# Ideas on rabbit cage setup



## TChevalier (Nov 4, 2013)

I would like to see other peoples rabbitry setups and see how everyone houses there rabbits. Hopefully I can get some ideas from this.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

Keep away from wood/wood frame cages where any poop can build up. Yes, even if the cage looks clean - it's not. As someone who has lost hundreds of kits to a severe coccidia infection that was impossible to control with wood frame cages, I cannot stress this enough. We've since spent thousands rebuilding the rabbitry - with all wire hanging cages. Wood frames suspend cages from the TOP, and the cages don't allow rabbits to touch any wood. We also don't feed hay (too messy, we'll be using alfalfa cubes), use big fine-x feeders, and will be setting up an auto waterer. 

Ours isn't quite done yet but you can get a gist of our soon to be setup here:

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/livestock-forums/rabbits/500242-progress-new-rabbit-barn.html


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## TChevalier (Nov 4, 2013)

Will the PVC pipe hold up a cage with a nest box plus a litter and a doe?


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

Yup. It may bow in the middle but doesn't matter - it is supported well enough where the pipe enters and exits through the wood frame. We have 3 pipes per cage, one at each end and in the center.


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## paradox (Nov 19, 2012)

Ours have outdoor wire cages and then access to an earthbermed box that shelters them from rain or unpleasant temps. Also serves as nesting box and a place to hide if they feel threatened. I posted some pics on the following thread:

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/li...333-three-questions-about-building-cages.html


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## smalltime (Jan 26, 2007)

I'm in Florida so my setup probably wont help you much seeing as heat is my biggest obstacle. That being said I buy my breeder stock from http://www.rabbitsetc.us/id1.html
And they have the best setup I've ever seen. My setup is just a smaller version of theirs, hanging cages w/ doors and feeders in the front, a gravity feed watering system using a toilet tank and PVC pipe, this way if you need to add vitamin's or antibiotics you can dose the whole heard from one source, worm beds under the cages to dispose of the waste and to add extra income, as feed for the chickens or fish food if your into aquaponics and a great supply of worm castings for the garden... There's a small sprinkler/misting system run along the worm beds that keeps everything moist for the worms and helps break down the rabbit poop... really is a great setup.


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## redneckswife (May 2, 2013)

You should also check out Fireman's, fatman's and sarmour's set-up also. I know I'm forgetting some other peoples pictures of their set-ups.

You could use the thread search also. I have seen some really different and interesting set-ups here from some really creative people:goodjob:


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## Fat Man (Mar 9, 2011)

Paradox has a cool set-up.


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## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

> Keep away from wood/wood frame cages where any poop can build up. Yes, even if the cage looks clean - it's not. As someone who has lost hundreds of kits to a severe coccidia infection that was impossible to control with wood frame cages, I cannot stress this enough.


All of mine are in wood frame cages & I have never had a bit of trouble.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

Wendy said:


> All of mine are in wood frame cages & I have never had a bit of trouble.



Lucky you.


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## Fat Man (Mar 9, 2011)

This is our set up.



My son told me he wants to putt in an automatic waterer. If he designs it we'll build it. I also told him he'd still be doing bottles when it freezes.


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## paradox (Nov 19, 2012)

Fat Man said:


> Paradox has a cool set-up.


Thank you. Yours is very nice too. Always looks so clean in the pics  I have seen lots of great set ups on here. Very creative individuals figuring out ways to make it function best for their situation.


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## Fat Man (Mar 9, 2011)

It had just been cleaned and new rabbits installed.


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## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

> Lucky you.


Didn't mean to offend you. I just wanted to point out that wood frame cages are not killer cages for everyone. Most people I know of in this area have wood framed cages. I din't mean it to sound like you didn't know what you were talking about. I just wanted to point out that they do work for some us. What works for some will not work for others.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

Wendy said:


> Didn't mean to offend you. I just wanted to point out that wood frame cages are not killer cages for everyone. Most people I know of in this area have wood framed cages. I din't mean it to sound like you didn't know what you were talking about. I just wanted to point out that they do work for some us. What works for some will not work for others.


I'm not offended. I currently have wood frame cages that we're phasing out. Let me explain my situation a bit.  

As I said, it worked for me too until I happened to be lucky enough to aquire a virulent and highly potent strain of coccidia. Most kinds are not deadly, but there are at least two who are really bad news - I have one of them here. Which could happen to any other unlucky soul as well. It could've came in when I was at a show or when I bought a perfectly healthy appearing adult. Actually we had a neighbor who built a small bunnyb arn on the property and was keeping her own rabbits there... suspiciously, her rabbits started dying of the same symptoms a month or two before mine. She shows at the same shows as I do and would sometimes borrow equipment - could have came from there, too. Hard to say. All of my adults are the absolute picture of health because adults have an immune system that allows them to handle a load of even deadly cocci. But, they shed it into the environment. Wood frame cages, even if they seem clean, allow for more fecal buildup than wire cages. The kits pick it up simply by walking around and cleaning paws, and upon weaning (stress plus loss of milk antibodies from their dams) start to die. Fast - bloat, pain, mucoid diarrhea, and shedding oocyts into the environment for all their friends to pick up, too. One fecal pellet can have enough deadly coccidia in it to kill another. We used to keep 5 gallon buckets by the growout pens so we could remove buckets full of dead kits and put down the ones suffering. Twice a day. 

I fought coccidia for MONTHS - torching cages, treating adults, spraying ammonia left and right, paid 200.00 for a necropsy to make sure I was right, tried water dosing the herd (that's a joke), and direct dosing the adults but because they were on all different breeding cylcles I couldn't ever treat anything en masse for effective control, paid 100.00 for an hour consultation with a vet who knew only 'pet' bunnies and had no idea how to go about controlling disease in a rabbitry type situation, and have not bred any rabbits on the farm for MONTHS. My Silver Fox are nationally competitive show stock. We were operating at a profit in our rabbitry before this struck. All I'm saying is, just because it hasn't happened yet (and I pray it doesn't happen to anybody!) doesn't mean it can't! 

While I was battling it and still breeding, I literally lost about 25 weaning rabbits every month or so - sometimes more. That adds up to HUNDREDS while I was battling it over the duration of several months - during which time I was just trying to raise healthy kits and still not selling. I finally gave up and stopped breeding because there is nothing more depressing then weaning kits only to have them start dying despite gargantuan efforts to stop it. Corid was the only thing that you can use in fryer rabbits because of the withdrawal time (dimethox is 25 day, we tried that once right after weaning - didn't work - baycox has a 70 day withdrawl... corid only has a 2 day-ish withdrawal) and kept them on corid the entire period with no discerinble effects on mortality. Heck, the necropsy was even done on a rabbit on 'treatment' doses of corid... TONS of coccidia were found on the fecal. We've now invested 4,000.00 in all wire cages/new barn/equipent and months of time which I wish I had just done in the beginning and avoided the wood frame cages. Per cage, I think these all wire cages are cheaper anyways. We're not breeding currently so I'll be overdosing all the stock on the property with baycox for a couple days, then move them to the clean facilities. After things are moved, I'll be breeding again as a test drive... 

If it doesn't work, I'm done with rabbits. In my personal opinion, wood frame cages are to be avoided if you're serious about them or if you move rabbits around a lot (shows, purchase, sales etc). If you have some backyard rabbits and don't move them much or purchase new ones often, you are probably less at risk. This is my opinion and I do not suggest using wood frame cages. YMMV.


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## 64102 (Sep 21, 2010)

MyGoat........ Wow... gutsy...I would have given up way before . You go girl. :goodjob:


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