My rabbit adventures for the past few weekends

[luvabunny]

Long story short - barn has been in planning since last winter. Expected it to be finished by April. Unexpected financial obligations in early spring - tornadoes week after week in early summer - unseasonable amounts of rain most of the summer, then it just flat got too hot. Anyway, barn building only began in earnest about a month ago.

Here are the frames for the side walls. The barn is 16 ft wide by 24 ft long. I had to build the sides in two - 12 ft sections. I did all this work myself.


These pics show the framing finally completed and standing. I did have help for this - my sister and her family came over to help hold while we screwed everything together. Her youngest was the only one who wanted her picture taken!




Surprisingly, once we got the framework up, the siding went fairly quickly. Again, more help from my sister and her family.
The front - with openings for doors.


The back doors - the unframed side faces south. I've had doubts about whether to enclose it or not.



What really held me up on everything was how to do the roof. Here is a picture of the roof joists, all cut on an angle. I did all of this work myself. There were a total of 19 joists.


My sister on the ladder in preparation to "raise the roof!"
She was placing hurricane straps every 16".


The finished product. My sister and I did all of this work ourselves.




Today, the wind was finally down enough to get the roofing material actually on the roof. It's been crazy windy here for the past week. Unfortunately, we worked until dark, so no pics so far, but we got all of the roof covered, the south side enclosed and one top piece of the triangle in on the joists. I'll take more pics as I am able. Unfortunately, with the time change, it's about dark by the time I get home from work.

Next plan is to get the roof shingled...probably next weekend. Fortunately, this is something I can do myself and don't have to bother my sister and her family for help. I'm quite proud of us and our accomplishment. It's a big barn with lots of room and as it's on the side of the house, it looks nice too (and hides the bunnies from just anyone looking in from the street).

 

[MamaMandy]

Wow! That is awesome! You and your bunnies will love having that shelter this winter. I'm very impressed with all of the work you did yourself!

 

[Northwinds Rabbitry]

Long awaited barn I guess but WOW nice building seems to be going up fast
Good luck

 

[AmysMacdog]

That's a nice bunny barn! Congratulations Luvabunny!

 

[Marinea]

Wow...just wow.

That is most definitely something to be proud of. Congrats!

 

[PSFAngoras]

Wow! Very cool, must say I'm jealous.

 

[luvabunny]

I SO dislike the time change. By the time I get home (or get done) it's dark, and I don't get to take updated pics for you guys.

What's been up recently? Well, we do have the roof completely and fully on. I spent all last weekend caulking every single crack (there are exactly 16 sheets of plywood on that roof! and I caulked every single one of them!) Then, since I can't yet afford shingles, I decided to paint it with a sealant to protect the wood until I could. Of course, that took 2 full coats, done on my butt by hand mostly, because, remember, I built the thing under the trees on purpose! Luckily, the second coat was sooo much easier!

We also went around to the exposed wood outside and painted that. Every piece of lumber I used was treated, but apparently that isn't sufficient for hubby.

Now, indoors, I got all of my rabbit stuff finally moved inside - the feed bin, the Rubbermaid shelving unit, the special little hook that holds the lid to my feed bin....you know, the stuff that just makes it home.

The bunnies all got a time out in the carry cages while I re-installed all of their urine guards into their cages, and placed pans under the lower cages (those had just been pooping on the ground all summer - not exactly what I wanted happening in my brand new rabbit barn)

I also was able to sell all of the bunnies I wanted to sell this past weekend. The same person came and picked all 5 of them up and was estatic to get them. I hope to see her and some new babies at some of the shows this spring.

Lastly, since everyone got moved, and new digs and new neighbors AND it is a full moon, 4 of the does got bred tonight. All were ready, willing and able. Hopefully the summer sterilization is over for the bucks, so we should have lots of new occupants in about 30 days. I intend to take full advantage of this full moon and expect to breed a few more does within the next couple of days.

I have an electrician friend coming out day after tomorrow to point me in the correct directions. We will probably be installing electrical this coming weekend, weather permitting (it's supposed to snow!)

So, lots still to do, but having a lot of fun doing it. I PROMISE to get updated pics soon.

 

[Miss M]

AWESOME job!!! :bouncy:

If I'm not mistaken, your hubby may wish he'd waited on the paint. I'm pretty sure treated lumber has to weather for at least 6 months before it will reliably take paint. Here's hoping yours doesn't come off!!!

 

[luvabunny]

In truth, much of the lumber has been sitting in my yard for a majority of the summer waiting for me to make a plan. I would pick up what I could, as I could afford it, for much of the summer. I still have little stacks of 4x4's and landscape timbers that were purchased before I decided how I was really going to do this.
Can you say blonde female? Talk about changing your mind! I'm sure I drive hubby nuts!

 

[Peach]

How awesome! Congrats on the new barn! You guys should be proud

 

[ilovehome]

Looks awesome! Can't wait for the new pics! We are working on a new wash down system in our rabbitry, but it is not perfected yet...husband's rotator cuff repair has slowed us down!

 

[luvabunny]

Not finished but finally usable.
As promised, roof on and sealed. Bunnies installed along with various bunny "stuff". Still lots to do, but at least it's finally serving it's purpose now.

From the front of the house, street side facing the backyard.


From the backyard, facing the street.


Inside the barn, facing the "back" wall. The bunnies are on the left.


The right side - mostly has misc building junk for now. Still a work in progress. The bags are shavings for the pans leaned up against temporary sheets of plywood closing off the back doors. Crazy freak wind/ice/snow storm this weekend. No more work got done, but at least bunnies were warm and dry.



Facing the "front" wall, bunnies on the right, junk on the left. This wall also has 2 doors, but one has also been enclosed due to weather for now. The other open door mostly just gave me a glare. Sorry for the pic.



Over the long Thanksgiving weekend, since I probably won't be able to afford to go to the show, I intend to do toenail clipping, and get the ends of the roofs enclosed, you know, the peak area. Right now we just have some pieces put up there temporarily and it looks like crap, which is why you didn't get to see any outside front or back views.
Come on warm and dry holiday!<br /><br />__________ Sun Nov 24, 2013 10:32 pm __________<br /><br />Oh, and the lighting is temporary. I have an electrician scheduled, but the weather put the kibosh to it this past week. He will hook up 4 ft flourescents, plug-ins, and light switches.

 

[TwoAcreDream]

I really like how you set up your building.
Thank you for the pictures

I have a question on how the stackers are put together.
From the pictures, it looks like the bottom cage is 1 separate unit.
Then cages 2 and 3 are also separate units ?
Would the second and third cages have extra wire on the bottoms
to form a opening to slide the pans in place ?
Like a dresser drawer.

So the stacker has 3 independent cages ?
What sizes are the cages ?

Thanks

Mine are in the addition to our garage right now. I have stackers
that I built. Plan is to build some kind of building in the spring
and I will continue with more stackers. I don't have room to do line
cages. I currently have 4 stackers complete and 2 more with cages
done that I just have to stack yet. I built mine with used material.
Only thing I had to buy new was plastic drop pans, j clips, and
the latches to redo some cage doors over.

 

[luvabunny]

The cages are 24 x 36 x 18 tall. The sides and top are a single piece of bent wire. It comes up from one side, is bent at both corners for the top and comes down the other side. The back is also a single piece of wire. This helps add stability to the cage.
I come down from the top 18" and put in my first piece of floor wire. This makes the first cage. I leave 4" and put in a piece of 1 x 2 wire. This is the roof of the second cage. Then go down another 18" and put in another piece of floor wire, this completes the middle cage. So on until the third cage is complete.

The fronts of the cages are simply 18" tall and tie everything together. This leaves the 4" space for the pans to slide (I have 2" tall pans). On the bottom cage I generally leave enough extra wire to have a 4" pan slider and 2" turned under to hold the pans. Most of these cages shown aren't made that way, and the pans are either sitting on the floor, or on the pan sliders that came with the legs. The others I make will be made correctly. I originally made these cages just to set outside and let the bottom rabbits poop on the ground.

 

[Random Rabbit]

Very, Very NICE !!! A lot of hard work done there !! It will certainly pay off for You !

 

[TwoAcreDream]

Thank you for the explanation

I probably won't use your pattern but it definitly gives me a few
more ideas to work with.

 

[luvabunny]

When all is said and done, the cages will be hung and not on legs. Right now, they were on legs and I just needed to get them inside, so there they are.

I started off with only 3" spacing between the roof and the floor of the next cage, but that just isn't enough. I catch too many toenails with a 2" pan, and I'm not willing to compromise on that height.

The 18" height is really too much for even this size rabbit. When I make the other wall of cages, I will cut it down to 16" height.

Some other options I use are shelving blocks for doors. You can get them in a box to make shelving (or C & C guinea pig cages). I like that they are trimmed all around, are a weird size so they fit on a great cut out in the cage, and that they are heavy duty. I also just use premade door closers. I like building cages, but hate making door closers.

If you are going to put your stackers on legs, I would suggest not getting the TSC ones. They are very lightweight, and my rabbits can walk them all over the place. My stackers are currently screwed to the wall to prevent that. There are some very heavy duty ones. Sorry I don't know where they come from, I got them used from a feed store, but they are awesome!

I have my pans custom made by the same guy who makes my urine guards, but I'm pretty sure you can find both in any number of sizes at the online stores. Just make sure you can get a pan to fit before you begin cutting wire. I've heard the heavy plastic pans are worth the money, but I can get the metal ones for a great price, and haven't tried them.

I bend the wire with a 2 x 4 and a hammer. I wish I had a bender. I have found it to be much stronger just bending it rather than cutting it and using j clips, and it's a lot easier on my hands. I bend it so the sides allow the pan to slide in. Bend it the wrong way and your pan will hit every inch or two as you are sliding it in.

I had a set of cages that were all separate cages stacked up, and they didn't suit my needs. There was too much space between them, and they were too tall. Besides, they used way too many legs, and those things are expensive.

My sister claims it's not really the rabbits I like, it's the building things - barns, cages, etc. I like my bunnies an awful lot, but she could be right. I really enjoy making the cages too. Now that I have an empty wall, the next batch of cages will be made to fit exactly, so there's no wasted space. There is way too much right now, but it will change before it's complete.

 

[Marinea]

It really looks amazing. Congrats on the wonderful bunny barn.

 

[luvabunny]

Man! Growing up sucks! What I WANTED to do was go to a triple rabbit show this long weekend. What my BRAIN told me I NEEDED to do was work on the barn!

The brain won out. Rats!

Again, tho, I worked until well after dark, so I will have to get some pics another time.

I was able to get the eve peaks covered on both ends. Lots of ladder climbing, measuring, marking, re-climbing and re-measuring, cutting, cussing, and finally installing. I will be the first to admit I don't do angles well, but thanks to determination and probably some stubborn mule-headedness, the end result turned out acceptable.

Once I got those finished, I decided it was time to start working on some doors for the 4 openings. The two back doors will probably stay permanently closed by siding until it warms a bit. One of the front doors was an experiment on how to do it. I was able to talk Lowe's into a 10% discount on a previously opened package containing 2 hinges and a latch. Luckily, everything was there.

So, I built the frame, and it wouldn't fit in the door hole. I made the 2 cross sections about 1/4" too wide. Had to take it all apart and re-cut it again. Finally got my square finished to where it would fit in the hole, and then had to position the siding on the door. In case you've never done it, hanging a 4 ft x 6 ft wooden door by yourself so that it will swing by itself is extremely heavy work. Finally got it on and got the latch on, so now it swings and latches properly.

To be honest, I'm really happy with how things are all turning out, and quite pleased with myself for the accomplishment. I haven't come from a construction background. In reality, I'm a payroll processor / tax advisor / bookkeeper. I'm also 47 years old, and things don't bend, stoop, or climb like they used to. I feel my hard work every Monday morning when I go back to my "real" job, but its a good ache, in knowing that I got yet something else completed, by myself.

Here pretty soon, the hard manual labor will be done on this barn, and I'll be able to lock myself inside and build some more cages for the upcoming bunnies...7 does bred and counting!

I'll get some pictures soon. I promise!

 

[skysthelimit]

Very nice. I am taking a god look at the roof joist, because I want to put a roof over my dog kennels and the grow out pen.