PICS! Our Bunny Barn & new breeding trio

[Comet007]

Hello!

I thought that since I got so much help here on the forum with our set-up that I would post pictures of it as we built it. With a few not-funny-at-the-time-to-DH moments, it was a two weekend project. I think it turned out great, though I had tried to get him to make it a little bigger, and in the end he finally agreed that would have been good! Isn't that the way it always goes?

Future site - our property is all on a slope since we are located at the outer edge of the island, building anything here will always be interesting!



Site cleared and 'somewhat' leveled out:



Starting to frame it in [4x4 pressure treated posts, 2'x12" pressure treated boards for the worm beds] - I had the brilliant idea that the worm beds should be put in while the area was open, then to build the Bunny Barn around them. This actually worked well, and DH planned to nail the bottom of the wall boards to the worm bed below, which saved a couple of 2x4's. Which was great, because when I came out and saw those 2x4 supports in the next picture, I noticed that they were 8" lower than our plan… :evil: :evil: <-- this was hubby's face when I told him that we really did need them to be higher.



Here the framing is all pretty much in, including an extra level of 2x4's. Plenty of support this way lol. In the background are our neighbors' houses, good thing rabbits are quiet!



We used 8' tall cedar fence boards on the tall side and end of the barn, and 6' boards on the short side - they're spaced about 1/4" apart for ventilation. DH cut them to their finished height, which I missed taking pictures of because I was hiding in the house, because he was still a bit peeved that his nailgun broke, and he had to drive two hours round trip to buy a new one. Did I mention that he hates to build things? I don't know why, when he's does such nice work! Maybe it was because we had 30 mph winds and off and on spitting rain. That could be it.

The roof is partly framed in, he just needs to toenail in the cross supports and put on the roofing panels! He notched in the fence boards where the roof supports connected with the walls. In the Summer if we find it gets too warm in the bunny barn, then we will cut in a vent at the top of this tall wall and cover it with 1/2/x1/2" hardware cloth.

 

[Ole Mule]

Looking Good.

 

[Comet007]

Continued…

The roof is on! We used clear corrugated roof panels, which really makes it nice and sunny in the bunny barn. We live in such a moderate climate that we can get away with this, I'm not sure it would work in a hotter area. This was on Feb 23rd - on the 21st I woke up at 3:00 am with the sudden realization that we can't use pressure treated wood in the worm beds!!!! and end up with clean organic fertilizers! :x :x :x The only good thing about this is that DH didn't catch it either, so I didn't get in trouble for my oversight! So much for building the worm beds first!



This is the North wall - 1/2"x1/2" hardware cloth on the sides and top and a screen door - DH is going to put hardware cloth on the lower part of the screen door just to be safe.



Our two large cages - these babies are HUGE!



North wall from the outside - you can see that the offending pressure treated worm beds have been removed and replaced with cedar decking boards.


Here's Shaggy - he paused in gnawing on his branch long enough for one good picture.


__________ Mon Mar 03, 2014 1:04 pm __________

Continued… Last one!

Velma - 12 weeks old @ 6.5 pounds


Daphne - 12 weeks old @ 5.75 pounds


Steps are in!


At least some of those 2x12's for the first worm beds didn't go to waste!


And now everything is in. We still need to level out the floor a bit and put a board for a small step inside the bunny barn door. I think I will get some recycled rubber sheeting to line the aisle with to make it easy to keep clean.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Wow! That turned out beautifully! :judges:

Just one problem... it's a bit small. Only six cages?!?

Hub's comments: "That poor sod has no idea what he has just been conned into. I'll just make it bigger than the original plan, and she'll be happy. Uh-huh. Little does he know he has just been exposed to Extreme Rabbitosis." There was more, but I'll end with this: "I was him once." :lol:

 

[ckcs]

That is awesome looking. It looks so much easier when other people build these things. It took me 3 hours to build a frame for a 3 tier rack lol

 

[Comet007]

Wow! That turned out beautifully! :judges:

Just one problem... it's a bit small. Only six cages?!?

Hub's comments: "That poor sod has no idea what he has just been conned into. I'll just make it bigger than the original plan, and she'll be happy. Uh-huh. Little does he know he has just been exposed to Extreme Rabbitosis." There was more, but I'll end with this: "I was him once." :lol:

Thank you!

HA! It's actually only FIVE cages!! My husband made this smaller than what I wanted - he actually ended up making it a bit smaller than what we planned on paper [!!@#!!], I think he was trying to keep me reined in by doing so!

I had been telling him last week that I think we mis-calculated, and really need four little 24"x24" cages for holding back kits that look like they would be good replacement breeders… when he was hanging cages I was measuring to make sure there was clearance for them over the top of the two doe cages! He was saying "those people on the forum are going to win if you get more cages", which is true!

But then… once we had picked the rabbits up he finally really got interested in all this and was saying - "Ok, tell me again about the smaller cages?" Hehehehe. To think, when he first agreed to rabbits we were thinking 3 cages in just a simple outdoor hutch. Almost 21 years of marriage means that I know how to inch him into big piles of trouble!

I'm glad that your husband has a sense of humor about it - mine does too now that the build-out is done!

__________ Mon Mar 03, 2014 3:49 pm __________

That is awesome looking. It looks so much easier when other people build these things. It took me 3 hours to build a frame for a 3 tier rack lol

It does look easier from the cheap seats, doesn't it? :lol: :lol: My job was the planning and supervising, making sure that things were at the right height and that all the pieces fit together properly - I'd say that was the easy part, but I kept having to convince him about various details!

__________ Mon Mar 03, 2014 3:51 pm __________

Just a side note - we held off on buying urine guards because I didn't care for the standard options available. I figured we would wait and see what their potty habits are and then add them as needed. We put the plastic down the walls behind the cages, and all three rabbits are very politely doing their business back there! I hope they keep this up so that we don't have to add urine guards!

 

[ilovehome]

Lovely space for the rabbits and the people! Congrats.

 

[DogCatMom]

Beautiful wood. Beautiful work, too.

1) Will you be sealing the wood in the walls and the stairs? Since you have direct wood/earth contact, sealant may be your only means of (semi-)protecting against termites and other wood-destroyers. I *think* that sealing the outside of the worm-bed wood will be OK w/regard to organic requirements because the worms don't ever touch the exteriors, but would recommend checking on that in the State of Washington. Similarly, since the rabbits will live in their cages and not be free-ranging, i.e., in contact with the sealed wood in the walls/stairs, that should be OK for your organic certification as well, but again: check.

2) I also have fibro and chronic myofascial pain, along with migraines, two replaced knees (car accident), two hips that probably need replacing (bicycle accident), and a bunch of other sequelae from several sports accidents, a partially compressed C5 nerve, and who knows what else. Which is to say that my sense of balance occasionally--and without warning--Simply. Goes. Away. maybe only for a second or two, but that can be a critical period of time if one is, oh, on the stairs! If possible, see about building/acquiring a rail for at least one side of those beautiful, soon-to-be-sealed stairs for moments of imbalance or joint pain/weakness.

Congratulations on this major milestone!

 

[Comet007]

Beautiful wood. Beautiful work, too.

1) Will you be sealing the wood in the walls and the stairs? Since you have direct wood/earth contact, sealant may be your only means of (semi-)protecting against termites and other wood-destroyers. I *think* that sealing the outside of the worm-bed wood will be OK w/regard to organic requirements because the worms don't ever touch the exteriors, but would recommend checking on that in the State of Washington. Similarly, since the rabbits will live in their cages and not be free-ranging, i.e., in contact with the sealed wood in the walls/stairs, that should be OK for your organic certification as well, but again: check.

2) I also have fibro and chronic myofascial pain, along with migraines, two replaced knees (car accident), two hips that probably need replacing (bicycle accident), and a bunch of other sequelae from several sports accidents, a partially compressed C5 nerve, and who knows what else. Which is to say that my sense of balance occasionally--and without warning--Simply. Goes. Away. maybe only for a second or two, but that can be a critical period of time if one is, oh, on the stairs! If possible, see about building/acquiring a rail for at least one side of those beautiful, soon-to-be-sealed stairs for moments of imbalance or joint pain/weakness.

Congratulations on this major milestone!

Thank you!! Sealing is a good point - I don't "think" the stairs need to be sealed, since they are pressure treated. The boards could need it, although they are cedar (as are the worm bed boards). Certainly they would last longer if sealed. I will mention it to DH.

Ugh - fibro and CMP are no fun for sure -add those to my spinal stenosis, spinal and knee arthritis and two bulging discs, and there will be times that I won't even be able to get down to the buns since it is sometimes like I'm walking on knives, which oddly enough slows me down a little... Hmmmm, come to think of it, my problem area in the lumbar region is the C4-C5, I think that's a common area where people first have problems! Well, DH knows that he sometimes has to pick up my slack and I try to thank him by not being a total … brat during those times. Tomorrow I'm getting a spinal block in the lumbar region, and then in 3 weeks I will get the same thing in my neck. Hopefully that will take care of my walking issues, and if they work for me I can get another one every 5-6 months. I'm due for my knee injection again, too lol. Oh well, I just turned 43 in January, but if this is what it takes to keep walking then I'm all in!

I'm not even going to mention the words "hand rail" to my husband at this point - though I think it's a great idea! We have to prune 9 of our fruit trees, pull all the hemlock out of the garden area, and build out our new raised garden beds in the next two months! <br /><br /> __________ Mon Mar 03, 2014 5:50 pm __________ <br /><br /> Hmmm… Now you have me going DogCatMom!!! It's entirely your fault that I'm now considering painting the bunny barn with chalk paint and sealing it with wax. That's actually what I used to paint my mason jars for the bunny's herbs to protect them from sunlight. I have five colors of paint, and used all five on the jars, so I think that I should use all five colors on the bunny barn!! Uh-huh, it will be all your fault if I do it.

 

[Peach]

Wow! That turned out beautifully! :judges:

Just one problem... it's a bit small. Only six cages?!?

Hub's comments: "That poor sod has no idea what he has just been conned into. I'll just make it bigger than the original plan, and she'll be happy. Uh-huh. Little does he know he has just been exposed to Extreme Rabbitosis." There was more, but I'll end with this: "I was him once." :lol:

LOL That's what I was thinking! It is absolutely beautiful! So creative! I just don't know if 6 will be enough :mrgreen:

 

[Comet007]

You guys are worried that six won't be enough… but there are only FIVE cages! :lol: :lol: On the left side of the aisle there are 3 feeders, but that's because there are actually 2 feed saver feeders on each of the doe cages. The fourth feeder is on the end of the second cage next to the hay rack. Probably overkill, but when there's a weaning litter in there we wanted two feeders and two 64 oz. water bottles plus the large hay rack.

Also, I AM winning DH over - he see's the reasoning for wanting four 2'x'2 cages for holding back breeding stock - since the doe cages are 48" wide and 30" deep, four smaller cages with pans will fit perfectly. I've already picked out and priced the cages lol. So at that point we will have NINE cages, and no room for more! Also, for some reason one of the cages on the right side of the aisle has baby saver wire on it… I know I said before that 5 was my limit, but nine is REALLY my limit lol. :roll: :roll: :roll: At least until I get my laying hens.

 

[LPH_NY]

I like your rabbit shed very much. I just showed it to my husband, who also liked it. We are in the planning phase for ours... there is absolutely no way to build in our harsh weather right now. I love the corrugated plastic roof (particularly for the winter.) I think I may have to revisit my plans... now that I can see such a clear example of cages suspended over worm beds - it sounds like a better idea than I originally thought.

Your buck has a huge dewlap. He's really handsome, but I giggled when I saw the pic... almost looks like he's got a golf ball tucked under his chin.

I've been following your threads, but never posted until now. I'm another one of those organic freaks who's paying premium prices for organic rabbit pellets (until the weather changes and I can get them back on forage!!) I'm looking forward to following your progress on here. It's inspiring.

 

[Comet007]

I like your rabbit shed very much. I just showed it to my husband, who also liked it. We are in the planning phase for ours... there is absolutely no way to build in our harsh weather right now. I love the corrugated plastic roof (particularly for the winter.) I think I may have to revisit my plans... now that I can see such a clear example of cages suspended over worm beds - it sounds like a better idea than I originally thought.

Your buck has a huge dewlap. He's really handsome, but I giggled when I saw the pic... almost looks like he's got a golf ball tucked under his chin.

I've been following your threads, but never posted until now. I'm another one of those organic freaks who's paying premium prices for organic rabbit pellets (until the weather changes and I can get them back on forage!!) I'm looking forward to following your progress on here. It's inspiring.

Thank you, and YAY!!! Another organic freak! It's so funny, when I talk to him I've been mentioning his big double chin! I thought he might be overweight, but we checked his spine/flesh today and he seems pretty fit, he's just a big boy! I'm a little in love with the redhead in the bunch, the girls are still skittish and standoffish. They turn their noses away, like I can't see them if they are looking away.

I'm glad that seeing it helped with your planning. Just FYI, if I could have done it without "someone" fighting me to keep it small, small, small… For the cage sizes we have, the shed needed to be just a smidge wider and deeper. Ours is 8' wide and 9'9" deep [was supposed to be 10'!!] on the inside - however, the 4x4 posts in the corners do cut down a little on wall space. That part's actually ok, we have 8' of cages on the left and 9' of cages on the right. Our plan was to have all the hay racks on the ends, which we were still able to do but it's really tight since "someone" made my bunny barn smaller without telling me first! So really for 9' of cages a 10'6" depth would have been more ideal.

For the width, 30" deep cages on both sides of the aisle left a 3' walkway, MINUS the amount of space that the feeders/water bottles protrude out. So really another 6-12" of width on the shelter would have been great. I do know that means having to buy the longer 2x4's and cut some off, OR just have built a 10'x12' bunny barn - then it would have been ok to lose those few inches!

For the worm beds, it looks like having the plastic down the back wall and into the back of the beds worked really well. So far, knock on wood, the buns are all being polite and using the back side of the cages for their potty area, I hope it continues! I don't know if you can tell, but the front of the worm beds sticks out about 3" in front of the front of the cages so that most of the food waste hits inside, and in theory even if they went to the bathroom at the front it might still end up in the worm beds. If we had had the space I would have preferred 4" on all sides.

I really love the way the worm beds are raised, it gives you a really nice toe kick when you're doing anything with the rabbits, and will keep us from inadvertently step into one if we're not paying attention when dealing with a rabbit! Also, since I wanted the bottom of the cages to be 36" above the top of the boards for the worm beds, it puts the cages at a really nice working height. I'm 5'4" and the doors on the cages are right at shoulder height for me, which makes reaching in a breeze. DH is 6'4" and it definitely makes it better for him!

The only downside is that if we do add the four grow out cages up top, I'm going to need a step stool in there! Although, if we do add those cages, we can always drop the lower cages down about 6-8" and then I think I would be fine as long as the upper cages are only 24" deep.