Grow out cages

[lereg15]

Hello again! I may be planning to breed my buns shortly, having 4 does, and was wondering how many grow out cages I should have? The cages will be 2x4, for nzw's, so I would think 4 of them. I know this may not be the time to breed them, but I have a plan to keep them in the basement or garage for the kindling and nursing, so I won't see the heat as a problem.

Should I make 4 cages, or could I get away with 2?

Another thing is should I start keeping the does in the indoors to get them used to it before the are bred?

 

[Dood]

If you plan to wean at 4 weeks and process at 8 weeks old and have 1 litter of 8 kits once a month you could get away with just two 24 x 48 cages = which should be roughly 20 pounds of rabbit in each cage at the end of 8 weeks

If you want two or more litters a month or have more than 8 in a litter or grow them out longer then you will need more cages

 

[Susie570]

You'll probably need To separate the bucks and does... 4 might be enough though? I'm planning to have 4, 30x36 cages for up to 4 litters. I don't know if that will be enough.

 

[lereg15]

Everybody is separated already, both bucks and all 4 does. The does were starting to get aggressive with one another, so I ended up separating them. The bucks have always been apart. I also made it to where the bucks are on one side and the does on the other. I have yet to witness much spraying yet, even though they are about 7' apart. I'm hoping the distance will help.

I'm just wondering if I should separate all the litters or keep 2 litters per buck in one cage? Or, should I breed all 4 does with the same buck and then alternate them?

 

[Susie570]

Everybody is separated already, both bucks and all 4 does. The does were starting to get aggressive with one another, so I ended up separating them. The bucks have always been apart. I also made it to where the bucks are on one side and the does on the other. I have yet to witness much spraying yet, even though they are about 7' apart. I'm hoping the distance will help.

I'm just wondering if I should separate all the litters or keep 2 litters per buck in one cage? Or, should I breed all 4 does with the same buck and then alternate them?

I was talking about the kits!

You will need to separate the boy kits from the girl kits at weaning time.

 

[lereg15]

Ahhh. That could get a little more difficult and roomy! At least I'll have a couple of months to prepare and plan. So far I have room for one more 4x2 cage on the bottom of my bucks cages, but still may need a rack of 4 more 4x2's for growouts.

 

[alforddm]

This article recommends 7 grow out cages for every 10 does. This was for a production meat rabbit facility. So using that as a guild 4*0.7= 2.8 so round up to 3 cages.

http://www.poultry.msstate.edu/pdf/exte ... uction.pdf