 month Silver Fox Buck.
    They are in my shed for right now. Plan to build a hoop house for them when taxes get back. And they all need new cages.
    This is the first attempt at raising a meat animal.
    Tom

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    1. Welcome! I hope you like what you read. I lost 3 kits of 6 with my first litter of English Angoras. It goes with the territory I'm told. Silver Foxes are great. I've considered that breed myself. Good luck!

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  6. Do you have the dimensions of your awesome rabbitry? I'm going to try to convince my DH to modify ours to look much more like yours, and some dimensions, materials list, and or building suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

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    1. May: The way I planned this is I started with this rabbitry as inspiration: http://rabbittalk.com/blogs/24carrot/2010/06/ and then worked out dimensions based on my cage size. 36"x30". I then added a few inches on each side and made sure I had clearance to take the cages in and out. I know the main portion is 3' deep, and the back alley is about 18". The galvanized roof panels are 8' long, so the structure is no more than probably 6'-7' deep. I also didn't want it jutting out into the yard too much, so I kept it as shallow as possible but with room to move in and out of it in the alley. The length is approx. 16 feet. The height is 6' at the front and it tapers off toward the back for rain drainage. 16' will easily fit 4 cages, like mine, and maybe 5 across if you plan well. The lattice doors were an inspiration one day at the store while we were getting materials. So far it's worked out well, though with any project, you always think of a few things you would do differently. I don't know if this helps, but that's about the best I can do since it was an everchanging plan.

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