(Edited to change the title since I have added a bit of information to the post)
Currently I have my 5 rabbits (well, 13 - 1 doe still has her 8 babies with her) in some old hutches I bought cheap on CL. They have built in next boxes which I thought was neat at first, but have found them to be more of a pain than anything. I purchased a chicken coop which was a 3 sided shed and run area - I set it up for goats, but since we sold them I am wanting to use it for rabbits. Originally I was going to go the traditional route with individual hanging cages, but have seen a couple of other options that has me reconsidering. One was a long single cage with multiple doors where you could section off sections as needed with plastic or metal dividers (smaller area for individuals, a larger area for growing out kits). I am also curious about pasturing them a bit, or maybe a colony type plan? I have the roughly 18'x18' area fenced in already (would need a bit more work to be ready for rabbits, but not much). Or maybe a hybrid of cages and grass? Decisions decisions! :?
Currently I have 4 does and 1 buck, but will possibly be switching out my breeding stock with the new set up once it is up and going (the ones I currently have aren't in the greatest of shape/health - learning as I go, I guess. They were cheap at least, which makes that lesson not quite as painful). I don't plan on having too big of a set up, but who knows what the future holds... I would like to make it so I can expand if needed in the future.
-- Wed May 13, 2015 12:56 pm --
I ordered 6 30"x36" cages from our local F&S store (DH's best friend from HS owns it, which is a perk). I have three 42" spaces between 2x4s in the shed I am going to use for it so I am going to stack two in each section then use some scrap metal roofing for a "poop chute" to gather and reuse around the yard and for my worms. I need to figured out how high to put them - I am only 5'4" so I want to make sure I can reach to the back without much issue, plus my LOs help with feed and water. I also want to build a shelf above them for storage -hay, extra feed, scoops, etc.
Now - traditional nest boxes, or subterranean?
-- Fri May 15, 2015 9:49 am --
Here is the set up I am working on:
The shed has 3 42" sections along the back so I am going to stack two 36" cages in each and hopefully have room for a shelf above for storage.
This is the fenced in area (chicken photobomb!)- we're going to slide the whole thing to the right to close up the 1' gap between it and the building. I have two climbing rose plants to grow up the front for some shade since the sun sets directly in front of it, and then will do vines up the sides and over the top. I have a sun sail/shade thing that should fit over the middle section perfectly. There is chicken wire covering all the openings so it should be pretty bunny (and smaller predator) proof (minus digging, but I am hoping to bury some plastic piping for a way for them to be able to tunnel without digging - it goes into a buried bucket with a lid so they are still accessible - yay pinterest). The hutches I am getting should fit well around the perimeter. I contemplated doing more of a colony type setting, but I think we have too many predators in the area to do it full time (hence the added "security" with a fenced in area)... they will at least be able to get out and romp around a bit though.
Thoughts?
Currently I have my 5 rabbits (well, 13 - 1 doe still has her 8 babies with her) in some old hutches I bought cheap on CL. They have built in next boxes which I thought was neat at first, but have found them to be more of a pain than anything. I purchased a chicken coop which was a 3 sided shed and run area - I set it up for goats, but since we sold them I am wanting to use it for rabbits. Originally I was going to go the traditional route with individual hanging cages, but have seen a couple of other options that has me reconsidering. One was a long single cage with multiple doors where you could section off sections as needed with plastic or metal dividers (smaller area for individuals, a larger area for growing out kits). I am also curious about pasturing them a bit, or maybe a colony type plan? I have the roughly 18'x18' area fenced in already (would need a bit more work to be ready for rabbits, but not much). Or maybe a hybrid of cages and grass? Decisions decisions! :?
Currently I have 4 does and 1 buck, but will possibly be switching out my breeding stock with the new set up once it is up and going (the ones I currently have aren't in the greatest of shape/health - learning as I go, I guess. They were cheap at least, which makes that lesson not quite as painful). I don't plan on having too big of a set up, but who knows what the future holds... I would like to make it so I can expand if needed in the future.
-- Wed May 13, 2015 12:56 pm --
I ordered 6 30"x36" cages from our local F&S store (DH's best friend from HS owns it, which is a perk). I have three 42" spaces between 2x4s in the shed I am going to use for it so I am going to stack two in each section then use some scrap metal roofing for a "poop chute" to gather and reuse around the yard and for my worms. I need to figured out how high to put them - I am only 5'4" so I want to make sure I can reach to the back without much issue, plus my LOs help with feed and water. I also want to build a shelf above them for storage -hay, extra feed, scoops, etc.
Now - traditional nest boxes, or subterranean?
-- Fri May 15, 2015 9:49 am --
Here is the set up I am working on:
The shed has 3 42" sections along the back so I am going to stack two 36" cages in each and hopefully have room for a shelf above for storage.
This is the fenced in area (chicken photobomb!)- we're going to slide the whole thing to the right to close up the 1' gap between it and the building. I have two climbing rose plants to grow up the front for some shade since the sun sets directly in front of it, and then will do vines up the sides and over the top. I have a sun sail/shade thing that should fit over the middle section perfectly. There is chicken wire covering all the openings so it should be pretty bunny (and smaller predator) proof (minus digging, but I am hoping to bury some plastic piping for a way for them to be able to tunnel without digging - it goes into a buried bucket with a lid so they are still accessible - yay pinterest). The hutches I am getting should fit well around the perimeter. I contemplated doing more of a colony type setting, but I think we have too many predators in the area to do it full time (hence the added "security" with a fenced in area)... they will at least be able to get out and romp around a bit though.
Thoughts?
in the winter urine freezes in Dec and doesn't thaw until April which is a lot of liquid build up that quickly turns to muck, compounded by the snow run off, so my current grow out colony is on a roofed concrete pad and my old open top colony was paved with 24x30 patio stones 
