Is this big enough for a Californian?

[CochinBrahmaLover]

33" x 18" x 18"

Is it big enough for her to live in, and is it big enough for her to have a litter in?

If 'no' to the last one (I assume it is), would this be big enough for a SF mix? He's ~8.5lbs.

 

[Birds Buns N Bees]

I think it's a bit small, personally. For a larger breed like a Cal, I would try to go at least 30"x24". And for a doe and litter, I would probably go larger still, like 36"x24" minimum. 18" is pretty narrow, especially when you're factoring in a nest box and eventually a bunch of rapidly-growing babies.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Ok so I've got a 30" x 16" x 40" (cage 'B') - I assume that's large enough.

I've got a dog box that I could put the buck in. Didn't measure it but its taller than cage B but shorter. I was trying to see if I could make the Cali fit in that smaller cage because I forgot about the dog house, but it won't be hard to convert the dog house to a rabbit hutch. Thanks

 

[weissangst]

I own mostly NQW, buti have one California buck.

My bucks get 30x18, as do any young ones I intend to keep.

My does get a 30x30 USUALLY.

Ihave one doe in a 36x18, and another one in a 30x24, but ones with upcoming litters, get a 30x30 cages.

Now, I have raised rabbits before, but only about 6 weeks into this again, but I made all my own cages, and I like them deeper (no more than 30 inches though) than I do wider.

Example, I made a 8 foot long cage, with 4 holes in it. The two cages on the ends are for the bucks, both are 30x18 (18 wide, 30 deep) The two in the middle are 30x30 These are for expecting mothers.

on the other rack, I have tone 36x18 THis has a doe in it, but she is not pregnant Theother is a 30x18, but she is younger (5 months) Will breed her soon enough. ONce she is bred, she will move to a 30x24,.

I have a system, I breed my does about 10 days apart (that's the general plan) and they go from breeding, to a 38x18 or 30x24 When they are about 2 weeks out, one of the bigger 30x230s will open up, and I will move her to there.

Most people prefer wider holes than deeper, but I have a limitation on available space, I can go deeper but not wider, so I choose to go deep with mine, but I wont go deeper than 30, cuz its too far of a reach, even for someone 6'3

The only drawback I have is on the bucks on the 30x18 I have to putt feeders on the sides, which is why they are on the ends

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Oh thanks! Ill consult this for later. But I ended up putting her in my bucks cage, not sure the exact measurements but it's very large. My buck is just being pastured, which he does good on.

Thanks though. Will be helpful when building more.

 

[michaels4gardens]

I think it's a bit small, personally. For a larger breed like a Cal, I would try to go at least 30"x24". And for a doe and litter, I would probably go larger still, like 36"x24" minimum. 18" is pretty narrow, especially when you're factoring in a nest box and eventually a bunch of rapidly-growing babies.

Most commercial cages for NZ / Cali stock are 24 x 30, or 24x 36, and most "rabbit people" feel that is a very minimum size for a doe with a litter. I feel 24 x 30, is too small for most "commercial" rabbit breeds, both Doe and litter will do a little better if they have more room.
But,- I have seen rabbits raised successfully [and apparently without health problems] in much smaller cages , however..-- should you ever get a rabbit with enteritis , and they are living on top of each other, you will have instant problems with the rest of the litter.

 

[grumpy]

All 35 of my doe cages are 30"X30"X18". I have seven more doe cages I
bought/stole for a song that are 30"X36"X18" @less than $5.00 a piece.

All buck cages are 24"X30"X18".

I raise NZW's, Californians, and pedigreed American Chinchilla's.
The Chins are new and I'm really excited about them.

Some of my Senior NZW does bump above 12 pounds on the scale.

Grumpy.

 

[michaels4gardens]

All 35 of my doe cages are 30"X30"X18". I have seven more doe cages I
bought/stole for a song that are 30"X36"X18" @less than $5.00 a piece.

All buck cages are 24"X30"X18".

I raise NZW's, Californians, and pedigreed American Chinchilla's.
The Chins are new and I'm really excited about them.

Some of my Senior NZW does bump above 12 pounds on the scale.

Grumpy.

I have used cages 24 x 30 x 18 high, and 24 x 36 x 18 high, I prefer the 24x36, [that is about 6 sq ft per cage] I think Grumpy's 30x30 [6.25 sq ft / cage] would be better for the doe and litter ,but harder for me to reach in. [unless I made slanted fronts like Grumpy did] -I bought 36" high wire for the sides when I made my cages this time, so I could put a 2"x12" shelf in at 1 foot high and at 2 feet high for rabbits to jump up on, and lay on, they love it and stay in better shape from the exercise,[and does can get away from the kits when they need a break] and it doubles the floor space / cage [-if you add the shelf space to the 6 sq ft of the floor space the cage has 12 sq ft / cage]-- but-- if I had a lot of rabbits I could not do this ,as the cleaning is a lot more [they poop and pee up on the shelf] and the top shelf [and rabbits on the shelf] are hard to reach for cleaning and moving rabbits. I think I should have made a large door [16x16] or so, in the center of my cages, and not a 12"x 12" door near one side of the cage front.-[I could still modify it]- but with only a few rabbits now days, it is really not a big deal... If I were to raise more rabbits I would have to modify my rabbitry. Having 12 does, is a lot different then keeping 50 or 100 does, -with my set-up, 100 does / litters ,would be almost impossible to properly clean, and care for. -- If your cages are not clean, you are almost sure to develope a coccidiosis problem eventually. [especially if you feed weeds and greens, raised organically with manure]-- and coccidiosis can be devastating...

 

[dmirza]

I think you need to go a little larger.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

I moved the buck into the pigeon old aviary, and the Cali is now in the far larger cage. She's ok. Thank you though!

 

[Gerard Dawn]

That was a small one because remember rabbits also need some space to move around and exercise. I'm sure the larger one you built will be good enough for him.

All the best!

 

[New World Rabbitry]

I'm super new here, so please excuse any ignorance. (I'm still reading through A Lot of information on a quest for knowledge). I recently started this whole rabbit "thing" with Giant Chins, maybe not the wised choice, but that's how the ball bounced this time. I read a hutch should be one square foot for every pound. So that's what I did for these rabbits. After reading the posts, I made HUDGE hutches. I would like to breed and raise these rabbits for meat. Any advise on the ideal hutch size would help. My current hutches are 2'x2'x7'. Any examples of Buck size hutches, Doe size hutches, and Does raising liter hutches would be great. I normally would continue reading and answer my own questions, but there is so much to read and learn, that this short cut would be appreciated.

 

[Dood]

:welcome: to Rabbit Talk

This is a rather old thread and for next time it is recommend that you start a new one rather than revive older posts

2x2x7 is very spacious for a doe or buck but is the perfect size for 8+ kits growing out to 5 pounds (40 pounds of rabbit in a cage)

If your Giant Chins are in the 14 pound range you could use 2x2x4 for does with nest boxes and their kits up to 4 or 5 weeks old

Bucks could go in 2x2x3

An important consideration with the larger breeds is that the floors are a thick enough gauge of wire and/or strong enough to support their weight without sagging as that can cause the wire to cut their feet and sore hocks to develop

 

[New World Rabbitry]

Thank you very much, and the advise for a new thread is well received. I've been on message boards in the past where the community got up set if you started a new thread for a topic that was already being covered. Just trying not to cause a problem. Also thank you for the hutch measurements. I'm bought the largest size wire I could, and gave the hutches as much support as I could. I've also installed hay catchers, that allow the rabbits to pull hay into their hutches as desired. I allow the hay to gather on the floor, to give the rabbits a resting pad. If it gets soiled, it goes to the compost, and if it doesn't, I recycle it back into the catch. Nobody has any problems, but I would still like thicker wire, what I'm using I picked up at Tractor Supply Company. Any good spots to pick up welded wire?

 

[TF3]

I'm new, too
I had a very hard time finding 14 gauge welded wire in 1 x 1/2" but it is what is needed (I have Flemish Giants). BUT not all the big droppings fit through LOL
I, too have a couple HUGE cages.
They seem crazy, but my FG doe with 10 kits was just comfortable in a 3x4 cage and I took kits out at 6 weeks for space.

We had to reinforce our hanging apparatus because my FG doe bouncing brought it down

 

[katiebear]

You can devide the big hutch for two buns...I have two hutch type cage banks that work well at 3 x 3x 3 for does and one 3 x3 X2 for bucks..that is each hole.I don't have any sprayers though and my does are very mellow. I got my wire at Home Depot but it isn't heavy enough either. .

 

[wamplercathy]

Personally my doe cages are 48"Lx24"Wx24"T with a 12"Wx24"L shelf and the bucks cage is 36"Lx24"Wx24"T. I went this large because I wanted the does to have plenty of room when they have a litter of kits. My buck, Cumin a NZW/Cal, when stretched out only has a few inches between him and the cage walls lengthways. If he gets any bigger I'm going to have to make him a bigger cage. :lol: :lol: He's sitting right at 8lbs. And trust me he looks tiny compared to the does.

:bunnyhop: :bunnyhop: :bunnyhop:

Hope this helps.