Rabbit hutch help!!

[cassie]

I suggest you get the book Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits by Bob Bennett. It is a good basic book and it will answer most of your questions. It covers all phases of rabbit raising from breeding to feeding to housing to butchering. It is not very expensive and it is available on amazon. That is where I bought mine.

 

[NatJ]

Thank you i am not keeping these as pets they're definitely for meat

For meat, with rabbits of that size, it is common to use cages at least 30 inches by 36 inches with wire floors. Each adult rabbit gets its own cage. A bigger cage (36 by 48, or even bigger) would be nicer for the rabbits, if you can manage it.

For cage size, you need a balance of space inside for the rabbits, but also possible for a person to reach all the way into the cage when you need to catch the rabbits. A big door can let you get your head & shoulders into the cage, so you can reach the back corners even though it is big. Otherwise you are stuck with a cage no larger than you arm's length in every direction, or else you cannot reach the back corners.

With wire floors, the droppings and urine can fall through, so the rabbits are not sitting in them. Rabbits can get sore feet from sitting on the wire floor, but they get sore feet even faster if they sit in a dirty cage.

The type of wire for the floor definitely matters.
It needs to have the right size holes. 1/2" by 1" is most common, and usually works well. If the holes are too small, the rabbit droppings do not fall through. If the holes are too large, the rabbits' feet can slip through, especially when the bunnies are young.

You need a heavy gauge wire for the floor (16 or 14 gauge--smaller number is sturdier wire). If you use thinner wire, it is harder on the rabbits' feet, and the whole floor will also sag badly. Sagging floors are also bad for the rabbits' feet.

The wire usually has a coating (galvanized) to keep the wire from rusting, but sometimes the galvanizing has lumps and bumps, and sometimes it is smooth. Smooth is much better for the rabbits' feet. You want galvanized wire (looks silver-colored), not wire with a plastic coating. Rabbits chew on things, and would probably chew the coating off and eat it.

If you are building the cage, be sure to put the wire correct side up: the side with the wires closer together is smoother, so it faces up. (This applies when the wire has rectangular holes. It does not matter if the holes are squares.)

It is also good to put a board or other flat surface in the cage for the rabbits to sit on, to give their feet a break from being on the wire all the time. Just make sure you keep the board clean. Rabbits tend to do most of their pooping in one corner of the cage, and you want the board in a different corner!

 

[booklover]

Thanks everyone!!! And i will try to get the storeys guide. Thank y'all