# Indoor Meat rabbit setup. Small room.



## Xanatosnemos (Nov 18, 2016)

Looking for options to move my rabbits indoors (northern new hampshire very cold here in winter, even negative)

Hoping to figure out some tips or suggestions for keeping breeding and convenience/maintenance/cleaning. when it comes to being INDOORS.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

I set my cages on a frame made of galvanized pipe and placed 
them over a deep bed of shavings and straw. 

That eliminates a lot of the clean-up. 

I lined the wall with plastic so it can be rinsed easily


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

with beafoot farms setup urine guards will help keep them from spraying , check out bass equipment co'.s flush clean system in their catalog


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## DaisyDuke (Nov 21, 2017)

So despite not being 'allowed' to have any livestock as pets in my town house I am considering trying to raise rabbits in a spare room between now and when I have to move. Any suggestions for a set up that could later be converted to being outdoors? I would like to get a few litters of kits under my belt and get some meat and pelts! My requirements that it be frugal and take minimal time for maintenance. I work too many hours too many days to save up for some land, I don't want to have raising rabbits indoors be a long t plan but just a gateway livestock lol.


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

check out bass equipment or kuberances stacking cages. with dropping trays and urine gaurdes they are easy to lean and can house a trio of rabbits ;placed over a linoleum floor or plastic a little spill wound'nt cause damage . the wire cages could be easyly moved to a farm lasting many years . in a rental situation though perhaps you will be better off just reading some good books on and continue to save up for your place . as the dayly cleaning ,and stress and worry of the landlord visiting may cost more than you can gain


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

I rent homes----Mercy I would have a Field day if I found out one of my renters raised rabbits in one of my homes!! I do not think you could be clean enough to raise several cages of rabbits---to keep the smell down in a closed room??

To the original Poster Xanatosnemos, If you are talking about inside a shed etc, not inside your living room---several set-ups you can do. If I was just going to use drop pans I would use something absorbent where it could be scooped out---what ever is cheap--something like cat litter to soak up the urine. Hay does not absorb it---even wet hay with regular water gets a smell after while. I have used DRY sand--it helps a lot but can be on the heavy side. I did a indoor set-up that worked great but I used drain/tilt sheets to cause the urine to run into pvc pipe that ran outside to a make shift septic tank. I caught the poop on window screens right under the cages. There was 24 cages most 30x36, some 30x30 and some 24x24 for smaller rabbits, sometimes counting the babies--close 100 rabbits in there. It worked good but did require regular cleaning to keep the smell to close Zero.


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## ladytoysdream (Dec 13, 2008)

Xanatosnemos said:


> Looking for options to move my rabbits indoors (northern new hampshire very cold here in winter, even negative) Hoping to figure out some tips or suggestions for keeping breeding and convenience/maintenance/cleaning. when it comes to being INDOORS.


I use stacking cages for my rabbits. Each cage is a separate unit with a drop pan. So I can stack them 1 high, or 2 high, or 3 high. When I need to do a repair, it is just undo the stack to get to the cage I need to work on.
I have a nice addition on my garage for my rabbit room. I can protect them from the wind, rain, and the snow. I cannot control the temperature however. In the winter, it gets interesting with frozen water dishes, but I have extras and just swap them out. Bring the frozen ones in pails into the house to thaw out. I use nest boxes, and or wood boards to keep them off the cold wire floors.


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## ladytoysdream (Dec 13, 2008)

DaisyDuke said:


> So despite not being 'allowed' to have any livestock as pets in my town house I am considering trying to raise rabbits in a spare room between now and when I have to move. Any suggestions for a set up that could later be converted to being outdoors? I would like to get a few litters of kits under my belt and get some meat and pelts! My requirements that it be frugal and take minimal time for maintenance. I work too many hours too many days to save up for some land, I don't want to have raising rabbits indoors be a long t plan but just a gateway livestock lol.


Try a couple of cages to start. But go with a couple of pet rabbits. Under 5 pounds full grown. That way you have pets and not livestock. Bigger meat rabbits like New Zeelands and Californians are considered livestock animals.
So if you raise a litter, then you can sell them as pets. It will give you some rabbit experience.
Make sure you have the male and female you start with, the same breed. You will get more money for the babies,
if they are purebreds. Papers are not priority here, unless you are thinking of showing in the future.
Also you need to check the city or town you live in about rabbits as pets. One of the cities near me, one must have a permit to have a pet rabbit. Yet dogs and cats do not need permits.


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## DaisyDuke (Nov 21, 2017)

Hmm, I like this idea! I will check with my landlord about 'small caged pets' and try to budget building supplies and a breeding pair of rabbits for the near future. I've been looking into good breeds for marketing to four hers, but only know people with Californians and new Zealand's.


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## ladytoysdream (Dec 13, 2008)

What state are you in ?
If you lived close to me, I could suggest a few of my Dutch


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## DaisyDuke (Nov 21, 2017)

I'm away down inMissouri! I'm pondering getting a fiber variety that is a obvious pet. My landlords first question when I asked about having a rabbit or two was, "well you aren't going to eat it are you?" I kinda dodged the question with rambling about fiber rabbits, and knitting etc.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I've had indoor rabbits. Even the best of litter trained rabbits gets to stinking. A whole litter in the nest is pretty bad. Several cages of weanlings would be intolerable, especially if they go a few days between cleanings.

If you have individual drip pans or decide to litter train a pet rabbit, your best choice for bedding is horse pellet bedding. Get the kind that is compressed pine pellets. Very absorbent, biodegrades very quickly in the lawn or flower bed, keeps the smell down better than most bedding. Yesterday's news or one of those paper beddings smells less after a few days but the price of the bedding is much higher. We use stainless steel pans for litter pans. Rabbits eat plastic ones and their urine eats through aluminum pretty bad.


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

I did a male female pair inside in cold weather outside as weather was nice. Kids pets. Had many babies as well. Sell babies, back to 2. But you do have to clean each day when in the house. I trained them to litter box. But once you get more than a pair i would suggest outside. Look on line many rabbit groups.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

If it's an enclosed and admittedly small room, I'd be extremely hesitant. Snug to us means horrendous air quality for livestock. 

Rabbits will do fine out of wind in all climates. If you're enclosing it in to keep water or systems from freezing, then I'd still caution you about air quality. You'll need to have vents or fans moving fresh air in, and likely a separate heater to keep it above freezing despite proper ventilation. Often overlooked out of trying to create a comfortable environment for us humans, ventilation is as important as food and water.


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## LuckySpotFarm (Sep 11, 2016)

Do you have an enclosed garage or anything? The rabbits don't need to be inside in the heat and the cold is actually not going to hurt them, the wind and other elements are the issue. So moving them into an enclosed area will help. 

We moved ours into our insulated (but not heated) garage last winter. We actually put up tarps along the back of the wall and caught the droppings in big bins that we dumped outside every few days. This worked pretty well for us. The biggest reason we wanted them inside the garage was more to keep the waters from freezing as some heat from the house escaped into there and we also had chicks at the time so we had a heat lamp running in there for them. We usually would have a fan running or on not as cold days we would have the windows open (wind came from the other direction but this allowed fresh air in). 

I will also say in the winters a do drop down to lower amounts of rabbits so I can move them from their normal barn. Their normal barn is open on two sides so waters just freeze right away but the walls to block the wind and elements. Like this winter for example I dropped down to three does and I personally don't breed for litters to be born between late nov. and late feb. I actually just took my three does to a friends to be bred for an early March litter. The does currently live in the chicken coop which between all of the animals in there the waters don't freeze too bad. On really cold nights we set up a heater. 

The biggest thing with us moving the rabbits in from the cold is we don't want the waters freezing


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