How to make a rabbit enclosure
Rabbit farming is not an easy branch of agriculture. In order for animals to grow up healthy and enjoy high production rates, it is necessary to create living conditions for them that are as close as possible to natural ones. Most often, a small livestock is kept in separate cages, but in the wild, fluffy animals live in groups in burrows, so a more suitable housing option is an aviary for rabbits.
Rabbit enclosure
These animals are very sociable and active, and therefore need space. You can look at the enclosure keeping rabbits in the video, as well as familiarize yourself with the information offered in the article.
Requirements for rabbit houses
Keeping rabbits in an aviary is easy. Keeping rabbits in enclosures allows you to create optimal living conditions for animals and maintain their immunity at a normal level. In fact, a do-it-yourself rabbit enclosure is an open area, fenced around the entire perimeter. Planting density per 20 sq. m - 30 young eared rabbits or female rabbits together with offspring of up to 25 rabbits.
The breeding male should be kept in a separate cage. Only for the time of mating is it permissible to plant a female with him. The location of the rabbit enclosure is a small hillock so that after heavy rainfall the dwelling will not be flooded. In the wild, the eared ears dig their own holes on their own, therefore, when keeping rabbits in an open-air cage, you need to take care of a well-protected floor covering. If you leave the earthen floor, then very soon the eared ears will undermine and disperse around the site.
Of course, setting up a rabbit enclosure with an earthen floor is the easiest and cheapest option. In this case, you will have to bury the iron rods around the entire perimeter of the fence at such a distance from each other so that the eared eared cannot crawl between them. You can make the floor concrete. But concrete is a very cold material, and even in summer, rabbits will have freezing paws, they will often get sick with colds. To solve the problem, the floor is covered with sawdust.
The enclosure of rabbits greatly facilitates care. You can install bunker troughs, design a special watering system and forget about the rabbits until the evening. Another benefit of keeping rabbits in enclosures is that they don't need to be cleaned as often as the cages. Enough once a year.
Keeping rabbits in an open-air cage improves the immunity of young animals, and therefore breeding rabbits in open-air cages is a very attractive option. Dairy rabbits in open-air cages feed all cubs indiscriminately, while with cage keeping, females may not accept other people's children. Thanks to this, the young are always full and grow much faster.
Arrangement of open-air cages
Before you build a rabbit enclosure, you need to calculate how many individuals will live in it. For manufacturing, you will need the following tools and materials:
- Rabitz;
- wooden beams;
- metal corners;
- linoleum;
- feeders and drinkers.
First, it is better to make a drawing that depicts all the device and functional parts for feeding, resting and walking. Then they begin to collect the wooden frame from the rails and corners. The height of the pen should be at least 80 cm above ground level. The slats are buried half a meter into the soil and reinforced with cement. The shape of the pen can be any, depending on the wishes of the breeder.
Arrangement of the aviary
A mesh with a mesh width of 10 x 10 is pulled over the finished frame. In one place, space is left for the door to provide free access to the rabbit dwelling. In street conditions, the floor should be covered with linoleum. This material will be the best option for flooring. The roof is attached to the mesh with hinges so that it can be folded back if necessary.
The internal structure of the aviary includes drinkers, feeders and queen cells for rabbits. Drinking bowls and feeders can also be designed by hand. Feeders and drinkers are made of durable food material. You can raise the floor slightly above the soil to make the aviary look like a large cage.
Hay and sawdust are poured onto the floor throughout the enclosure. The litter begins to be poured even in the warm season. You do not need to remove it. Sawdust perfectly disinfects by absorbing urea. Over time, the litter melts, becomes elastic and burrows appear in it.
Construction of an aviary dwelling in apartment conditions
Rabbits are kept not only as a producer of meat and fur, but also at home as a pet. By their nature, animals are very active. Basically, they put a cage in which the rabbit defecates and sleeps. The rest of the time, he moves freely around the house. If this is not possible, you can build a rabbit enclosure in your apartment with your own hands.
The first step is to calculate the size, depending on the breed. The dimensions of a decorative rabbit are much smaller than that of a meat or fur rabbit. An aviary for dwarf animals should not be placed in a sunny place. The design should allow the animal to move freely, it is equipped from the inside with feeders, drinkers and other necessary things.
It makes sense to hang coniferous or mountain ash branches so that the eared eagle receives the necessary vitamins and grinds its teeth. At home, it is not necessary to cover the structure with a retractable roof. The rabbit can be kept in the aviary all the time or run for a walk.
The advantages of the aviary technique
Today, very few breeders use the aviary method of keeping because of the many drawbacks, but this method allows you to breed animals all year round. The most important plus is that the whole structure can be done very simply by hand.
If you strengthen the floor well and make a hinged lid, you get a huge open cage.
The process of keeping in aviaries requires much less energy. Having designed bunker-type feeders, the correct drinking system, you can not visit the aviary for several days.
The hygiene of the open-air cage area also requires much less effort. It is better to completely remove the floor mat once a year, not more often.
Pros of breeding rabbits in aviaries
Due to the fact that there is not much information about this type of content, people believe that it is better to transfer rabbits to the barn or reduce the livestock for the winter, but this is not at all necessary. How to make a rabbit enclosure is shown in the video above.