# Building cages--need advice



## Delighted (May 3, 2011)

I'm in the process of building several rabbit cages/pens, due to discovering three of my males weren't males! LOL!  

Right now, the male is in a horrible little rabbit cage.  (Freecycle) Oh, it's cute--one of those cedar looking things with a dropdown door that can be used for a ramp if you have a run underneath.  It's supposed to have a wire floor, but right now, the only floor is the slide out waste tray, so he sits in it!  ICK!  (I change and add fresh straw, but it gets packed down quickly-- I have to change it out every other day)

I say the cage is horrible because it has three solid sides and just a front wire to let air blow through--I'm thinking in this Georgia heat, that's going to get too hot.

So, money's tight right now, and I've made several small chicken runs/cages with free wood from pallets, why not rabbit cages? 

I've just read (too late) that hardware cloth shouldn't be used on the floor--but I just picked up 1/4" hardware cloth.  So if I make sure the floor is well supported, will it be okay?

I have read several threads and have seen pictures of several rabbit set ups.  Seems many of them have a solid back wall and three open sides, unless they are all wire, and hung.

Mine are going to stand under trees in the yard for shade, and I plan on making the floor about 3' from the ground for easy reach for cleaning.  I had planned on a rectangle where 1/3 of the area is enclosed--to make a hutch, and for the nest boxes, and 2/3s would be open wire to let breeze through.  I was going to make the whole floor wire--including the hutch area, for easier cleaning, but put a loose peice of plywood over the floor so they don't always have to be on the wire.  (It can be thrown away when it gets too funky).

I have perfectly matching 3' square pallets, so they are going to be the two ends, and I'll make the length 3' also.  I know, the hutch doesn't have to be that tall, so I will make it 18" tall and leave the top of it as a shelf they can get up onto.  In their prior set up, they lived with two Silkie roos, and there was 18" shelving for the silkies to get up onto so they could sleep off the ground (they didn't like roost poles).  The bunnies were up there as frequently as the chickens!  (one mama bunny with her babies, is still in there with the chickens and her babies, so you see the need to hurry and get two built? (One also for the poor crowded male)


It will have a slightly slanted tin roof.  And doors in various places so I can get in there to clean.


Hope I've explained the set up idea well enough.  Will this work, or should I still plan on making the back solid?  BTW, the walls are "rabbit guard" fencing for gardens, so it's I think 1" x 1" at the bottom 12 inches and then 1" x 2"  farther up.


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## Legacy (May 4, 2011)

Sounds great. The all wire bottom is great. We have a hutch that has a wooden bottom and they all use it for a litter box. It's awful.  We don't even use it anymore. It's more trouble than it's worth.


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## Bossroo (May 4, 2011)

The spacing on the 1/4" wire is way too small as the rabbit droppings will not pass thru, presenting with daily cleaning problems.  The wood sides will become pasture art very quickly, then chewed through and will have to be rebuilt. Use 1/2" x 1" wire for the floor wire and 1' x 2" wire for the rest.


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## Margali (May 4, 2011)

Have you cut the hardware cloth already? Everything I've read says it is too thin and will cut the rabbit's feet.

I would return it and get 14 gauge grid for the floor. Normal size is 1/2" x 1" with the 1/2" side up.


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## rickerra (May 4, 2011)

I'll second Bossroo's comment.  Rabbit poo ain't getting thru 1/4" hardware cloth... plus hardware cloth is pretty abrasive to the touch.

I built all 4 of my own 36" x 30" x 20" all-wire cages for $24 each.  I bought the welded wire by the foot from my local "Big-R" (similar to TSC) store.

The floor was 16gauge... 36" wide... 1/2"x1" welded wire.  Cost $1.99 per foot.
All sides, top and door are 14gauge... 24" wide... 1"x2" welded wire.  Cost $0.99 per foot.

2.5 ft of 1/2"x1" for the floor (36" x 30" piece)... $5
11 ft of 1"x2" for sides (24" x 132" piece, bend at the corners)... $11
2.5 ft of 1"x2" for top (24" x 30" piece)... $2.50
1 ft of 1"x2" for door (24" x 12" piece cut to 12"x14" door)... $1

plus the cost of a bag of J-clips (~$3) and J-clip pliers (~13)... divide this cost over the number of cages you make... 4 cages for me... ~$4 cost per cage

total cost per cage = $23.50... plus tax.


After you bend the sides around and connect them to the floor, flip right-side-up and bend each side of the "box"... at 20" height... inward (like closing the 4 sides of a box top).  This folds over 4" of each side height on the top... so you now have a 28" x 22" opening.  Use the 24"x30" roof piece to cover.  I connected one side of my roof panel and use it like a giant cage top door.  Works great.  And bending the sides over at the top help give the cage extra rigidity.

Then you just build a simple stand to hold the cages.

Just an option.  Good luck!


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## Delighted (May 4, 2011)

Thank you all for your replies.  

rickerra--the price of your cages sounds great!  LOL!  
I haven't gone all wire for the concern that they are in free standing cages out under the trees.  I don't have a barn or shed for them to be under roof.  I WILL check out getting the wire from a local farm store next time. I already know what it cost me at Low*s, so I can comparison shop.


I had already cut the hardware cloth for the first pen--and attached it this morning-- before I saw all your comments.  You are so right-- it's rough and sharp.  I put extra wood braces underneath for support and will definately leave about 18" square flat pieces of plywood in there for their feet--as those get chewed and eventually too soaked, I will toss them and put new in.  

The second pen, I am using the hardware cloth for sides and get the 1/2" x 1" wire for the  floor.  (I don't want the hardware cloth to go to waste)  Turns out the other wire I had  that I thought I would use for the sides-- I can't.  It's 2" x 3"--probably not a good idea? lol


Those of you that use all wire cages.  Don't they need a hutch to go into when the weather's bad?  Especially the does about to deliver?  

I've built a hutch into this cage, it's the one mama and babies are going to be put into.  Next cage will be for the buck--get him outa that three solid sided hutch! Poor guy!  Then I have two does that live together, that I need to separate--I'm gonna be busy for awhile!


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## dewey (May 4, 2011)

This is a couple of pics of some of my outdoor bank cages I build.  Most of my rabbits are inside a rabbit barn, but these outdoor cages show the completely wire cages, all 1/2 x 1"...and yes, in open cages they do need shelter from the elements.  For most climates a simple roof or lean to is enough, then tarps or siding can be used to protect them in cold, rainy, or windy weather.  If needed, temporary boxes can always be inserted if they need more warmth in the winter, depending on where you're at, of course.   My rabbit barn has removable siding for the warm weather.  When it gets cold the siding goes back on.


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## Delighted (May 5, 2011)

Thank you dewey.  That would be a nice set up if I had a barn or one of those metal carports.  Maybe some day!


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## hoodat (May 6, 2011)

Since you are making your cages 3 feet high for easy access (a good idea and easier on your back) why not make the cleaning easy by using a poop chute? This picture shows the ones I use made of left over corrugated plastic roofing. You can also use plywood or anything else easy to clean. The left side is hung by loose wire loops and the right is supported by a chain. There is a bin on the ground to catch the droppings and waste hay. Once a day I unhook the chain and drop the end of the chute down to the bin, making a step slant. A quick wipe with a stiff brush and everything goes into the bin, then I hook the chute back up with the chain to get it out of the way. What ends up in the bin is garden gold since rabbit pellets and urine soaked hay makes great fertilizer.


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## Delighted (May 6, 2011)

hoodat, that's a great idea!  sure would make cleaning up easier.  Turns out I have 1/2 hardware cloth, not quarter inch, and the poop is falling through, but I wanted that stuff for my garden!  

The one doe that I moved in with her babies doesn't like the pen--it's really dark in there--I have a roof that overhangs by about 8"--in hopes of stopping angled rain, and then it's in the shade, so there's not a lot of light in her pen.  Plus she's just come from a lot of run room-- a small colony type set up, complete with two chickens!   ( 4' x 12' pen on the ground--the bunnies loved it-- pain inna rear to clean!)


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