Rabbitry Hutch question

[Old garden house rabbitry]

Hi all,
Im in the process of contracting a log cabin to house my (future) bunnies- "Old Garden House Rabbitry "I will be breeding Vienna marked and Split Mini Lops in the UK in the near future.

I will be Building 6ft x 3ft x 2ft solid floor cages with a 'jump'. My question is: Should I incorporate a 'sleeping area' (solid door)for the rabbits to nest in the Hutch design or should I have all no sleeping area and use a nesting box? (sorry if this is confusing!)

 

[majorv]

It’s up to you on how you want to do it. We’ve always used nest boxes. It keeps the kits contained as newborns, until they become a little older and more active.

Question, with solid floor cages how will you handle poop and pee? Since you’re breeding, your rabbits will be intact, and although you can try and train them to use a litter box, you may have mixed success.

 

[Old garden house rabbitry]

It’s up to you on how you want to do it. We’ve always used nest boxes. It keeps the kits contained as newborns, until they become a little older and more active.

Question, with solid floor cages how will you handle poop and pee? Since you’re breeding, your rabbits will be intact, and although you can try and train them to use a litter box, you may have mixed success.

Hi, thanks for your reply. My aim is to toilet train, I’m aware not all intact buns take to litter training but I feel it’s worth a try. Nethertheless, I will be cleaning the hutches in the morning and evening to remove faeces and urine. Do you mind me asking what material are your nest boxes please? Metal? Wood? Thanks!

 

[majorv]

We used mostly wood. We had one metal one. I liked the wood because it had a small piece of wood on top and this allowed the doe to get up there and away from kits who insisted on nursing when Mom didn’t want to. Our metal one was open on top. We also bred mostly in cool/cold weather and I thought the wood would insulate the kits better since they were outside.

 

[Old garden house rabbitry]

Thanks

 

[Old garden house rabbitry]

We used mostly wood. We had one metal one. I liked the wood because it had a small piece of wood on top and this allowed the doe to get up there and away from kits who insisted on nursing when Mom didn’t want to. Our metal one was open on top. We also bred mostly in cool/cold weather and I thought the wood would insulate the kits better since they were outside.

Thank you, was the wooden nest box much harder to clean?

 

[woahlookitsme]

My mom is majorv and we raised bunnies together. The wood was very easy to maintain. We lined it with thick cardboard on the bottom and sometimes a little up the sides but this way we could easily replace the cardboard. Also for deep cleaning we would spray the wood with disinfectant and leave it out in the sun to dry for a few days.

I would highly recommend using the nestbox because it’s the best way to prevent death in kits from chilling.

For the solid bottom hutches I would also have the same concerns about sanitation as my mom. Buck urine is very potent and you may find it difficult to clean up easily. As long as you keep up with cleaning twice a day you may be fine but long term it has to continue to be done. For my French lop he was not neutered and did pretty good with peeing in the box but poop was always everywhere. I would say it depends on the rabbit but what will be difficult for you is hormones. Some bucks around does can be the dirtiest of men haha. Oh you may want to also watch for sore hocks in your rabbits. People think they are caused by wire flooring when actually solid flooring can create the problem as well

 

[majorv]

I agree...you will have to be diligent with cleaning a solid floor hutch. Wood absorbs liquid and if bacteria has a chance to grow in the wood you will start to have health problems in your rabbits.

 

[Old garden house rabbitry]

My mom is majorv and we raised bunnies together. The wood was very easy to maintain. We lined it with thick cardboard on the bottom and sometimes a little up the sides but this way we could easily replace the cardboard. Also for deep cleaning we would spray the wood with disinfectant and leave it out in the sun to dry for a few days.

I would highly recommend using the nestbox because it’s the best way to prevent death in kits from chilling.

For the solid bottom hutches I would also have the same concerns about sanitation as my mom. Buck urine is very potent and you may find it difficult to clean up easily. As long as you keep up with cleaning twice a day you may be fine but long term it has to continue to be done. For my French lop he was not neutered and did pretty good with peeing in the box but poop was always everywhere. I would say it depends on the rabbit but what will be difficult for you is hormones. Some bucks around does can be the dirtiest of men haha. Oh you may want to also watch for sore hocks in your rabbits. People think they are caused by wire flooring when actually solid flooring can create the problem as well

Thankyou.
I will be lining the hutches with waterproof vinyl flooring so the wood doesn't absorb urine and can be disinfected easier (similar to the flooring in the KW bunny villas) and will be cleaned twice a day. Thankyou for your advice.