The Barn
This is how our
rabbitry was set up in our pole barn before our insulated
rabbitry was built. We only keep a few cages set up in here now
for quarantine and overflow when necessary, but really try to keep
our numbers to what fits in the new rabbitry. We've left this page
up so you can see how things were organized in an open style barn.
Our pole barn sits just
beyond our backyard fence and houses our mules, goats, chickens,
bunnies (not many now), and other critters. You can see the garden
boxes behind the tree, where we grow veggies for ourselves as well
as the bunnies. Next to those, there are 10 dwarf fruit trees...fruit for us,
branches to chew on for the bunnies!
The new rabbitry is just
outside the gate to the right, but not shown. If you look close at
the bottom of the rainbow, you'll notice a bunny hutch. We keep a
handful of large wood and wire hutches outside for quarantine or
extras. Mostly, they are cute yard decor, but some of our favorite
bucks enjoy these spacious cages and fresh air in the nicer months,
though they are less convenient as far as feeding/
watering goes.
The large barn doors are
left opened for lighting and ventilation, and are closed only at
night or in inclimate weather.
Inside the barn...these are our larger doe and litter cages, all of
which are now in the new rabbitry. We had 3 rows of cages stacked 4
high. We bought a friends used 24 X 24 cages when she sold out, and
leave those set up out here now, in 1 row stacked 4 high. We try
hard not to use these cages, but they do come in handy sometimes.
Extra stacks of cages are also nice when doing Fall cleaning...we
simply replace a stack with an empty, clean one and then pressure
wash and clean the dirty stack when we get a chance, at our
convenience.
We used to use beet pulp shreds in our trays. They work extremely
well, but are harder to come by. We prefer the shreds, but now use
pine shavings because they are more readily available in the
quantities we need...a lot!
Fans
and a misting system were hung on the ceiling between each row to
keep things cooler in the summer. Uninsulated sheet metal can get
pretty hot, but the misters did a great job at bringing the
temperatures down.
We also used a flexible tubing/float tank water system out here,
though it did freeze up in the Winter. We used crocks and water jugs
when the water system was frozen....we were always happy for things
to thaw! The frozen water system was the main detraction from this
setup and the reason for building the new insulated rabbitry.
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Just inside the pole barn, our rows of cages are enclosed by chain
link panels. This keeps bunnies in and any possible preditors out.
Chain link gates secure the opened stall doors as well.
We stored feed and shavings just in front of the panels for
convenience. Now our feed is kept in our shop just off the new
rabbitry where the bulk of our bunnies are. We buy our feed and
shavings by the ton at a reduced cost. Our feed is milled only when
we order it, so it is always fresh.
We keep extras of everything on hand. If something is dirty,
we replace it immediately and then wash the dirty item when we have
time.
This is an excercise pen just outside the bunny side of the barn. It
is basically chain link dog kennel panels (convenient &
movable) with welded wire fencing buried so bunnies can't dig out.
If babies will use the pen, you need to use a smaller wire fencing
along the bottom edge so they don't squeeze out. There is a shade
cloth covering the top for shade and to keep the bunnies safe. There
are two logs for the bunnies to climb on or hide under. You can see
Hurricane, just under the trellis, enjoying his romp in the pen! We
have 3 outside pens just like this, one on either side of the pole
barn and one off the side of the new rabbitry. We also have 4 indoor
excercise pens, 3 inside the pole barn and a multi-level playpen in
the new rabbitry. Bunnies are so funny to watch when allowed time
outside their cage to run and play...we feel exercise is important
to happy, healthy bunnies!
This was our goat pen which doubled as a bunny exercise pen. Gemini,
the goat pictured here is no longer with us (she was an older gal),
and two Nigerian Dwarf kids have taken her place. We built this pen
under a tall existing hay lean-to, out of wood pallets lined with
wire fencing. This 12 x 24 foot area is now our new insulated
rabbitry!
The goats were moved into the pole barn, and we used the roof and
posts as the starting point of our rabbitry. I loved this cute
homemade "petting zoo" type pen, but I love our new rabbitry as
well...no more frozen water!
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