Life outside the city limits today attracts many people, there is no usual bustle in nature, and in these conditions you can enjoy the fresh air. At your site, you can grow cultivated plants, but you can limit yourself to flowers. Gradually, the idea may come to your mind whether to engage in the breeding of animals. If we are talking about rabbits, then for them should build a house.
Selection of optimal rabbitry sizes
Before you start building rabbitry yourself, you should consider a photo of such structures. In addition, it is especially important to think about what size a house should have. Today, there are certain parameters that should be followed.
To accommodate two adults, it is necessary to build a two-section room. Its length can be 140 cm or more, while the width should have a limit of 60 to 70 cm. The height of the structure can reach 70 cm, while the minimum value of this parameter is 50 cm. Feeders and bunkers should be distributed along the edges. This will eliminate the likelihood that the animal will climb into them along with its paws.
Between the sections there is an inclined grid where you can put hay. This design is called - a sennik. In order to save space in the territory, rabbitry can be made bunk. This design will be compact and will allow you to conveniently add feed, which will speed up the cleaning process.
Select options for group content
Before you begin, you should consider a photo of rabbitry. With your own hands in this case it will be possible to carry out all the manipulations. If you think about what you want to keep young, then a room for it must be built on the basis of certain parameters. The length of the structure can range from 200 to 300 cm. In width, it should not be made more than 100 cm. As for the height, it can vary from 35 to 60 cm.
When the age of individuals does not exceed 2 months, it is necessary to calculate the cell volume based on the number of animals. One rabbit needs an area equal to 0.12 m 2 .
Rabbit construction for female and offspring: sizing
Every home craftsman who has at least minimal skills in working with wood can build a rabbitry with his own hands. For the female and her offspring, 0.6 m 2 of area will be needed.
For newborns, rabbits in the cage should have a nest box, which has the following dimensions: length within 35 cm, width - 25 cm, height - 30 cm. In this box, the mother with the rabbits will feel relaxed.
Material selection
Before you make a rabbitry with your own hands, you must choose the material for it. It should be inexpensive, but strong enough. The described animals are rodents, this suggests that they will try any structure for a tooth. If you do not want the frame elements made of wood to last a short time, then they must be upholstered with metal. There is no need to buy it specifically, for this you can use tin from food cans and beer.
Perfectly galvanized steel for roofing. It will not take so much time to carry out these works, and the life of the cell will increase by several years. The most inexpensive and simple material for the frame are wooden blocks. Their cross section should be square, and the side will be 50 mm. It is not necessary to impregnate wood with an antiseptic, since it is toxic, which can adversely affect young animals.
The frame is well dried, which will increase its durability. If you are thinking about making rabbitry with your own hands, then you will need to supplement it with a roof. It is installed in each tier. A moisture resistant material should be used for this part. Perfectly wavy or flat slate. If the structure is planned to be placed on the street, then it is better not to use metal for the roof. This is due to the fact that it tends to heat up very much in hot weather. The cage in this case almost turns into an oven.
Before you make a rabbitry with your own hands, you must choose the material also for sheathing the frame. For this, a galvanized mesh netting is usually used. Its cells should be square, and their side will be 20 mm. Steel mesh is used for the side of the structure, facade and doors. It is necessary to equip the structure with a compartment for laying hay, it will be located between the sections. In this case, a material with a square mesh is used, the side of which is 50 mm. This will make it easier for animals to feed.
For the bottom, a galvanized mesh with a mesh of 25 x 25 mm or 10 x 25 mm is used. Laying of the material is carried out on supporting wooden battens. Such a section will simplify cleaning. Through large cells, animal waste will fail. They will not adhere to the wood and the galvanized surface, which would have to be scrubbed every time.
The receiving hopper can serve as a place where manure will accumulate. It can fall on the surface of the soil. Solid flooring is not commonly used. The reason is that it absorbs urine, and the stool just sticks. In such conditions, the microclimate worsens in the cell, and the boards begin to rot.
The bottom is best done trellised. To do this, planed floor bars are used. A distance of 1 cm is maintained between adjacent elements. When making rabbitry with your own hands, you must remember that animals do not tolerate drafts, in this case they become ill. In order to exclude such consequences, the back wall must be made deaf. The following materials are excellent for this:
- boards;
- polycarbonate;
- OSB plate;
- plain plywood.
If the structure is planned to be installed on the street, then the supporting frame is made of metal. In this case, a corner with a shelf of 45 mm is used. After that, filling is done with finished sections from a stamped mesh. Its fastening is made on the framework of a metal bar. An alternative would be a wooden frame.
The animals on their feet may appear corns, which bring suffering to animals. To prevent this from happening, you can install a plywood sheet on the floor that protects the legs. But plywood will periodically have to be removed for drying and cleaning. The grid will not be able to protect from snow and rain. The cage is best placed under a canopy of slate or in a barn.
Preparation of tools and materials
You can make rabbitry not only from wood, but also from improvised materials, for this you should prepare:
- planed boards;
- wooden beam;
- Reiki
- plywood;
- polycarbonate;
- furniture dowels;
- a grid;
- self-tapping screws;
- nails
- wooden hinges;
- carrying handles;
- gate valves.
One of the common sections for wooden blocks is 60 x 60 mm. Reiki can have the following section: 25 x 40 mm. Thickness of planed boards can vary from 25 to 30 mm. For partitions and walls, not only plywood and OSB, but also plexiglass are perfect.
About the internal arrangement of the cell
Before you make a rabbitry with your own hands, you should think about what its internal space will be. For example, sex is best done combined. Its front part has an inclined flooring of flat slate, while the rear area is made of metal mesh. Feeders are best made rotatable, while you can easily fill and clean them.
The floor surface described above is selected for the reason that most rabbits cope with a small need at the back wall. This is where the grid should be located. 70% of feces get there. The rest of its quantity is scattered on the floor, but the litter will be dry, so it will be easier to clean it. You can use the litter to equip in order to teach the young to urinate at the back wall. The material must absorb moisture. In the described buildings it will always be dry, and you will spend less time on cleaning.
Rabbit construction
We build rabbitry with our own hands on the basis of a wooden frame. For this, rails are pre-cut and connected with self-tapping screws. There should not be distortions. The level checks horizontal surfaces and vertical ones with a square. The front and rear frames are the first to assemble. Using short jumpers on the floor and ceiling, it is necessary to connect to a single structure. On this we can assume that the frame is ready. Now you can do the installation of bars of doors and a sennik.
The floor will be rack, the gap between its elements will be 10 mm. After completing this work, it is necessary to cut plywood and mesh. This is done in order to carry out fastening to the frame with self-tapping screws. If you are faced with the task of how to make a simple rabbitry with your own hands, then you should do the flooring. For the first level, it is necessary to use a moisture-resistant OSB sheet.
It should be cut so that the edge of the sheet protrudes 15 cm beyond the cell. For the second tier, a wavy slate is used. It is fixed to the inclined bars of the frame. Now it remains only to install doors from OSB, hopper feeders and drinking bowls.
All-season production
Do-it-yourself winter rabbits are often made by home craftsmen. Initially, it is necessary to prepare a drawing, only after which you should begin to work. The basis may be the above construction, after which it should be insulated. It provides for the use of expanded polystyrene or foam, from the plates of one of which rectangular parts are cut.
First you need to measure the sides of the frame. The sidewalls should be made so that the ribs of the frame are covered by thermal insulation. The elastic adhesive must be fixed to sheet metal. This is only necessary so that when sheathing with plywood and boards the structure does not fall apart.
If you want to know how to build a rabbitry with your own hands, then at the next stage it is necessary to make parts from plywood and boards that will be used for plating. Elements are connected to each other by nails and self-tapping screws. The result should be a box with an inner and outer wall, as well as a layer of thermal insulation.
The door should be made of beams whose cross section is 20 x 40 mm. This part should be in the form of a frame. Details are connected by furniture corners. A fine-mesh mesh is fixed from the inside, which has a high margin of safety. Mounting is carried out with construction brackets. This measure is necessary so that rodents do not damage the wood. The edges of the mesh are bent so that the wire does not peek from different sides.
The door is fixed with hinges to the structure. Outside, a hook or latch is installed. The door will be needed for feeding and transplanting animals. Making DIY rabbitry, the drawings and dimensions of which are mentioned in the article, you should facilitate the maintenance of the structure. For this, it is installed on supports, their height should be approximately 1 m. For this, a 4-piece timber is used, which has a square section with a side of 100 mm. From it, blanks should be made that are connected diagonally to each other in order to obtain a rigid structure.
Between the supports, a distance is maintained, which is selected in accordance with the rabbitry parameters. In the bottom of individual and located in the lower tier rabbitry, holes must be provided, their diameter can vary from 10 to 20 millimeters. The edges of the sheet iron along the circumference are lined down. The design is mounted on supports and fastened with self-tapping screws, which are sometimes replaced by brackets or other fasteners. Having made a simple rabbitry with your own hands, which has been insulated, you can install it in the open. If you plan to place it in a barn, then insulation and roofing may not be used.
Using Rabbit Cages
Do-it-yourself rabbitry from animal cages can be made by upgrading the design. To do this, the floor must be made of boards according to the principle that was described above. It is impractical to make it continuous, because the surface will have to be cleaned in a timely manner, but in practice this measure is troublesome and impractical. Manure on a solid foundation will constantly accumulate in layers, and in winter it will also freeze.
Leaving the floor net is unacceptable and even dangerous. It often happens that rabbits get their paws into the cells and injure themselves. A metal mesh in the cold can freeze to the animal, which is especially true for the soft parts of the body. In fact, this leads to serious injuries, and sometimes death of animals.
You can make individual fragments of the floor from a fine mesh. The cage should not be cramped, material should not be saved. It is not recommended to reduce the size of rabbitry, with your own hands it is necessary to make a house for animals, the parameters of which will correspond to those mentioned above.
Arrangement of a ventilation system
The ventilation system can be equipped with axial fans, which are staggered. They must be removed by 70 cm from the floor. Otherwise, you may encounter hypothermia, so you need to ensure its heating. For this, heaters are usually used.
Do-it-yourself rabbit ventilation is installed along the entire length of the cage. In small rooms you can get by with a natural flow of air. The cost of artificial systems is higher. If you plan to install exhaust ventilation, it is best to place between the cells of the box, directing their slots in the direction of the dung trench. Draft will not occur, because the speed of air movement will be reduced.
Filters should be present in the ventilation ducts that will trap mosquitoes and mosquitoes that are spreading myxomatosis - the scourge of rabbit breeding. The organization of the optimal microclimate is also ensured by the constant cleaning of manure. The risk of disease will be reduced through the use of trellised floors in cells.
Finally
Rabbitry is quite possible to make yourself. To acquire expensive material for this is not necessary. It is quite possible to do what you find in your own barn. However, in the process of work, certain rules must be observed.
For example, the frame is removed from the surface of the earth not only to facilitate the care of animals, but also to reduce the risk of developing diseases. You can take the height according to your own preferences, but if there are also children in the house, then you can also involve them in the process of caring for rabbits.