Late night idea!

My husband, and I often hang out in our garage, which is also where we keep our rabbits. We were sitting there staring at the hutches thinking of how we could expand for a decent price, and also waste management. Right now they have an open bottom cage so all the waste falls to the floor, usually I sweep up the berries, put them in a bag to use on the garden, and mop the urine. As of late it has become more, and more of a nightmare on clean up day. Last week I even tried to bribe my husband to do it for me. :lol:

After a few drinks, and tossing random ideas back, and forth we started talking about the husky we used to have. (She had to be rehomed after some very negative attitude changes she went through.) Then we thought hey she used to have a nice sized indoor kennel. So we started poking around the internet looking at kennels $40 would get a good sized kennel + a pan. After looking at different kennels something like this is what we're wanting.



Then along the bottom we would be adding a wire, or plastic flooring. Then at the very bottom would be the pan for clean up.

The next part of the idea is that we would stack the cages instead of what we currently have which is a long single level hutch that has 5 cage built into it.



Next year we're buying a big shed that will become the rabbit area, and will be adding a lot more cages. Which is why we're trying to make the switch from this wood hutch to many wire cages so we would have more room to expand. (There's about 5 other breeds of rabbit I really want so we NEED more room! Haha. )

Sooooo, I was hoping I could get some input from everyone on building, a good idea for the flooring part of the cages. We're looking for low-ish cost on the actual cage. Having to build, and DIY the bottom, or set up is not an issue for us. My husband, and I love to build.

Are we crazy, or could this end up being a good idea?!

Oops forgot to add that for does with kits we could be adding a tighter wire half way up all around the cage so the kits don't crawl out!

We started our rabbit journey with a wooden hutch. Then we moved to home-made wire cages, and now we are s!owly replacing those with Bass cages.

What we found was that, for us, the wooden hutch was impossible to keep clean, and I didn't like that the bun was harder to see, and seemed isolated from the others. Yes, I realize that's just me, but I didn't like it. The home-made wire cages were made with a steel tubing frame we salvaged. Great cages at first, but they require more upkeep than I like, and were a lot of work to make in the first place. And I did not like poo pans at all- too much work to keep clean, and they wear out too quickly. Having to replace a specific size pan so that it fits can be tricky.

We are moving to Bass cages hanging in wooden frames. These will be our forever set up. There is a cost upfront, but cleaning is a breeze, no on-going maintenance, great ability to be moved around as we reorganize the rabbitry, and no isolated buns. The slant boards allow us to collect waste easily for the garden and prevent a lot of ground cleaning.

Just my thoughts after having moved through several cage types. Hope you share pics of whatever changes you make.

Thanks so much! I'm really liking this http://www.bassequipment.com/Kennels/FlushKleen+Cage+Rack+System/default.aspx but would need a close to the actual price before I pitch it to my husband, lol.

I have a few of these. We made wire bottoms for them and have used them for rabbits with success. Not really a bad idea. The spacing for kits needs to be corrected, as in baby wire around the bottom so they don't fall through.

This is the sort of flooring I was thinking about getting. For me it would last longer, easier to clean, and I won't have to deal with long term rust issues.

We've sometimes used dog crates (yard sale finds -- very cheap) for buck cages or youngsters we were growing out as breeders. We retrofitted by adding floor wire (1"x1/2") so the poop falls through to the ground/floor, which I personally prefer to shifting and dumping trays. We found if we used them on their sides rather than upright, the rabbits had more floor space and still enough head space.

Crates are also useful in a colony if you wish to contain a buck except when breeding. Since he is still in the community, he enjoys socialization without being able to harass the does while they are kindling. We often found older kits would squeeze through the spaces in the crate to spend time with dear old dad.

Personally I would never use catch pans. I currently have a shoot system in place so every thing falls into the gutters and then to a very large pan that can be dragged to the compost pile. It has holes in it so the urine leaks out and is absorbed in to the dirt floor. With 4 rabbits I have to scrape and dump twice a week to keep the rabbitry clean and to keep the pan from getting too heavy. But individual pans would be a huge pain and would need attenuation daily. With Tartar it would need to be dumped 2-3 times a day. She poops twice as much as the others. :shrug: I don't know why but she does.

Jess, and I did also think about a shoot system. Right now we're poking at both ideas, and seeing which one would be more time, and cost effective.

Becca, I know someone somewhat close to you who builds all wire cages...

We would love to have some cages built, but the big issue is money. Especially now since we're picking up 24 quail Saturday.

Yes, I hear you loud and clear. Finances are being stretched pretty thin here too.

Budgets verreaction:
I so hate budgets. :x :lol: :lol: :lol:

Here's a couple pictures of our shoots and gutters. :lol: :lol:




Materials used:
8-#1 Pressure Treated Lumber (Common: 2 x 2 x 8; Actual: 1.5-in x 1.5-in x 8-ft)
Top Choice #1 Pressure Treated Lumber (Common: 2 x 2 x 8; Actual: 1.5-in x 1.5-in x 8-ft) @ $3.57 (Had laying around from another project)
2- vinyl sheets used for bathroom surround. @ $20 each
Screws. (Again had laying around)
2- 10' pieces of guttering(Found in loft in garage)
The catch pan is the bottom of a large pet rabbit cage. (found 60+ cages on craigslist mostly bird but a few carriers, and rabbit cages too. Was able to get them for free, but had to drive over an hour to get them. :x :lol: )

Gutters and catch pan have holes in them to allow the urine to escape. So it's not so heavy.

Hope this helps,
Cathy

wamplercathy":1pixxbud said:

Budgets verreaction:
I so hate budgets. :x :lol: :lol: :lol:

Here's a couple pictures of our shoots and gutters. :lol: :lol:
View attachment 1



Materials used:
8-#1 Pressure Treated Lumber (Common: 2 x 2 x 8; Actual: 1.5-in x 1.5-in x 8-ft)
Top Choice #1 Pressure Treated Lumber (Common: 2 x 2 x 8; Actual: 1.5-in x 1.5-in x 8-ft) @ $3.57 (Had laying around from another project)
2- vinyl sheets used for bathroom surround. @ $20 each
Screws. (Again had laying around)
2- 10' pieces of guttering(Found in loft in garage)
The catch pan is the bottom of a large pet rabbit cage. (found 60+ cages on craigslist mostly bird but a few carriers, and rabbit cages too. Was able to get them for free, but had to drive over an hour to get them. :x :lol: )

Gutters and catch pan have holes in them to allow the urine to escape. So it's not so heavy.

Hope this helps,
Cathy

Click to expand...

Thanks for the pics!! I had envisioned something very similar, but when I priced some different materials I was a bit hesitant... I didn't think about the shower panels. I had looked at metal and fiberglass roofing...

Are they holding up well?

Wow wamplercathy, thank you so much for the pics! I think we might be stealing your set up, haha.

coroplast also works well for the gutter system.

The panels were in the "panels" section at lowes not in the "bathroom/plumbing" section. But couldn't find them on-line their web site is the :twisted: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I was wanting to use other material but this was the cheapest in my area.

wamplercathy":kkxcrve1 said:

The panels were in the "panels" section at lowes not in the "bathroom/plumbing" section. But couldn't find them on-line their web site is the :twisted: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Click to expand...

They used to be with all the trim, ceiling tiles, things like that at ours. Shiny and almost plastic feeling.

Another inexpensive option is mobile home skirting. Then again, I love repurposing all I can.