Rabbit barn: maintenance rules and how to build your own hands

The breeding of pets requires a place where they will be kept. For rabbits, a barn is being built, in which they provide for the installation of one-, two-, three-tier cages or free range. In such a room, they can be looked after all year round. The structure has a simple structure, which is easy to build without the involvement of qualified specialists.

Types of rabbitries

The choice of the method of growing animals depends on their number, the purpose of growing (for meat, fur, breeding), and the climatic conditions of the region. Animals are kept in cages or on free range. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages.

There are 3 placement options for keeping rabbits:

• open (in shed);
• closed (in the barn);
• pit.

The first and last type of rabbitry is suitable for regions with warm winters. In the shed, an aviary is made or cages are installed. The canopy protects the rabbits from direct sunlight and windy rain/snow.

A pit is a rabbitry set up in a deep pit (1.5-2 meters), with concrete walls and floors, where animals are kept without cages.

Closed type is a barn, cold or insulated. The room must be provided with lighting and ventilation. Rabbits are kept on free pasture or in multi-tiered cages.

Requirements for the conditions of keeping rabbits and features of care

The room should be comfortable for rabbits and convenient for caring for them.Regardless of the breed, the animals do not withstand dampness, drafts, sudden changes in temperature. Animals get colds and get sick. Lighting is natural, through windows, in winter it is supplemented by artificial lighting. The total area of window openings should be up to 10% of the floor area. The duration of daylight hours in the rabbitry is from 8 to 10 hours, the maximum is 16 hours.

Temperature and humidity

Optimal temperature for keeping rabbits: +5 to +15 degrees. Humidity should not be above 75% and below 50%. Adults, when kept in a cold barn without cages, can withstand temperatures as low as -30 degrees, if there is enough hay in the barn for them, in which animals hide and warm on frosty days. When kept in cages, the barn must be insulated so that the air temperature does not fall below 5 degrees Celsius.

Overheating is no less harmful for animals, so good ventilation and thermal insulation of the roof is necessary in the barn. But at the same time, the movement of air in the room should not create a draft.

Hygiene

Fresh air is essential for the he althy development of animals. The concentration of harmful fumes (hydrogen sulfide and ammonia) from decomposing manure cannot exceed 0.015 and 0.01%. In a barn where animals are kept on free pasture, daily cleaning of manure and regular change of bedding is necessary. The flooring is made solid with a slope towards the door so that the rabbits cannot dig a hole and leave the room outside.

When caged, a net is attached to the floor or a slope is made to the back wall to facilitate maintenance. The basic rule for arranging cells is that manure from the upper cells should not fall into the lower tier. The frequency of cleaning in enclosures and cages depends on the arrangement. If manure is spontaneously removed through the mesh or holes in the floor, then cleaning is done 1-2 times a week. Feeders and drinkers are washed daily. Uneaten food (compound feed, vegetable mash) is removed, the feeder is thoroughly washed.

Food

In the diet of rabbits, the content of dry food (oats, wheat, corn), compound feed, vegetables (fresh and boiled), fresh grass / hay should be balanced. In the summer, fresh grass and seasonal vegetables should predominate in the feed. Do not feed contaminated grass to animals. It should be washed and slightly dried. In autumn and winter they give hay, mixed fodder, vegetable mash.

Rabbits need something to chew on. Branches of aspen, birch, willow will play the role of a nutritional supplement and will make it possible to satisfy the natural instinct. When kept in an aviary, hay is laid out on the floor for constant access for several days. Water must always be fresh. In an unheated shed in autumn and winter, water is provided in the morning and in the evening in a heated state.

Subtleties of maintenance in summer and winter

In summer, animals should be protected from overheating and bright sunlight. Outdoor cages should be covered with hay or straw. The canopy over the shed or enclosure should protrude 20-30 centimeters.

In the barn during the warm season, a mesh door is used to increase the flow of fresh air. The second door is held open.

With the onset of cold weather, the barn is stuffed with hay for warmth during free grazing. When cellular content in the barn must have heaters. In unheated premises, the number of rabbits is reduced to a minimum, leaving adults to breed in the warm season. Ocrol at low temperatures in the rabbitry can cause the death of offspring.

What should be the rabbit barn

Before the construction of the premises for the animals is determined with its location. Favorable for breeding is the northern side, under the crowns of large trees. Distance from housing and other outbuildings - 10-15 meters.

Building materials:

• board;
• logs;
• brick.

The choice depends on the capabilities and desires of the breeder. A cold barn is erected from boards, a warm shed from bricks and logs. The area of \u200b\u200bthe room depends on the method of keeping: with free range for 1 rabbit, 1 square meter is enough; for cellular - not less than 1.5 square meters (1.5 meters long, 1 meter wide).

The roof of the rabbitry is made single-pitched to be used for drying hay. Between the roof and the room, a hay storage (attic or flooring) is equipped. When calculating the area, queen cells are taken into account: cages for rabbits for kindling. With cage keeping for rabbits, an aviary under a canopy for walking is attached to the back wall of the barn.

The barn is being built without a foundation. There should be no gaps in the walls. This will protect the room from drafts, mice, ferrets and weasels. There should be 2 doors in the rabbitry: a mesh door and a solid one that closes tightly.

Step-by-step instructions for creating a rabbitry with your own hands

The construction of the rabbitry consists of 4 stages:

• design;
• seat selection;
• material preparation;
• construction.

Design means to draw the plan of the barn.

The area of the room is calculated based on:

• from the number of adult livestock;
• females for calving;
• places for baby rabbits;
• inventory placement;
• sennikov;
• drinker;
• feeders.

The drawing indicates the dimensions for one tier of cages along the walls or for free range. The width of the passage between them must be at least 1 meter.The height of the room is 1.8-2 meters. It should take into account the height of a person and the number of tiers of cells. When multi-tiered, the upper cells should be located no higher than 1.5 meters, the lower ones - from 0.4 meters. The distance from the roof of the upper cage to the attic or attic flooring is at least 45 centimeters so that the rabbits on the upper "floor" do not overheat due to poor air circulation.

Then the location of the rabbitry is determined, the site is marked according to the plan. The side should be leeward, not flooded by spring floods, remote from housing, a chicken coop, a barn, a pigsty.

Main tool for work:

• level;
• roulette;
• hammer;
• hacksaw/power saw;
• hammer;
• metal scissors;
• pincers.

The most economical option is to make a barn out of wood. But, if desired, it can be built of brick, foam concrete.

The calculation of materials also takes:

• roofing material or slate for the roof;
• cement and sand for screed;
• galvanized metal for upholstery of corners;
• mesh for cages and inner door (with cage content);
• hinges for hanging doors and doors;
• insulation (for a warm barn);
• glass (for windows);
• lighting equipment.

Construction begins with marking, leveling the site. The strip foundation is made under brickwork or foam. A frame made of timber is installed at the corners of the site (for a wooden building). A cement-sand screed is being made over the entire site. The walls are being raised. A pitched roof is being installed. Doors are hung.Internal work is being carried out according to plan.

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