cages... newbie question

[corrielainedd]

Havent bought our rabbits yet, still working on our hutch.

Wanting to do individual wire cages, either on a stand, or hung, with a roof.

What size cages should I get? I figure the breeding does need more room since they will often have babies with them taking up space.

Here is what Im possibly thinking, with the space we have.
3 36widex30deep and 3 24x24.
I figure (1 buck, 2 does) 2 big ones for the does, and the 3rd for babies once weaned, if we need to keep them a bit. And a 24x24 for buck.

Or, 6 30x30s, all have the same size?

Probably going for NZ's and Calis.
I dont want them to be cramped, but Im also trying to budget this in

 

[Secuono]

Do you have long arms? If not, skip any cage that is more than 2ft deep, you'll have a heck of a time catching a rabbit in a corner.

A 2x4ft cage is a good size for a doe and her kits. Center the door and make it a little wide, you'll be able to catch them all easily.
All my cages, bucks and does, is 2x4ft.
I have a 3x6ft and a 2x8ft hutches for growers. Plenty of room for a whole litter to butcher day, could even add a second litter to them.

 

[Dood]

Stands get peed on and will need a protective coating to prevent wood rotting or metal rusting, I recommend a hanging cage

I have some 18h x 30w by 36l cages but the door is 30 by 18 so I can fit by shoulders in to reach to the back.

I think 24x24 is too small for a 8+ pound meat buck

I think 36x30 is too small for a litter of kits to grow out in. Remember they will be 5 pounds each at slaughter age, so in a litter of 10 that is 50 pounds of rabbit in cage you normaly use for one 10 pound doe.

If you only have one grow out pen then you need to stage the litters of your two does a month apart and cull pretty close to 8 weeks or you'll run out of room to keep the kits. Not many rabbits actually get to the desired 5 pounds at 8 weeks and some meat breeds can take as long as 12 weeks.

 

[Oceanrose]

I would go with the bigger cages. I have 30X36 cages for my angoras, and have no problems reaching into them, and my arms are short. The doors in the middle, and hanging the cages at about waist height (mine, the top of the cage is 4' high) seems to be key. And I agree with the growout cage size, bigger is much better then!

 

[GBov]

I have a walk in grow out pen that worked a treat. 10 ft by 10 ft and I can put in several litters at the same time.

Most of my cages are 36 inch by 24 inch with doors 18 inch high and 24 inch wide.

I like to be able to get both of my arms into a cage to pick up big NZ breeders. They only get picked up about once every two to three months so they struggle a bit :roll:

 

[skysthelimit]

My 30 x 30 are not so but the 18x 30s are awful. The difference is the location of the door and the height of the cage.

 

[Diamond]

This is may 'favorite' design for the small-scale rabbitry - note the slanted top that allows access to the deep corners



That said, in my rabbitry I have favored 24" x 60" x 24" units that have a divider in the middle. That is the standard size for most of my cages, my husband and I are now setting them up as triple-stackers. We have hung them and also set them on stands with trays. Usually one doe gets a whole unit with the divider open, but I do have a few of the units divided to house single bucks or unbred does.


I really like the 2' x 4' x 2' growout pens I made for the youngun's. Good use of 2' wire and placing a second level at 14" gives them exercise. Want to make a couple more. I move them along the greenhouse frame in the winter to fertilize the soil below. Will put them in the horse barn in the summer.


That said, I have an odd collection of hutches that work as well as anything else, and have seen some fabulous ideas on this forum. I love the 'rabbit tractors' ollitos has made: peek-into-our-operations-t12085.html

Just remember that the devil is in the details - avoid sharp wire ends, they will haunt you forever. Crimp the ends over, or cover with weatherstripping, crimped flashing, etc. Don't skimp on the J clips or other hardware. Take time to do the job well!

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Do you have long arms? If not, skip any cage that is more than 2ft deep, you'll have a heck of a time catching a rabbit in a corner.

Only if you have small doors that are set to one side.... I learned that the hard way. My new cages are 30 x 36 with a door as large as it can be made, centered in the front of the cage. They are hung where I can stretch my arm out in front of me and reach right in the middle of the opening. I don't usually have trouble, but if I *do*, I can put my head and shoulders in and reach anything.<br /><br />__________ Fri Jan 11, 2013 2:51 pm __________<br /><br />

Just remember that the devil is in the details - avoid sharp wire ends, they will haunt you forever. Crimp the ends over, or cover with weatherstripping, crimped flashing, etc. Don't skimp on the J clips or other hardware. Take time to do the job well!

This cannot be said too many times.... :yeahthat:

 

[Zab]

Do you have long arms? If not, skip any cage that is more than 2ft deep, you'll have a heck of a time catching a rabbit in a corner.

Only if you have small doors that are set to one side.... I learned that the hard way. My new cages are 30 x 36 with a door as large as it can be made, centered in the front of the cage. They are hung where I can stretch my arm out in front of me and reach right in the middle of the opening. I don't usually have trouble, but if I *do*, I can put my head and shoulders in and reach anything.

I was about to ask about that - wouldn't a good size door make a bigger cage reach-able? Seems I already got an answer though now

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Could the ''slanted-top'' cages have the top more or less working like a door? I mean so you open all of it? Just an idea.

I don't know how the room/area looks like but I figure there could be more possibilities to make larger cages if they can be deeper, seeing how most areas are built up. Of course you'd still need to be able to reach in. I still have some trouble imagining the sizes without actually seeing them. I like several of the photos above, especially the ones that was open for the doe to use two cages. It looked familiar to me I guess

 

[Diamond]

The slanted top cages do have the slant part function as a door, so it opens up and is easy to reach in and get rabbits. I have to say that this is the most user-friendly hutch/ cage design I have come across, and if I had only a few rabbits I would probably pick this design over the square cages.

The drawback of the slanted-top cages is that they are not very big, and for my commercial-sized meat breeds there just is not enough room to make me feel good. This can be remedies by haveing fewer holse per unit (say 2 holes instead of 3) and building more units. I am keeping a medium-sized mutt bunny and some Jr (not full grown) rabbits in the slanted cage that I have. The slanted cages also are not very stackable - they are designed to be placed in a single row at about 36" height so that you can easily reach into the cage.

I have become most fond of the stackable square cages (with fairly large doors for access) and the 2-story hanging growout pens for meat production. But I have a fair number of large rabbits and growout litters, so the square stacking cages are efficient for maximizing use of space.