Syberchick70":8t7fsj4l said:
You will want to make sure you have something to protect your walls around a buck cage (or walls that are easy to get to and wipe down) because bucks will spray, especially if they are close to the other rabbits.
The smell will depend on what kind of bottoms your cages have and how often you clean things up. If you're going to use those shelves, they cages would have wooden bottoms (or at least solid bottoms) which means you would need to use litter in the bottom of the cages to help absorb the odor and mess. Appropriate litter to use is either pine pellets (not shavings) or litter/bedding made from recycled paper (unscented only).
I only put litter in my rabbit's litter boxes and I use this
http://www.amazon.com/Fresh-News-Cat-Litter-Pounds/dp/B00332G58S
and this
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/tractor-supply-coreg;-pine-pellet-stall-bedding-40-lb mixed together. But that wouldn't really be practical for a lot of rabbits.
Most operations who breed rabbits use wire-bottom cages, with good reason. It's far easier to keep the cages clean, mainly.
The cage size depends on what breed of rabbits you would be raising. That size might be ok for small rabbits, like dwarves.
The minimum cage size for a full-grown medium sized rabbit is 30x30 or 30x36 for a pregnant doe to raise her litter to weaning age.
My cages will be wire, and I will hang them from the 2x4's. Also plan on getting a poop rack made out of 1/4 x 1/4 mesh, with trays on the bottom for the urine. They will be cleaned out, at least once a day.
We have a cat, so maybe I will put kitty litter in the urine pans as well?
I have some thick plastic for the walls for the buck cage. You mentioned the buck cage, so does that mean that the does will keep it in the cage? I was planning on keeping the buck on the top shelf and the does on the middle one, hoping it may keep him from spraying as bad. I don't know if it would work or not, considering he could still smell them.
I plan on getting some NZWx Californians from a breeder not too far from me, that will be pedigrees. I don't plan on having anything too big....yet, but you never know. My wife works at a restaurant right down the street, that I could probably sell them to, periodically, plus she has the 'Clubhouse' for the golf course too. I just want enough to eat and possibly sell a few of them to make my money back, plus, if I don't use it all, I could sell the manure too, not to mention the pelts once I figure out how to properly skin them.
I could just make 2 24x36 cages on each shelf and still have 6 cages, which should be plenty. If I need more room, I could always build more cages later. I only plan on doing the middle and top shelves now, but at least I know I'd have more room if I need it!! <br /><br /> -- Fri Mar 20, 2015 5:59 pm -- <br /><br />
Marinea":8t7fsj4l said:
If I remember right, you were going to get New Zealands. If that's still true, I think those cage sizes are a bit small. My NZ does are in 30x48" cages and only have kits in there until weaning. At that point, the kits go in their own 7' long cage. NZ can have litters of over 10 kits, and at six weeks, the kits weigh about 3 pounds each, more or less. That's 30 pounds of kits, plus another 8-12 for the doe- that's a lot of rabbit to make room for.
No, you don't need a roof with inside buns. I agree with Syberchick on covering the wall behind the cages. Plastic shower curtains make a good cover, and they are cheap and easily replaced.
One last note- if those shelved are pressboard or plywood, I would be concerned about them getting wet and warping. Water does get spilled. And if the cages are going to be raised off the plywood, and you are adding a poop board/urine tray, make sure you still have headroom for at least at 18" high cage to fit on the shelves.
Oops, one more last note- can you get outside from the basement without going through the house? I wouldn't want to tote rabbit waste through my house on a regular basis.
Wow, I have to go bigger yet then. I could still do 5 cages with a 24x48 cage, if that would be better? I could put the growout cage on the bottom.
I would have trays for the plywood, plus I'd probably put plastic over them too. The height is about 31", so I should have plenty of room for the trays!!
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