Cage bottom idea- good or bad?

CanineWild · Jul 23, 2020

I need some advice- I'm trying to find reasonably priced materials for making a few cages for when I get rabbits. Problem is, while I can find suitable material for the sides, it's been impossible to find any 1"×.5" wire that I wanted for the bottom here in Canada. All I found was a few things I could ship in for an extreme price, or in rolls far far bigger than I need.

I looked into @michaels4gardens 's idea with the conduit pipe that's been posted about a few times, and while I like the idea, it's also extremely cost prohibitive (cheapest I can find for a 10' length is about $9 each, and the far cheaper American stores never ship here).

What if I did a similar idea to that though with wooden slats? Obviously rabbits are prone to chewing wood, but if it was perhaps painted with a protective coating to make cleaning easier...? It would be easy to replace a single slat as well.

I dunno, I have no experience in this area- let me know what you think!

Alternatel ideas for materials or where to buy here also welcome

michaels4gardens · Jul 23, 2020

once upon a time......
I used wood for floors, [ from oak pallets]

In one design [based on old English designs]
it was a 3 tier stack of cages, the design came from "keeping poultry and Rabbits on scraps.
https://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Poultry- ... 1445512319
I had a solid floor sloped toward the back,
with a 3/4 inch gap between the floor and the back wall [for pee to run out]-
I painted the floor boards with used [hot] engine oil,[before construction] -
and then the top with hot tar after construction ,[after the oil had soaked in and dried]..
I only cleaned when the bedding straw, was getting damp and nasty .
I used those cages about about 15 years. ]

The other floor design was also made from oak pallets.
it was a single story bank of cages...
it had a sloped floor,[toward the back] the 4 inch wide pallet lumber was run lengthwise ,
and had 3/4 inch gaps between the boards.
The lumber was treated the same as above.
It was actually more time consuming to clean the slotted floor.
--because I fed a lot of hay, and used straw for bedding, and it was always packed in the slots between the floorboards.
--I suppose it would be a lot easier to clean, for someone who fed mostly pellets.

Preitler · Jul 23, 2020

Hi,

I use wooden slats as hutch floors. Wire isn't popular over here, and the traditional solid wood floor hutches are a PITA.

I feed mostly forage, yes, it covers the gaps, but any liquids drain anyway, and the wasted hay and stuff is as easily cleaned out as in solid floor hutches.

I build the 3rd hutch this way now, learned some things. I cut the slats from random pallet wood and saok them in a mixture of sunflower and linseed oil (also some old cooking oil in the mix).
I cut them so that the gaps are wider at the bottom, and I use different widhts, at the corner the slats are more narrow than in areas where they don'rt poop much anyway. There are 5 panels in the new hutch that I can take out for cleaning. Also, I'm considering making one replacement panel with an underfloor nestbox built in.
I can make pictures and mesurements on the weekend if you like.

My older hutches work good, much cleaner than solid floors. New one will work better, some flaws corrected.

Some pictures, stall1 is an old one when I built it, the "hutch" ones are the new one - 1 and 4 is rear end, 2 front.

Zass · Jul 24, 2020

You two are a treasure trove of information.

opcorn:

Michael, with your methods, someone could raise rabbits with practically zero cost.

Preitlier, while I don't despise my wire cages , I also wouldn't keep any sore hock prone breeds in them.
I do have some interest in those wood slats going forward, especially if I decide to try rex, flemish giants, or velveteen lops again in the future. I have spent some time thinking about alternative to wood that could be sterilized, and just I haven't hit on just the right material. I do want to be able to build large fun enclosures for them to be able to exercise in, and I like the cost and creative options that wood allows.

Hepatic coccidiosis is still a concern from our cottontails though, and there are some new diseases rearing their ugly heads over here. If I'm going to work with anything fussy and fancy, I'm going to need things that can be made sterile if necessary.

michaels4gardens · Jul 25, 2020

Zass":3s9d72b9 said:
You two are a treasure trove of information. opcorn:

Michael, with your methods, someone could raise rabbits with practically zero cost.

Preitlier, while I don't despise my wire cages , I also wouldn't keep any sore hock prone breeds in them.
I do have some interest in those wood slats going forward, especially if I decide to try rex, flemish giants, or velveteen lops again in the future. I have spent some time thinking about alternative to wood that could be sterilized, and just I haven't hit on just the right material. I do want to be able to build large fun enclosures for them to be able to exercise in, and I like the cost and creative options that wood allows.

Hepatic coccidiosis is still a concern from our cottontails though, and there are some new diseases rearing their ugly heads over here. If I'm going to work with anything fussy and fancy, I'm going to need things that can be made sterile if necessary.

I tried these, they worked OK, the rabbits didn't chew the floor [but they always had straw, or willow wood to chew on] - negative aspect = the "good stuff" is expensive.

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Lumber-Comp ... 5yc1vZc5mb

CanineWild · Jul 25, 2020

Oh wow, this is incredibly helpful guys, I appreciate it to no end!

I definitely think I've hit upon how I'll be going forward with my hutches. For sure cheaper, and I like the look and sturdiness of wood also. Sounds like it can last longer than wire if treated correctly, which is excellent, or at least longer than cheaper wire. 15yrs is impressive!

Thanks @preitler for those pics- I'll absolutely be referring to those at some point. Its really helpful to see an example when you're as much of a novice at this sort of thing as I am ;P Still, I have fun blundering my way through a project or two, and it gets easier with practice and with my slowly growing collection of the proper tools!