Flush Kleen or Comparable System

My family and I are beginning to raise rabbits for meat and to sell, but mostly for meat. We're looking to get a system in place where we're harvesting meat at fairly frequent intervals; we've got seven kids to feed and we think this will help our family.

I'm looking to build something similar to the Flush Kleen cage system found at Bass Equipment: http://www.bassequipment.com/foundations/store/shopdetail.asp?params=FK-DDK^Flush_Kleen_Caging_System

Has anyone ever built anything like this? I've been working on some similar designs with PVC and wood. I'm planning on housing our rabbits in my workshop, which is heated and cooled, but that creates a problem with waste as I can't have it all over the floor. As I've started going through costs to purchase wire, wood, pipe, etc., I'm starting to wonder if it's not a better idea to just purchase the package. Any designs, insights or other help would be greatly appreciated.

Is this your first trip down the rabbit hole? :lol: :lol:
Have you or your family eaten rabbit before?

I would suggest starting small. That way if you don't like it the lump won't be as hard to swallow. I started April 2015 and in that time I've seen 7 raisers start and then crash personally. Nevertheless the others that are/were selling out on craigslist.

What type of rabbits are planning on raising?
I see you are thinking about all wire, a wise choice if I may be so bold. :lol: :lol:

Here's my trip down the rabbit hole. :lol: :lol:
to-hang-or-to-shelve-t24210.html?hilit=to%20hang%20or%20to%20shelve

Waste system:
post272178.html?hilit=DIY%20gutter%20system/Flush%20Kleen%20system?#p272178

I raise NZWs and I have given them plenty of room to have litters and not pull their fur out. :lol: :lol:
The 2 NZW/Cal bucks I have stretch out in their 2'x2'x3' cages and almost reach wall to wall. :x :lol: :lol:

Here's some great threads:
Watering system:
watering-system-pvc-schedule-40-pics-beginning-to-end-t12974.html

Butchering:
learning-aid-for-usda-protocol-processing-video-t18360.html

:welcome: by the way. This site is a fountain of information.

Our cages are from Bass, but we build our own wooden frames to hang them from. For the waste issue, we make slant boards that drain to guttering that lead to buckets. The waste goes to the garden.

I agree with Cathy- if this is your first time with rabbits, start small. Maybe a breeding trio, and see how it goes. Gives you a chance to easily correct so many things- location, cage type, rabbit breed, or maybe find out rabbits aren't for you. Give it a breeding season, make sure the family likes rabbit meat, get your feet under you with just a couple of litters, and see if you need to make changes if you want to expand production.

Good luck! You certainly found the best place for info.

Thank you Wamplercathy! I am going to explore the links you sent me to today, and I am looking forward to getting to meet everyone and learn from their experiences.

We were given a pet rabbit last year, not sure of his breed (I can post a picture later), and I was impressed with how well the children took care of him. I always joked with the children's grandmother about eating the rabbit one day. After I saw how much the children enjoyed raising the rabbit (and how easy it was, at least to maintain one), I gave some serious thought to the idea of raising rabbits for food. We were able to get three does and two buck Californians to start raising rabbits.

As far as I can tell right now, wire seems to be the best way to go We placed an order last night for some wire to start building cages; great advice on starting small at the beginning.

Thank you Marinea! After looking around for a while, they seem to have the best "setup system" considering price, cage count, construction, etc. if you've got the right setup for their drainage system. We ordered our wire and other building supplies from Bass; they seem to have a good selection. It's hard to find the wire to build cages - at least it was for me. Stumbling onto their site and finding this forum are going to be incredibly helpful!

Just a fun story:
A couple in Fillmore, MO decided to get into rabbits. We got to talking in the doctors office and the wife was bragging on having over 100 rabbits. I thought wow, so I asked how long they had been raising rabbits. She said 3 months. So then I asked how many they started with. She responded that they have had 3 successful litters. At that point she was called back. A week ago I see her again at the doctors office and asked her how their rabbitry is doing. Her husband told me that they were selling out. They butchered everything, and was now trying to sell their equipment. But weren't getting what they wanted for the equipment. They had bought everything brand new and bought, housed and feed 100 rabbits and only had 3 litters that survived (18 kits total). Over all their trip down the rabbit hole lasted 6 months. I was polite and didn't ask what their start up cost was. But I know it had to be high.

Just a fun story. Best of luck.
Cathy

That's a great reason to start out small and work into the process.

I've been thinking about the preconstructed/commercial units, and they all seem to drain too low. I suppose this is so they can be tied into a drain line or sewer connection. However, I would have to lift them up high enough to gather the droppings in a container; I'm interested in those for our keyhole gardens. So, this appears to be yet another reason to start small, carefully design my own system, and then expand after the kinks are all worked out.

I meant to get a picture of the rabbits and the cages we have right now today, but time got away from me. Hopefully I can post those soon.

I tried a homemade version of a Flush clean system but could never get enough slope for the waste to truly run off like I wanted. You need to be able to spray it down with a hose daily in order to have a chance of it being a good alternative, IMHO (which we didn't have). We are planning to build our new barn very soon and I am hoping we will have enough funds left to buy the KW Cages version similar to Bass Flush Clean.

I wanted to give a shout out because I am in Texas, just outside of Austin and an Aggie!

Another source for supplies you may want to check out is bunnyrabbit.com. They set up a booth at most of the Texas shows (schedule available on their website) and you can place an order to be picked up at the show and save on shipping. Plus, if you join their email list, they will send out periodic coupons which helps, too! I am not affiliated with them, just a happy customer!

fhjmom":ce4tjzy9 said:

I tried a homemade version of a Flush clean system but could never get enough slope for the waste to truly run off like I wanted. You need to be able to spray it down with a hose daily in order to have a chance of it being a good alternative, IMHO (which we didn't have). We are planning to build our new barn very soon and I am hoping we will have enough funds left to buy the KW Cages version similar to Bass Flush Clean.

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If you've determined a minimum pitch for the run off boards, I'd love to hear about it.

I wanted to give a shout out because I am in Texas, just outside of Austin and an Aggie!

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Whoop! Always great to meet another Aggie on here! If you draw a triangle between San Antonio, Austin, and Houston, we're about in the middle. Both grandparents on my wife's side were farmers/ranchers, and we're excited to get into the family business in our own way. Thanks to some good advice on here, we're starting small and will see whether God will bless our efforts.

Another source for supplies you may want to check out is bunnyrabbit.com. They set up a booth at most of the Texas shows (schedule available on their website) and you can place an order to be picked up at the show and save on shipping. Plus, if you join their email list, they will send out periodic coupons which helps, too! I am not affiliated with them, just a happy customer!

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That's good to know; thank you! I'll have to check them out, too.

Aggie03":2yi8n9hr said:

That's a great reason to start out small and work into the process.

I've been thinking about the preconstructed/commercial units, and they all seem to drain too low. I suppose this is so they can be tied into a drain line or sewer connection. However, I would have to lift them up high enough to gather the droppings in a container; I'm interested in those for our keyhole gardens. So, this appears to be yet another reason to start small, carefully design my own system, and then expand after the kinks are all worked out.

I meant to get a picture of the rabbits and the cages we have right now today, but time got away from me. Hopefully I can post those soon.

Click to expand...

Yes starting small is smart. There was a big commercial rabbitry start-up not far from here. They were out of business in less than 6 months.

When I was raising meat rabbits I invested in a nice trio of NZW because I kept seeing wanted ads for those. Then I added a pair of Satins since I like them. Satins wouldn't sell at all but the NZW sold pretty well. I was able to raise crossbred meat for us and the NZW litters were sold and for the most part, paid the feed bills. We are pretty rural so the market is not stable. I found out that I didn't much care for raising for meat exclusively so am glad I started small! Now I just mainly work on my angoras.

fhjmom":1f990z4i said:

I tried a homemade version of a Flush clean system but could never get enough slope for the waste to truly run off like I wanted.

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I have found that a 6'' drop works well. My waste system is flush at the back and in the front there is a 6'' gap between cage and slope. Well at one end it is only 4'' and that doesn't work too well. At the opposite end is the 6'' gap and it's perfect. So this summer I'll have to change that and get the guttering slanted enough that it all rolls to the catch pan. But that's how the bunny berry rolls. :lol: :lol: You can always find ways to improve your set up. :lol: :lol: :lol:

My cages are free-standing and I can get around the back of most of them. I left about a 5 inch gap between the back bottom of the cage and the top of the slant board so I can get in there to clean if needed or if I want to use a water hose and hose down the board.

And I have found a great cleaning tool- a long handled de-icer car thingy. Has a scraper at one end and a brush at the other. Perfect length for getting to the back of the boards.