Start small or just jump in?

[WagonWalk]

Hello, I am going to start a rabbitry. The purpose will be to provide meat and to get my youngest children into 4H a few years down the road.

The question is do I start small or just jump in the deep end. I also want advice if my two roads have any bumps in them that I have not considered.

Thanks,

The Project
The back ground of the project is as such. The layout is somewhat fixed. I have a wall on my garage next to my truck that is 7.5 feet tall, 16 feet long and only 24 inches deep. The garage has one window to the south that is directly across from where the cages will be. I live in North West Iowa, and the garage is not heated or insulated but it is air tight, it will get down to zero or below at least a few times each winter. The meat Rabbit is going to be the New Zealand White, the 4H ones are up to the kids.

If I jump in the deep end I will start with 9 cages (3 rows of 3) 2 bucks and 3 does, NZWs.

The Cages
The cages will be 24 inches deep by 48 inches long by 18 inches high; each cage will have the ability to be divided into 2 cages that are 24 inches deep by 24 inches long, giving me 18 holes. The cage panels will all be 14 gauge wire and galvanized after welding. The bottoms will be 1x1/2, the sides and backs will be 2x1 with urine guards, the front will be 2x1 with baby saver and the top is 2x1. For the doors I think I want a 12 inch by 12 inch opening that starts 4 inches up from the floor. The doors will open in and be hinged at the top. I am looking to get my components from Klubertanz.

Waste (Urine and Poo)
I will install a flush system under each cage to keep them clean with the run off going into five gallon buckets to be removed daily.

Food and Water
For feeders I am limited on space, and I want to see my rabbits better, so I am going to mount the feeders on the back of the cages in between the studs, I do not know which feeder to choose, am leaning towards the flush mount feeder over the J-feeder, I will be getting 18 feeders so I want to get it right. And there is the feeders’ capacity to consider, still unsure here as well. The watering system will use a pump to keep the water moving and a heater to keep it from freezing; each cage will have a brass nipple 5 inches off the floor.

If I start small it will be 3 Cages (same as above). The herd will be a trio of NZWs each in separate cages, with the dam and her kits in a 24 inch by 48 inch cage. The other 24 x 48 cage would be a grow out pen. I would still have the flush waste system; however the water system would be replaced with water bottles.

I know that this was long post but as you can tell I want to do it right and not waste my investment in the wrong areas. Thanks for all your advice.

WagonWalk

 

[DumansArk]

Welcome to RT!!! =)

My recommendation... start small, with the three cages. You'll find out what works, and there is always, no matter how much you research, plan, and invest, there is always something that you'll end up wishing you'd known to do differently, and often times you'll have to tear down and restart a thing whether it is a cage or a certain type of dish/waterer/hay rack/door etc.

Reading this list, I had two things jump out as considerations; how much airflow does the garage get in the summer? How hot does it get in the warm months? The NZs will do just fine in the winter, but high temperatures and limited airflow...

The 2nd thing was the feeders. If I am imagining this correctly, one would have to reach their arm over the cage, or into the cage, all the way to the back to refill, correct? NZ rabbits are not known for their loving, friendly personalities (although those lines DO exist, chances are, you'll eventually turn up with a bun that is a skin-ripper) and you may find they attack the feed scoop and your hand and your arm. If the feeder works to feed from the outside, well? I like the idea of seeing the rabbits but if it is difficult to get the feeders off, you know what they say. If isn't easy to do, you are less likely to do it. You probably won't clean them as often as you set out thinking you will, and it seems like the majority of the loose fur gets gunked to the back of cages to stick to the wire and surfaces. If the cages are 24" deep will your children be able to reach over and back in order to feed the rabbits? Just a thought.

Congrats on the decision to have rabbits! HAVE FUN!

 

[akane]

Airtight is bad. You want nowhere near airtight even in winter. Respiratory illness will follow. You want plenty of airflow. Any building built toward animal housing will have at least a central roof vent but also often vents running all the way around at the top of the walls. I forget what the chicken forum gave as square inches of ventilation per cubic foot of internal space. You don't want too much wind, usually vents have an overhang or something, but you do want hot air (relative when the temp is subzero) to rise out and some fresh air to come in. In my stable we just left one or both of the large ~8' x 15' sliding doors open except when the wind might blow snow in from the south or a really heavy rainstorm that could swamp the end concrete section. Even in -30F the door was opened during the day when there wasn't snow moving around too much. The stable also has the vents I mentioned. Air and sunshine are good for health in all conditions provided they don't get wet, too much wind in winter, or overheated in summer.

I would start with (3) 24x48" cages and see how you like them. Used cages are good to start with. Many redo their setup 2, 3, sometimes 4 times before finding what they like. Dropping tons of money when you have no idea what you prefer and especially if you do something that is not normal and well tested like a very different feeder location/design is probably going to end badly. What sounds good on paper often doesn't work how you planned. Ease of care should be first. Feeders and waters should be easy to fill, rabbits should be easy to handle in their cages, and things should be easy to clean. Aesthetics are near the bottom of the list.

 

[Zass]

Yeah, what Akane said.
I started small, and it's good too, because I've re-done things over and over again.

Get as large of doors as you can on those cages, it's no fun pulling a 12 lb rabbit through a small opening.

Used 24x48 inch cages might be hard to find.

 

[Marinea]

Welcome to RT!

I agree with everyone- start small. Trust us, you WILL want to make changes after a while. I have had my rabbitry for three years, and I am still making changes.

A couple of specific thoughts on your plan:

First, I am assuming no car is going to be in the garage. Fumes from a running car could be deadly to the rabbits.

I am not sure you are going to be happy with 24x24" cages for NZ buns. I would at least consider not dividing cages intended for does and kits.

I would also give some thought to your breeding plans. A lot of us breed at least two does at once. This gives you some leeway in case of oversized litters, does without milk, etc. If you plan to do the same, you will likely want one grow out cage per litter, or you will have an overcrowding issue. Again, a 24x24 grow out cage is going to be way too small.

If you decide to start small, I would suggest that, in addition to water bottles, you have crocks available in winter. The water bottles freeze, and in my opinion, the crocks are a lot easier to change and thaw out when it's cold.

Good luck! And we would love to see pictures once you get up and running.

 

[Dood]

Welcome,

Youve already gotten a lot of good advice but I would add that 3 week old kits who are starting to be weaned and switching to solid food could have trouble reaching a water nipple 5 inches high, you might want to offer a crock of water until they are big enough to reach the nipple or lower the height an inch or two.

How often do you plan to breed your does? It takes at least 2 months for kits to get to 5 pounds but often longer and a doe on an intensive breeding schedule could have 2 litters in that time so a 48x24 cage is going to be pretty crowded with a mom and 3 litters of 9 weeks, 4.5 weeks and newborns. Also, some females can get violent with their kits after they are weaned so I'd recommend several separate grow out cages.

 

[michaels4gardens]

Hello, I am going to start a rabbitry. The purpose will be to provide meat and to get my youngest children into 4H a few years down the road.

The question is do I start small or just jump in the deep end. I also want advice if my two roads have any bumps in them that I have not considered.

Thanks,

The Project

Food and Water
For feeders I am limited on space, and I want to see my rabbits better, so I am going to mount the feeders on the back of the cages in between the studs, I do not know which feeder to choose, am leaning towards the flush mount feeder over the J-feeder, I will be getting 18 feeders so I want to get it right. And there is the feeders’ capacity to consider, still unsure here as well. The watering system will use a pump to keep the water moving and a heater to keep it from freezing; each cage will have a brass nipple 5 inches off the floor. . Thanks for all your advice.

WagonWalk

I like feed saver feeders from Bass , and I would go with the large one for a NZ with a litter.

-- Tue Dec 09, 2014 7:04 am --

Welcome to RT!!! =)

My recommendation... start small, with the three cages. You'll find out what works, and there is always, no matter how much you research, plan, and invest, there is always something that you'll end up wishing you'd known to do differently, and often times you'll have to tear down and restart a thing whether it is a cage or a certain type of dish/waterer/hay rack/door etc.

Reading this list, I had two things jump out as considerations; how much airflow does the garage get in the summer? How hot does it get in the warm months? The NZs will do just fine in the winter, but high temperatures and limited airflow...

The 2nd thing was the feeders. If I am imagining this correctly, one would have to reach their arm over the cage, or into the cage, all the way to the back to refill, correct? NZ rabbits are not known for their loving, friendly personalities (although those lines DO exist, chances are, you'll eventually turn up with a bun that is a skin-ripper) and you may find they attack the feed scoop and your hand and your arm. If the feeder works to feed from the outside, well? I like the idea of seeing the rabbits but if it is difficult to get the feeders off, you know what they say. If isn't easy to do, you are less likely to do it. You probably won't clean them as often as you set out thinking you will, and it seems like the majority of the loose fur gets gunked to the back of cages to stick to the wire and surfaces. If the cages are 24" deep will your children be able to reach over and back in order to feed the rabbits? Just a thought.

Congrats on the decision to have rabbits! HAVE FUN!

In my experience NZ rabbits are not "bad tempered" any more then any other breed, and ones that are [of any breed] make great stew. Aggressiveness is genetic, so-- if parent stock are "nice" you will have very few aggressive replacements. <br /><br /> -- Tue Dec 09, 2014 7:17 am -- <br /><br />

Hello, I am going to start a rabbitry. The purpose will be to provide meat and to get my youngest children into 4H a few years down the road.


If I start small it will be 3 Cages (same as above). The herd will be a trio of NZWs each in separate cages, with the dam and her kits in a 24 inch by 48 inch cage. The other 24 x 48 cage would be a grow out pen. I would still have the flush waste system; however the water system would be replaced with water bottles.

I know that this was long post but as you can tell I want to do it right and not waste my investment in the wrong areas. Thanks for all your advice.

WagonWalk

I don't see why this wouldn't work, -- I am a great believer in working with what ever you have , and then making improvements when you can.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Hi WagonWalk!

:welcomewagon:

In my opinion, an 18 hole rabbitry is starting small. Just don't fill it all up with rabbits right away.

I'll admit, everyone is correct in saying that there will always be things you want to change. But, as long as you don't mind "do overs" that isn't a big deal.

I started with a 24 hole rabbitry, and now have about 90 holes. My original 24 hole BunnyBarn has 24" x 30" cages back to back on the top tier, and 24" x 24" on the bottom since I use slant boards and the waste needs to fall between the lower cages.

30" deep cages are a pain in the patookas to deal with, but you don't have that option so needn't worry about that. But none of my new cages are any deeper than 24" with the exception of my grow out pens which open from the top.

As for your water system, I would not place the valves at 5" because the rabbits may lean against them, causing them to leak. There was a study done to determine the ideal height for water nipple placement to encourage the most water consumption- because the more they drink, the more they eat, the faster they grow- and it was found to be 9". I have seen very tiny kits stretch up to get water, and have never had any issues. We originally had ours at 2", thinking that would be a more natural position for rabbits to drink, but as mentioned above, the rabbits would lay against them.

I would definitely NOT put your feeders on the back. Feeding and caring for your rabbits needs to be easy. Think about those hectic days where you get home late, or times you will be out of town and someone else needs to care for your rabbits. The feeders on my original cages are 4" flush mount. That still gives me 20" of space to view my rabbits.

I have "creep feeders" for the kits so I can provide extra feed to them that way, but I also devised a simple feeder extender for the does with litters. I simply cut the top and bottom off of a soda bottle, slit the tube lengthwise, and then staple it to make it a diameter that will slip into the feeder itself.

You may want to see if there is someone in the area that would be willing to sell you a rabbit and show you how to butcher it, so that you can try rabbit meat before you jump into raising rabbits at all.

But, whatever you decide, we will be here to help! Welcome to RabbitTalk!

 

[SuburbanHomesteader]

You may want to see if there is someone in the area that would be willing to sell you a rabbit and show you how to butcher it, so that you can try rabbit meat before you jump into raising rabbits at all.

That's great advice.

Also, just know that whatever you plan, it will change. Just when you think you have too many rabbits, you'll likely figure out a way to keep more!

You're starting a wonderful adventure. Enjoy!

 

[Ramjet]

Hello, I am going to start a rabbitry. The purpose will be to provide meat and to get my youngest children into 4H a few years down the road.

Welcome to RT .... :bunnyhop:

If I start small it will be 3 Cages (same as above). The herd will be a trio of NZWs each in separate cages, with the dam and her kits in a 24 inch by 48 inch cage. The other 24 x 48 cage would be a grow out pen. I would still have the flush waste system; however the water system would be replaced with water bottles.

You'll likely need more than one grow out pen. At least one for each doe.

Depending upon when you butcher you may find you need more to keep them separated by sex too .... butchering a rabbit with fetus in it isn't fun.

You may want to see if there is someone in the area that would be willing to sell you a rabbit and show you how to butcher it, so that you can try rabbit meat before you jump into raising rabbits at all.

But, whatever you decide, we will be here to help! Welcome to RabbitTalk!

That's a great idea .... Me & my kids love the taste , my wife wont touch it no matter what I do to it.

 

[PSFAngoras]

Everyone has given sound advice, but I would like to stress the point that you may plan to start with just a few more cages so you have space for the grow outs. Separating the cages would work, but IMO 24x24 is a bit small for anything but a buck unless your breeding dwarfs. Just wait until you get a doe with a litter and you'll know what I mean!

I am currently helping my in laws get started into meat rabbits, and we're getting them started with two 24x24's for the buck and an extra small grow out if they need it, two 24x36 for the does and their young litters, and two 30x36 for grow outs. It seems like it may just work of they stick to a strict schedule.

 

[Zass]

Here's a good example. I have 24 x 48 inch cages. This is what 8, 3-4 lb. fryers look like when scooted to one side of one of those cages.
I've already pulled the doe out to make room.
As you can see, they are going to need that whole 48 inch space just to not be on top of each other for the next week or so...For some reason or another, this batch is growing more slowly than I'd come to expect.

 

[Gerard Dawn]

Although the above advice is good I also suggest that you start of with a few rabbits so that you get the hang of taking care of rabbits. Once you get used to your rabbits you can then add more and buy new cages. Starting some will also help you save money so that you don't spend on something you won't enjoy.

 

[WagonWalk]

I would first like to thank all that posted your comments. I will be starting small and working my way up. I also learned about some new areas that I need to research more. Again Thank You.

WagonWalk