Bunny shed or Barn?!

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Estrella

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I’ve been housing my rabbits outside in metal cages in their hutches however we are only into winter a few weeks here and the plastic we have stapled down to their hutches and have clipped to their fronts for in and out access is already bothersome. The snow and wind pile up and flap it around while we are out there several times a day so with all of that being said We are looking into getting a larger shed and converting it into a bunny shed/ pretend barn lol! For those that have done this what are your pros/ cons and best advice? Attached are pictures of the shed we have paperwork started for, fingers crossed since this is the closest thing to a barn I’ll ever get :)
 

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Everyone is different. Their housing & cleaning routine. There are pros & cons. Since you have a solid shed floor you should put down some cheap linoleum so when droppings or urine hit the ground it will be easy cleanup. Also, easy to replace when it get's smelly. The walls can be covered in plastic, tarps, or something that is easy to remove, clean & put back up. You are limited to the number of rabbits since the size seems small once all the cages are in. Pro: out of the elements, no hassle with the snow, rain, & ice build up. Limited to the number of rabbits.
 
Exciting! Lighting is generally needed in an enclosed barn, and pretty simple to add. You can put it on a cheap timer to make it easier to manage.

I use black or clear plastic that I get in rolls from hardware stores to cover walls. Urine has a way of getting everywhere, so covering higher than the cages is good.

Do you think you’ll use trays under the cages or some other method to catch it all? That’s the hardest part to manage with a wooden floor.
 
In the meantime, I found it helpful to go to the lumberyard, and pick up a thin outdoor plywood. They will often cut the pieces to size, or have inexpensive already cut pieces if need be. I cut the plywood to fit the roof and sides, drilled two holes in the top of each panel, and attached them with tie-wraps to the wire pens. In good weather, the side plywood panels can be simply flopped up and onto the roof panel for maximum air flow. In wintry or stormy weather, the panels can be flapped back down on the sides. I had drilled holes on the bottom corners of each panel so I could secure them together for the winter, but never needed to do that, their weight held them in place. They lasted for years, and allowed me to keep rabbits with me when I was taking care of my mother full-time at her home. Worked much better than sheet plastic, which never stayed in place, or feed sacks held in place with bungee cords, which the rabbits always chewed (both the bungee cords and the plastic feed sacks).
 
One of my setups is a star building shed that we customized for chickens when it was built. It’s got built in poop boards in a horseshoe shape and lots of hardware cloth windows up high. It also has ventilation in the ceiling and that also has hardware cloth. The ceiling hardware cloth is blocked off during the winter because it’s far too drafty but is wonderful for the remaining seasons. The aisle floor is a rubber horse trailer mat. The cages are on the poop boards and are sitting on bricks or scrap wood with sweet PDZ and shavings beneath. Eventually they will be hung. Cleaning up is relatively easy and involves pushing all the manure and shavings into a bucket on the center aisle floor and raking the remaining floor shavings out the door into a waiting bucket on the ground for the compost pile. There’s room to hang cages above and below also for several levels. Floor is wood and it’s covered in shavings and hay that’s fallen when I feed. It’s not perfect but the bucks are happy with it and it’s easily customizable for the seasons. Though it wasn’t designed for rabbits it’s working well for them. Biggest thing is keeping the wood surfaces covered with shavings. Also incorporating urine guards in there but clean cardboard works well.
 
In the meantime, I found it helpful to go to the lumberyard, and pick up a thin outdoor plywood. They will often cut the pieces to size, or have inexpensive already cut pieces if need be. I cut the plywood to fit the roof and sides, drilled two holes in the top of each panel, and attached them with tie-wraps to the wire pens. In good weather, the side plywood panels can be simply flopped up and onto the roof panel for maximum air flow. In wintry or stormy weather, the panels can be flapped back down on the sides. I had drilled holes on the bottom corners of each panel so I could secure them together for the winter, but never needed to do that, their weight held them in place. They lasted for years, and allowed me to keep rabbits with me when I was taking care of my mother full-time at her home. Worked much better than sheet plastic, which never stayed in place, or feed sacks held in place with bungee cords, which the rabbits always chewed (both the bungee cords and the plastic feed sacks).
The cage idea is brilliant!
 
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