I decided to make a animal house for 6 hens and 3 rabbits, it has two levels , the top is for rabbits and chicken roosts, the bottom is running room for hens.Yesterday I worked on my "animal house" a little bit, and got the floor assembled. The floor is made from 1/2 inch EMT [1/2 " ID metal electrical conduit] it is galvanized and very strong in a short span of 2 feet. The hole in the floor is for hens to get through to the bottom level, for running and scratching through the food scraps the rabbits drop. The wood sides will be covered with galvanized sheet metal so the rabbits can't chew on it.
The problem with the "normal wire mesh flooring" is that it always fails or gets rusty in a few years when the galvanized coating wears through. And- rabbits tend to get "sore hocks" easily on it. The conduit provides a much larger surface area to support their weight than the wire flooring . Conduit has the additional advantage of being rounded, so droppings and urine can't accumulate under their feet. It is much easier to keep clean than a wire mesh floor . I expect this floor to last much longer than i do. The conduit costs about the same as good quality wire mesh flooring. The negative aspect of using conduit for flooring- is the weight, and the labor. .. I have about 4 hours into building the floor.
The problem with the "normal wire mesh flooring" is that it always fails or gets rusty in a few years when the galvanized coating wears through. And- rabbits tend to get "sore hocks" easily on it. The conduit provides a much larger surface area to support their weight than the wire flooring . Conduit has the additional advantage of being rounded, so droppings and urine can't accumulate under their feet. It is much easier to keep clean than a wire mesh floor . I expect this floor to last much longer than i do. The conduit costs about the same as good quality wire mesh flooring. The negative aspect of using conduit for flooring- is the weight, and the labor. .. I have about 4 hours into building the floor.