Rabbit Housing: Cages on the Left Wall

These are the suspended cages on the left wall of the rabbitry. There are two cages on the upper level. Each cage is divided into two so this gives us four individual cages. The size dimension of each individual cage is 2 feet wide by 2 feet long by 18 inches tall. These will be used for our replacement does in the future. There are two cages on the lower level with a size dimension of 2 feet by 4 feet by 18 inches tall. These will be used as grow-out cages for the litters. The back part of this left wall in the rabbitry is covered with a 1/2 x 1/2 inch wire mesh material from the ceiling down to the floor of the suspended cages because on the other side is already the chicken coop area. The wire mesh material prevents the chickens from entering the rabbitry and it still allows for the free flow of fresh air all around the entire building.

The suspended cages on the left wall are actually protruding by 2 feet towards the chicken coop as shown in the two pictures above with the chicken door open. Underneath these protruding cages is a space of 2 1/2 feet, so the chickens actually can still use the bottom space. 

In my research on the Internet about raising rabbits, I found out that rabbits do not like sudden movements. Since all of our cages are made out of all-wire materials, and the wall division between the chicken coop and the rabbitry is also of wire mesh material, this means that any activities that the chickens would be doing while they're inside the coop could be seen by the rabbits. So we covered 3/4 of the height of these suspended cages at the back with linoleum material as seen in the picture above. This will screen off the activities of the chickens in their coop and the rabbits will not be able to see them from their suspended cages. The remaining 1/4 space of the height of the suspended cages are not covered so there is still a free flow of air in and around the whole rabbitry and the chicken coop.

Rabbit Housing: Middle Cages

This is the front part of the middle cages with the steel frame. There are four all-wire suspended cages in this steel frame which will serve as my breeding cages. These four cages are all of the same size at 2 1/2 feet wide x 3 feet long x 18 inches high. Based on my Internet research, this is the recommended size for a medium sized pregnant doe until kindling time as it is sufficient in space to accommodate a nest box. The litters can stay with their mom in this same cage until weaning time of which I intend to do when they reach 6 weeks of age. At the moment, I have two does in the lower cages and the buck that I used to mate with the two does at the upper cage although I will be moving him out of there eventually. We only put them there temporarily while my brother was finishing all the rest of the all-wire cages.

This is the back part of the steel frame with the four suspended cages that is at the middle of the rabbitry. The side where the bright light is coming is the wall from across the doorway. We covered the wall with green plastic material to admit more light into the rabbitry. That side is where most of the wind an rain come from which is why we had to cover it but it still allows the afternoon sun to shine through the plastic material. The yellow plastic materials that are rolled up at the back of the cages are actually feed sacks. We ripped open the feed sacks and used these to cover the back part of the cages at night and roll them up again in the morning. This is to protect the rabbits from the downdraft that may come in from the windows at night. We did not put any glass panes on the windows, just screen materials to allow fresh air to come in continously even at night and this also keeps out the birds during the daytime. There is 6 inches of space at the back between the all-wire cages and the floor under the cages. This allows us to reach out at the back during cleaning time.