Dog cages?

[Missmonty]

Hello everyone! We are in the process of renovating one of our barns and we plan to put the rabbits in there when we are done. Originally the idea was hanging cages and I plan to expand our breeding (previously only bred rex for meat, now we're breeding them for meat and show and adding 1-2 additional breeds).

We quickly realized some of the cost factors that may come into play. I saw this idea in a facebook group I'm in and I wondered if it would be a realistic way to keep rabbits. Currently I use dog crates as rabbit tractors to allow them on the grass but stay protected (I use really big great dane sized ones).

What would your opinions be on creating a stacked set up out of smaller dog crates? I can get them for about $20 per crate roughly for the size I'd need and then I'd have to purchase metal shelving. But the cages designed specifically for rabbits that we were looking at were $30-50 a piece unless we made them ourselves and we have made some in the past but they didn't turn out as well as we liked so we'd like to purchase them so they all stayed nicer longer and looked good (I'm a bit on the OCD side lol)

Here's the photo of the set up I saw. Then I'd modify it to have dropping catchers that lead to a bucket on the side. It looks like they took the trays out and put wire down on the bottom.

 

[Tale of Tails Rabbitry]

I edited my post because I did not see the added wire on the floor on my phone and I am looking at on my computer now, but it looks to be just a sheet under the cage, I think. I would not do it that way, but I guess it works with their set up.

I am not sure of the dimensions, I prefer large cages for my meat rabbits but the deeper they are the harder it is to get a hold of the rabbit. These look smaller than I like.

 

[Missmonty]

I am looking at the flooring, kits falling through, young ones escaping, and then sore hocks are the first things that come to mind...and I just got a newcomer healed up from having sore hocks, so you might consider adding the proper wire on the flooring or at the very least a mat in each cage...and baby catching wire along the sides a few inches up if you are hoping to have does kindle in them.

I am not sure of the dimensions, I prefer large cages for my meat rabbits but the deeper they are the harder it is to get a hold of the rabbit.

Oh yes I'd modify this a bit. The other thing about this design is it makes the cages a bit taller than standard rabbit cages which would give them more room. A lot of my rex rabbits like to stand up and look around so I think they may enjoy the extra head room

Something else is a lot of the cages in the sizes I was looking at also have a side door so that may also help with being able to reach them. That really is a huge pain with the big cage I use as a bunny tractor. Most of the buns will come up to me when I go to get them back to put them in their cages but a couple I literally have to climb in the cage with them since its so big!

I did worry about does kindling in them tho. The big cage I have as a bunny tractor actually was modified for when I was growing out chicks so I had put chicken wire along it so I figured I'd do something like that but a different type. I'm not 100% sure. I had also considered having a couple bigger ones for grow out pens and mommas with babies because one of my does for example averages litters with 14 babies! So the extra space would be nice for her. I've considered tho maybe using some of the standard cages we have for when the babies are super young to make sure no one can slip out then moving them into a bigger grow out when the babies get mobile and get some size behind them.

I know this would work for the rex and if we get bigger breeds but we're looking at dwarfs too so I'm really questioning if this would work for them.

 

[mystang89]

The only thing that actually stands it to me would be the size of the wire flooring and their feet. Two things would strike me. 1) their feet going through the horizontal wires and 2) would be their getting sore hocks. If those 2 things aren't a problem then I don't see anything stopping it from working.

 

[Tale of Tails Rabbitry]

The only thing that actually stands it to me would be the size of the wire flooring and their feet. Two things would strike me. 1) their feet going through the horizontal wires and 2) would be their getting sore hocks. If those 2 things aren't a problem then I don't see anything stopping it from working.

I saw that at first too but it looks like they have regular floor wiring under the cage in the set up. I would still think this could cause a sore hock problem, but if regular floor wiring was cut and placed on top of the cage flooring, it could work.

 

[Tale of Tails Rabbitry]

I did worry about does kindling in them tho. The big cage I have as a bunny tractor actually was modified for when I was growing out chicks so I had put chicken wire along it so I figured I'd do something like that but a different type. I'm not 100% sure.

We use a small wire mesh you can get at about any hardware store on the outside along the bottom of the cage, about 4 inches high. I still have seen a kit climb over it, but very rarely. This is why I like the drop nesting box so much more.

 

[promiseacres]

If you're watching craiglist or fb sales pages you can get used stacking cages for $15 -30 a cage. Maybe just minor adjustments and repairs. It seems by the time you modify the dog crates you might be money ahead buying used. Just avoid the cheap farm store brands...

I have about $500 in my cages and not all are shown