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How to make the simplest rabbitry with your own hands. DIY rabbitry: from drawings to implementation

Living in a country house brings a lot of positive aspects in the form of clean air, lack of noise and city bustle, and the presence of a place for relaxation and entertainment. It is also important that you can grow garden crops or raise pets on your own plot. This can become a source of environmentally friendly products and help the family budget. If you want to get into animal husbandry, then there is no better option than raising rabbits. At the same time, the decision to raise eared animals alone is not enough. You will need knowledge about keeping furry beauties and comfortable cages where they can “gain weight.” Of course, it’s easier to buy a ready-made rabbitry. However, we recommend making the cages yourself, since this gives you the opportunity to choose the design and size of the structure in strict accordance with personal preferences and the availability of free space for its installation.

Purpose and structure of the rabbitry

Today, two main systems for keeping rabbits are used.

In insulated, closed-type rabbitries, this method is relevant for northern regions and mid-latitudes. Adults are kept in individual cages, and rabbits are kept in communal cages, which are installed in a heated building.
In outdoor cages. In this case, adult animals are placed separately from young animals, which are placed in group rabbitries and walking facilities.

Outdoor rabbit houses can be single or multi-person. Most often, the cage is designed to accommodate one adult rabbit or several young animals.

The simplest cage for rabbits

The cage is divided into two parts: a feed compartment with an area of about 0.5 square meters. m and a nesting “room” with an area of at least 0.25 sq. m. Often the feeding space is made common, with living compartments located on both sides of it.

The parts of the rabbitry communicate with each other using a round manhole up to 20 cm high. The aft part is equipped with a feeder, and for convenience it is made of lattice or covered with wire mesh. Access to this part of the cage is provided by a door measuring 40x60 cm.

The frame of the rabbitry is made of durable timber or round posts with a thickness of at least 8 cm, and the cage itself is placed at a height of 70–80 cm from the ground. The wall material can be wooden boards, clay wattle, hardboard, plywood, etc. The roofing material is slate, roofing felt or polycarbonate laid on top of the boards. Tin roofing is used only if the rabbitry is installed in a well-shaded place.

The floor of the cage is made from edged boards, sloping towards the back wall. A gap is left in this place for urine to drain. An excellent solution is a narrow strip of metal mesh located at the back of the rabbitry floor.

Common designs and their features

Livestock specialists and amateur rabbit breeders have developed many models of cages for keeping rabbits. The most common designs of rabbit hutches are:

single-section cage;
design with two sections;
rabbitry with queen cell;
three-section (family type);
solid wire;
Mikhailov mini-farm;
Zolotukhin cells.

The most successful and simple design that can be repeated with your own hands can be considered a two-section one.

Two-section cages are very convenient for keeping rabbits

To save space, the cages are installed in several tiers, forming a so-called shed. This design saves material and makes caring for animals easier. It is this system that is used in the designs of rabbit hutches by famous rabbit breeders Mikhailov and Zolotukhin.

A double cage with a queen cell (feed compartment) is used to place the female rabbit during birth. In the form of a queen cell, a removable type nesting box is used - newborn rabbits are kept in it until they reach one month of age. Between the food compartment and the main part of the cage, a hole measuring 20x20 cm is arranged.

At the time of giving birth, the female is placed in the queen cell. It is often done in an ordinary cage, setting up a closed compartment with a hole

All-wire rabbitries are convenient for mass breeding or on farms. Along with the advantages of simplicity and ease of maintenance, such cages also have a significant drawback - they require a separate room for installation.

In a family-type cage you can place two females with young animals or two individuals of different sexes. The compartments between the compartments are made of mesh, slatted or solid wooden partitions.

Single-section cages, although they are the simplest to manufacture, are practically not used in private farmsteads due to the low hygiene and aesthetics of the structures.

Before starting the construction of a rabbitry, they prepare the tools and materials that will be needed for the work, and also take the necessary measurements and draw up drawings of the future structure.

Tools and materials

To make a rabbit hutch you will need the most common carpentry tools

To build a rabbitry from wood and various available materials, you need to stock up on:

wooden beam with a cross-section of at least 60×60 mm;
planed boards 25–30 mm thick;
slats with a cross section of at least 25×40 mm;
plywood, OSB, plexiglass - for walls and partitions;
polycarbonate, tin, slate, soft tiles or roofing felt - for roofing;
mesh with cells no more than 40 mm for walls, doors and floors;
furniture dowels;
nails and screws;
door hinges, latches, carrying handles.

In the process of work you will need ordinary carpentry and plumbing tools:

hammer;
screwdriver or set of screwdrivers;
drill with a set of drills;
hacksaw for wood and metal;
jigsaw;
grinder with a disk for woodworking or an angular circular saw;
chisel;
roulette;
carpenter's square;
bubble level;
metal scissors.

When building a rabbitry, safety requirements should not be neglected. Be sure to use a protective shield or eye glasses, and when working with cutting tools, you must exercise extreme care and caution.

Calculation of optimal cell sizes

When calculating the size of rabbit cages, they are based on the conditions of their keeping, the breed, size of the rabbits, as well as the purpose of the rabbitry (mother cell, structure for single or group housing, structure with walking for young animals, etc.).

During the calculation process, certain standards and recommendations are followed.

The length of the cage for nursing females should be from 170–180 cm in length and at least a meter in depth. The height of the structure is taken to be 60–70 cm. Rabbit houses are installed on pillars or supports dug into the ground at a height of 70–80 cm from the ground.
The rabbitry for large individuals weighing more than 5 kg should be spacious - at least 130 - 150 cm long and 70 cm wide. The height of the front wall is 40–50 cm. The roof is sloping due to a decrease in the height of the rear wall by 10–15 cm.
Young animals are kept in group cages of 8–20 animals at a time. In separate buildings, 3–5 rabbits that are less than three months old are placed, and older animals are kept in the amount of 2 to 4 individuals per cage. For young animals, the height of the cage can be reduced to 35 cm, but the living area should not be less than 0.25 square meters. m.
Adult rabbits are placed in individual cages with a minimum size of 100x60 cm. If conditions permit, these dimensions are increased by 20–30 percent, which is especially important for mature males, since limited mobility in cramped conditions leads to their infertility.
If a two- or three-tier shed is constructed from cages, then its width should not exceed 200 cm and its depth should not exceed 100 cm.

Of course, when calculating a rabbitry that you will make yourself, you can deviate a little from these recommendations. Nevertheless, it is still not worth reducing the size in order to save space or materials - animals should feel spacious and comfortable. At the same time, you will always not be at a loss - the rabbits will gain weight faster and get sick less.

Option drawings

Convenient, durable and inexpensive outdoor rabbit hutches can be made from a wooden frame covered with metal mesh or lined with solid material.

The presented drawings and diagrams of rabbit hutches range in size from 45 to 100 cm in width and up to 2.5 meters in length.

The frame of the cage is made of wooden beams with a cross-section of 50×50 mm or larger, and the doorway is made of slats with a cross-section of at least 25×50 mm. A plywood or plank roof with slate or soft roll covering must protrude beyond the perimeter of the frame by at least 150 mm.

The walls of the cells are made solid or covered with steel mesh. At the same time, mesh, lattice or panel partitions are installed in rabbitries for group housing. For this, 50x50 mm beams covered with mesh, 25x40 mm slats and boards with a thickness of 25 mm or more are used. The lower part of the rear and front walls has a rim made of boards 10 cm wide. The design of the rear and side walls must exclude drafts, therefore, depending on the installation location, these elements can be either solid or lattice.

Having chosen the appropriate drawing and made the necessary calculations, you can begin making the rabbitry.

DIY rabbitry - manufacturing instructions

Let's look at two models of rabbit hutches that are easy to make at home. The first design is a three-section type cage, designed to contain two adult individuals or females with young animals. The second model, which we propose to make, is a more complex two-tier shed - the Zolotukhin rabbitry, famous among rabbit breeders.

A simple three-section cage of an original design (with step-by-step photos)

A rabbitry can be a real decoration of the economic area and a source of pride in the work done

To build a rabbit hutch you will need minimal experience with plumbing and carpentry tools. During the work you will need lumber, plywood or OSB, steel mesh, soft roofing and plexiglass. Despite the simplicity of the design, the rabbitry has an original shape and can decorate the economic area of a suburban area. At the same time, the design has natural ventilation, which is undoubtedly beneficial for the health of animals.

Construction of the frame

Placing the cages at a distance from the ground will keep the animals safe and make feeding easier. The height of the installation is such that it is possible to involve not only adults, but also children in caring for the animals.

Drawing of the frame of the rabbitry

A convenient shelf installed on the lower tier will be an excellent storage for hay and feed, which will always be at hand.

The supporting legs of the frame are made of wooden beams with a thickness of at least 60 mm. Their height is 850 mm.

The boards of the upper frame and the supporting structure of the shelf are attached to the main racks with self-tapping screws. The elements of the lower trim are mounted at a distance of 372 mm from the ground. The work requires using a level and a carpenter's square to ensure that the cage is level and stable.
Installation of the lower frame
For a cage with an additional compartment, a cut is made in the front trim of the upper frame, after which the cut-off part is attached to its original place using a piano loop. In the future, this folding board will provide convenient access to the inside of the rabbitry.
Installing a piano hinge
In order to secure the upper base and shelf, support rails are screwed onto the inside of the upper and lower frames. Precise adjustment of these elements will give them the opportunity to perform another role - spacer bars for the supporting legs of the cage. This will reduce the wobble of the rabbitry and significantly increase its stability.
Installation of spacer rails
The boards for the base of the cage and the shelf are cut out of boards, thick plywood or OSB. To ensure that these parts fit into place, shaped cuts are made in the corners for the supporting legs of the rabbitry.
Adjustment of base and shelf panels
The shelf and base are mounted in place.

The final stage of frame assembly is the installation of base panels and shelves

How to make the main compartment

Drawing of the main compartment

The assembly of the rabbitry body begins from the door frame. It is assembled from slats reinforced with furniture dowels. Cutouts are made in the side jambs so that the door can move vertically.
The elements of the main rabbitry compartment are assembled using dowels
The sliding door body is assembled from slats and covered with mesh. Furniture dowels are installed on the outside of the door, which will serve as guides when opening it. The door is installed in the frame, for which the dowels are inserted into the slots on its side posts. Door installation
The frame of the nesting compartments is assembled on both sides of the door. Mount the base of the rear and side walls.
They make rafters to make the roof. To do this, the slats are cut at an acute angle and assembled in pairs using self-tapping screws. The rafters are installed, attaching them to the upper cross members of the frame.
Making rafters
Triangles are cut out of OSB or plywood and secured in the openings between the middle compartment and the roof. According to the drawing, they are screwed to the rafters with self-tapping screws.
Attaching the main compartment trim
Rectangular roofing elements are cut out of sheet material, and then attached to the rafters. At the rear, a folding roof panel is made by cutting out a rectangular section of the roof and installing it on a piano hinge.
Making a panel for lining the rear part of the roof
After assembling the frame, the wood is treated with drying oil and painted. The piano loop located on the roof of the cage is protected with adhesive tape.

Cage lining and external arrangement

All walls are sheathed from the inside with a metal mesh, which is cut with metal scissors and secured with self-tapping screws and a screwdriver.
Covering the side elements of the frame
First, the sides are sheathed, after which the front wall of the rabbitry is installed. For ease of transportation, folding handles are screwed to the side elements of the frame. A latch is attached to fix the folding plate on the front board of the frame and a latch to fix the door.
Gate valve installation
You can increase the aesthetics of the cage with a rabbit figurine, cut according to the presented template from sheet lumber. After painting, it is installed on the front surface of the roof. Rabbit pattern for cage decoration
The roof of the rabbitry is covered with a soft roof, which is attached to the plywood base with metal staples using a stapler.
Fastening roofing material using a stapler
To make a ridge, a narrow strip of bitumen shingles is cut off, after which it is glued with a special glue for soft roofing.
The ridge is glued with special glue for soft roofing
To protect rabbits from drafts, use a plexiglass shield cut to fit the side wall. It is attached to the frame frame at the bottom with furniture dowels, and at the top with a latch. Installation of a protective plexiglass screen
Assemble and install the inner rabbit box and ladder. After painting, these elements are installed inside the rabbitry.
Making an inner box that acts as a nest
The cage is installed in the chosen place and the rabbits are populated.

How to build a Zolotukhin cage with your own hands

The design of the cage, developed by the famous Russian rabbit breeder N.I. Zolotukhin, has become widely known due to its ease of manufacture, low cost and a number of improvements that make caring for animals easier.

The rabbitry designed by N. I. Zolotukhin has received recognition from many amateur rabbit breeders

Design Features

General view of Zolotukhin cells

The Zolotukhin rabbitry is a three-tier shed made of double cages. A special feature of the design is that the floor at the back wall of the house is made of mesh to a width of 20–25 cm and each upper tier is shifted back by exactly the same amount relative to the lower one. Since rabbits relieve themselves primarily at the far edge of the rabbitry, their waste passes freely through the mesh cells and ends up in a pre-installed collection container. This allows cleaning to be done several times less frequently and reduces the maintenance time for each department.

Another option for cages in which, instead of shifting the upper tier, the rear wall of the cage is sloped

Other advantages include the ability to quickly convert an ordinary cage into a queen cell and a specially designed feeder that does not allow animals to transfer food. The doors of the feeding sections provide the necessary ventilation, so you don’t have to think about installing a forced air intake.

Due to the fact that the roof of the lower tier is the floor for the upper cells, it becomes possible to save roofing material, and the construction of a common frame for six cells allows you to reduce the consumption of lumber.

Dimensions and correct layout of the rabbitry

Zolotukhin cells are undemanding when it comes to material. For their manufacture, scraps of boards and slats left over from repairs, pieces of tin and polycarbonate, slate sheets and metal mesh are suitable.

The design of the Zolotukhin cell is extremely simple

A well-known rabbit breeder says that exact dimensions and drawings are not needed to build a rabbitry. To build a cage, a diagram and approximate dimensions are enough:

To arrange a queen cell, a partition with a hole up to 0.2 m high is installed in the cage.

A 10-centimeter piece of board is nailed to the bottom of the hole to prevent the baby rabbits from falling out of the nest.

Step-by-step manufacturing instructions

Front and rear support posts are cut out of timber with a cross-section of at least 6x6 cm.
Four frames are made from the same timber. Of these, three structures serve as the base of the cages, and one serves as the roof of the rabbitry.
The frames are attached to the support posts, taking into account the height of the cages and the slope of the floor to the rear wall. In order to ensure proper geometric accuracy, a building level and a carpenter's square are used when assembling the frame. When assembling the frame, you can use metal corners, which will ensure the strength of the connections
Vertical struts are installed, which divide each tier into nesting and feeding compartments. These same elements will later serve as door frames.
Bottom frame trim
The floor of each tier is installed from flat slate or boards connected into a groove or quarter. In this case, a 20–25 cm gap is left at the far wall.
Install a strip of metal mesh on the remaining part of the floor of each tier.
Installation of a mesh floor section at the rear wall of the rabbitry
Door frames are made from slats with a minimum cross-section of 25×40 mm. They are covered with metal mesh.
The doors are installed on hinges and bolts are installed.
The rabbitry is sheathed with panels cut from polycarbonate, plywood or OSB, as well as steel mesh. The cage lining can be made of any material, for example polycarbonate.
Cover the cage with the selected roofing material. Under soft coverings (bitumen shingles, roofing felt) a continuous plank sheathing is installed.

Of particular note is the original design of the feeder. It is assembled from wooden slats in the form of a tray the size of two-thirds of the aft compartment. The outer frame of the feeder should be twice as high as the inner one, and the bottom should have a slope of at least 35º. With this design, the side walls are sewn up with plywood triangles with their vertices down. The feeder is installed directly into the door, bending the mesh inside the rabbitry. The tray is secured as follows: on each side, through the door frame and the upper part of the side wall of the feeder, a through hole is drilled into which a metal rod is installed (a long nail can be used). The design allows you to rotate the feeder for cleaning without opening the rabbitry door.

An excellent drinking bowl can be made from an ordinary plastic bottle

You can buy drinking bowls for rabbits or make them yourself. A very popular design is a plastic bottle screwed upside down to a mesh and a low water container. Thanks to rarefaction, the liquid flows out of the bottle gradually as it is consumed or evaporates in the summer.

Tips from an experienced rabbit breeder for creating quality houses (video)

As you can see, there are no pitfalls in the design of rabbit hutches, so even the most complex cage can easily be made with your own hands. When starting production, you should remember that the rabbitry may not be ideal from the point of view of aesthetics and geometry, but it simply must be safe for animals. Therefore, while working, carefully treat wooden surfaces, bend the protruding ends of the mesh rods, and remove the protruding parts of nails and screws. In the process of breeding rabbits, carefully follow all the requirements for keeping and breeding, and they will definitely repay you with a good appetite, excellent health and rapid weight gain.

Living in your own home outside the city limits attracts many: fresh air, the absence of the usual fuss and, of course, physical labor, which brings certain results. It doesn’t matter what exactly you grow on your plot. You can limit yourself to just flowers. When you hold in your hands a banal cucumber that you yourself have grown, you experience an unusual feeling of pride and joy from unity with nature. And you know for sure that you have created a pure product. Gradually the idea arises of whether to get chickens or rabbits. For rabbits, for example, you can build a rabbitry with your own hands. But first think, are you ready to support these animals?

Meat. Rabbit meat is a dietary product useful for people of all ages. It contains a set of amino acids that promote protein synthesis in the human body. In addition, it is low-calorie and natural food.
Liver. Even though one animal contains only 100 grams of liver, it is a real delicacy.
Skins. Dressing hides requires not only additional time and knowledge, but also special preparations. It’s not a fact that you will want to spend your time searching and using them.
Bones and other waste. These products can be cooked and, in the form of a stew, given to the dog.
Manure. In terms of its qualities, this manure is superior to pig and cow manure, but inferior to horse manure. In spring and autumn it can be added to the soil, and it will respond to you with a glorious harvest.
Communication. Even the simple contemplation of these cute fluffies gives a lot of positive emotions.

But in the last point of advantages there is already a catch. It’s also worth talking about the disadvantages of rabbit farming:

Slaughter. Yes, the rabbits will have to be killed. Even if this is a mediocre farm, it makes no sense to hire someone to do this work.
Mortality. These animals often get sick and are rarely cured. Especially in the summer, when an epidemic wave occurs.
Accommodation. In this article you will read how to make your own rabbitry, so you can ignore this problem.
Food. These picky animals won’t eat just anything. They eat up to 30 times a day, but more often the food and drink are simply spoiled by mixing it with waste. Conclusion: there should be a lot of quality food.
Reproduction. Despite the theoretical fertility of these animals, in practice there may be many offspring, or there may not be any at all.
Breed. To maintain the population level, a replacement male breeder is required every six months.

Here are the main disadvantages of rabbit farming. If you add to them labor-intensive cleaning, rodent control and the daily need for owners to care for their pets, it becomes clear that rabbit breeding is not an easy matter. If such prospects do not frighten you, let's talk about placing animals.

Rabbit meat is good for the elderly, children, and even the sick: it is a real dietary low-calorie product

Killing a rabbit is not so easy: you get used to these animals, but there is a way out of the situation. You can breed decorative rabbits for sale

Planning the future livestock

How to build a good rabbitry without knowing how many rabbits will live in it? If you just want to have animals “for testing”, one rabbit with offspring is enough. They can easily get by with 1-3 cells on the site. In order for the supply of meat to be regular and uninterrupted, 20-30 individuals of different ages of different categories are needed.

To begin with, you can get a few rabbits and care for them throughout the warm season to determine how well this activity fits your plans

Optimal rabbitry sizes

If it is necessary to accommodate two adult individuals, it is enough to build a two-section room. Design parameters:

length from 140 cm;
width within 60-70 cm;
height from 50 to 70 cm.

Along the edges of the structure there are bunker drinkers and feeders. This will make it more difficult for animals to get their paws into them. An inclined net is placed between the sections into which hay can be placed. This internal structure is called a sennik. To save space on the site, the rabbitry can be arranged in two tiers. In addition to being compact, this design allows you to quickly add food to animals and speed up the cleaning procedure.

A small cage of two sections is perfect for keeping a couple of rabbits: everything they need is in this building

A room for young animals is constructed based on the following parameters:

length approximately 200 – 300 cm;
width up to 100 cm;
height ranges from 35 to 60 cm.

For young individuals whose age does not exceed 2 months, it is necessary to calculate the actual volume of cells based on the total number of animals. One such rabbit needs a minimum area of 0.12 m2.

Female and her offspring

To accommodate a female with offspring, you need at least 0.6 m2 of space. For newborn rabbits, a special nesting box is placed in the cage, which must have the following parameters:

length 35 cm;
height 30 cm;
width 25 cm.

In such a box, mother and her rabbits will feel calm.

The simplest nest box looks like this, it is not difficult to build. You can put hay or sawdust inside to make the kids feel cozy

What building material should be used?

To build a rabbitry you need relatively inexpensive but durable material. Please note that for all their cuteness, your future pets are rodents. This means that they will absolutely test any construction to the teeth.

Rabbits are rodents, so the internal bars made of wood must be protected from their attacks. It's easy to make protection from tin

If you want those parts of the frame that are made of wood to last more than one season, cover them with metal. In order not to buy it specifically, you can use tin from beer cans or galvanized steel for roofing work for these purposes. This additional work will not take much time, but the useful life of the cells will increase by ten years, or even more.

The most inexpensive and simple material for the frame is wood blocks, the cross-section of which is 50x50 mm. Wood should not be impregnated with an antiseptic. This impregnation is toxic enough to poison young animals. It is better to dry the frame thoroughly. This increases its durability.

A rabbitry with a frame made of well-dried wood can be considered the most economical design: it will last you more than one season

For the roof of each tier of the structure it is necessary to take moisture-resistant material. Flat or wavy slate is perfect for this purpose. If the structure will be located on the street, do not use metal for its roof. This material has the unpleasant property of getting very hot in the sun. As a result, the cell actually turns into an oven.

Now you need to choose the material for covering the frame. For this purpose, a galvanized chain-link mesh with a cell size of 20x20 mm is best suited. By the way, the chain-link itself got its name from the word “rabbit” pronounced in English.

Steel mesh is used for the side of the structure, its doors and facade. The compartment for storing hay - the hay barn, located between the sections - must be made of mesh, the cells of which have a size of 50x50 mm. This will make it easier for animals to get the food they need.

For the bottom, a flat galvanized mesh with cells of 25x25 mm or 10x25 mm is used. Its installation is carried out on load-bearing wooden slats. This solution allows you to do cleaning much faster. Rabbit feces simply fall through large enough cells. It does not stick to wood or galvanized surfaces, which would have to be scraped off each time. The accumulation of manure occurs either in a special receiving bunker, or on the ground if it rolls down the inclined surface of the roof of the lower tier of the structure.

As a rule, continuous flooring is not used for rabbitry. The reason is that wood immediately absorbs caustic urine, and feces simply stick to it. As a result, the microclimate in the cage worsens, and the boards begin to quickly rot. Therefore, it is better to make the bottom lattice. For this, planed floor bars are used. The gap between adjacent bars does not exceed 1 cm.

This photo clearly shows the slatted floor; each slatted floor is reliably protected from rodent teeth by small strips of metal

Rabbits cannot tolerate drafts and can get sick. To prevent this from happening, the rear wall of the structure is made blank. To create it, you can use polycarbonate, boards, simple plywood or OSB board.

If the structure will be located on the street, its supporting frame is made of metal. So, the supporting structure is welded from a corner with parameters 45x45 mm. After which it is simply filled with ready-made sections assembled from stamped mesh. The mesh must be secured to frames welded from steel rod. Another option is a wooden frame. Read below how to make it.

You need to know that animals may develop calluses on their paws; they bring suffering to the animal. To prevent this from happening, you can install a small plywood sheet on the floor to protect the paws. But such plywood must be periodically removed, cleaned and thoroughly dried.

An element such as plywood is needed only in those cages whose floor is made entirely of flat mesh. It is necessary to prevent rabbits from developing corns.

The net will not be able to protect animals from rain or snow. It is better to place such a cage under a slate canopy or in a barn.

A little about Zolotukhin’s method

Nikolai Ivanovich Zolotukhin has been breeding fur-bearing animals for many years, has studied their habits well and, summarizing his experience, has created his own method of effectively equipping rabbitries.

The combined floor looks exactly like this: a slightly sloping large solid front part and a 15-20 cm wide mesh at the back wall of the rabbitry

Zolotukhin suggests:

Make the floor combined: its front part will be in the form of an inclined flooring made of flat slate, and the back part should be made of steel mesh;
The feeders into which grain is poured are made not just of hoppers, but of a rotating design: in this case, they will be easy not only to fill, but also to clean.

Zolotukhin chose such a non-standard floor surface not by chance, but on the basis of reliable statistical data and his own observations. Approximately 95% of rabbits relieve themselves at the back wall of the cage. Just where the grid is located. 70% of feces end up there. The animals scatter the rest of the feces all over the floor, but it is dry, so sweeping it up is much easier.

A simple rotary feeder from Zolotukhin differs from a regular bunker feeder in that it can be deployed by slightly pulling towards you

Nikolai Ivanovich uses bedding that would absorb moisture only to teach young animals to urinate at the back wall of the room. His buildings are always dry, and he has to spend less time cleaning than others. For more information about the Zolotukhin method, watch the video.

Let's start building the rabbitry

To accurately calculate the consumption of materials needed to set up a rabbitry, you need to either use a ready-made drawing or make your own sketch based on the dimensions suggested above. After purchasing the material, you can start working.

This is a drawing of a two-tier, two-section cage that can accommodate four adult rabbits. It is equipped with an intersectional hay barn, drinking bowls and bunker feeders.

If the frame is wooden, cut the slats to size and connect them using self-tapping screws. Be sure to make sure there are no distortions. To do this, we check horizontal surfaces with a level, and vertical surfaces with a square. First we assemble the front and rear frames. Now, using short ceiling and floor jumpers, we connect them into a single structure.

If you look at the rabbitry from the side, you can clearly see exactly how its roof needs to be made so that it is sloping

The frame is ready. Now we install the bars of the hay barn and doors. We lay the slatted floor, not forgetting that the gap between its elements should not exceed 10 mm. After completing this work, we cut the mesh and plywood to attach them to the frame with self-tapping screws.

Now let's lay the roof. For the first level of the roof, you can use moisture-resistant QSB sheet. We cut it so that the edge of the sheet protrudes 10-15 cm beyond the dimensions of the cage. To build the second tier, we take corrugated slate. It is attached to the inclined bars of the frame itself.

All that remains is to install OSB doors, drinkers and bunker feeders. The work is completed. Watch the video, it will help you with your work:

All-season option with insulated compartments

Another rabbitry, this time all-season, is presented by a master who made it with his own hands. Below we provide a drawing of the structure and a video made by the author himself.

Another version of the rabbitry, this time it is equipped with warm compartments, which helps the furry animals successfully survive the cold and bad weather

How-to video:

Rabbits have become very popular in animal husbandry. They can be grown not only on farms, but also in ordinary residential apartments. In addition to good care and proper diet, it is necessary to create the most comfortable living conditions. A cage will serve as a home for rabbits. You can buy it in a store or make it yourself from scrap material.

Before starting construction, you should decide who will live in the house, prepare a model: calculate the parameters, draw up drawings, draw sketches of the future structure. The floor is made of timber. The slats are laid out at intervals so that animal waste is dumped into the tray. The side and back walls are made of boards. A chain link is stretched on the front part. The house is equipped with a feeding trough, a drinking bowl, and a hay barn. The manger and the entrance inside are covered with mesh so that rabbits do not damage them.

Drawings of a cage for young animals

Young rabbits are housed in numbers of 6-10 for slaughter, and no more than 5-6 for breeding. They are kept in a large, capacious cage, to which an enclosure is attached.

To create an accurate drawing, calculate the minimum area that one individual will occupy. For babies it is 0.15 m². It reaches no more than 3 m in length, 1 m in width, and 0.7 m in height.

The pen dimensions are identical. The floor is covered with beams, and a metal mesh is stretched around it. To get into it, they make a hole.

Drawings of an adult rabbitry

For adult representatives, the unit of occupied area for calculating the total increases to 0.5 m². Cages with separate sections are built for them. If necessary, they can be made multi-tiered, but preference is given to single-tiered ones.

Multi-level structures are more difficult to keep clean.

The dimensions of the houses depend on the breed, age, and sex of the rabbit. Adults are placed in groups of 3 in a single section, and 5-6 in a double section. Section dimensions: 0.8-1.1 m, for double the entire length is 1.3 m; minimum depth 0.6 m.

Young males that have reached the age of three months are divided into two groups: the slaughter ones are castrated and housed together, the breeding ones are seated one at a time. For purebred rabbits, houses with dimensions of 0.7 x 0.7 x 0.6 m are made.

Options for drawings, all pictures are clickable, click to enlarge:

Two-tier shed

It is a structure made up of sections built in several levels. Such structures are used in street maintenance. Installed at a height of 0.6 m from the ground.

To build the foundation, concrete is used to securely secure the structure. The total length reaches 2 m, width - 1 m. All cells in the shed are identical, stand close to each other, covered with a canopy. A waste tray is arranged at the bottom.

The advantage of this type of housing is that the animals spend the entire spring and summer in the fresh air. Cleaning the houses does not take much time and effort.

Options for drawings of two-tier sheds, click on the picture to enlarge it:

Dimensions of rabbitry with queen cell

A portable house for a pregnant or lactating female and babies is built separately from other structures. To calculate the occupied area, take 0.7 m² per unit. Standard dimensions:

length - 1.2 m;
width - 0.6 m;
height - 0.7 m.

The mother liquor is made with a separate door or a retractable one, its parameters are: 0.4 x 0.7 x 0.6 m. The hole is 0.2 x 0.2 m. The frame is made of plywood, in two layers, between which insulation is laid.

For the winter version, the floor is heated: a heating pad is placed between the layers, the cord for connecting to the network is brought out so that animals do not chew it off. The roof is covered with water-repellent material.

Drawings of a rabbitry with a queen cell, click on the photo to enlarge it:

Used to house several animals. A nesting compartment is attached to the sides. The frame is built from boards, the floor in the aft section is covered with mesh, and in the mother section - with timber. For roughage, a manger is made on the front wall. The drinking bowl and feeder are hung on the door.

Options:

length 2.1-2.4 m;
width 0.7 m;
the height of the facade is 0.5-0.6 m, with a bevel towards the rear wall, at which it will be 0.4 m.

Drawings of Zolotukhin's rabbitry

Nikolai Ivanovich Zolotukhin studied the behavior and lifestyle of rabbits in the wild for many years. Based on the researched information, he developed a structure for comfortable housing of animals at home. These are three-tier cells with the following parameters:

length 2 m;
width 0.8 m;
height 1.5 m;
the floor from the rear facade is 0.2 m covered with a metal mesh, the slope from the front wall to it is 0.05 m;
square doors, side length 0.4 m.

Variants of drawings according to Zolotukhin. Click on the picture to enlarge it:

For construction you will need:

wooden boards, beams;
chain-link or metal mesh;
iron sheets;
slate;
polycarbonate

Construction scheme:

Making the frame using the standard method, dividing it into two parts with a gap between them. A hay box is placed there.
The floor is covered with slate, retreating 0.2 m from the rear facade. A mesh is stretched over this area.
The back is covered with polycarbonate. The sheets are installed at a certain angle and directed towards the end of the slate of the upper tier. At the very last floor the sheet will be straight. This serves to make cleaning the cells easier. Waste is rolled through a mesh in the floor into a tray along the back wall.
In the case of a nesting compartment, the door is made of boards with insulation between the layers. The main part is made of mesh.
The walls in the summer compartment are also made of mesh, separated by a partition. In winter, it is removed and a large house is obtained for keeping young individuals.
The feeder is attached to the front wall, with one third part located inside. The bottom is angled so that it can be filled from the outside without disturbing the animals. The sippy cup is installed inside.

Mikhailova's rabbitry

Another model belongs to the famous rabbit breeder Igor Nikolaevich Mikhailov. It is based on dividing the room into three sections: upper, lower, and stand.

Each of them performs its own function: the top is the tiers where the animals live. The bottom serves as a tray for collecting and storing feces. The stand part is designed to fix the structure.

Variants of drawings of Mikhailov's rabbitry. Click on any picture to enlarge it:

Design dimensions:

total length is 2.4 m, for one section it is 0.6 m;
width 0.6 m;
height 1 m, including the top part 0.7 m;
queen cell length 0.4 m, width - 0.35 m;
There are no clear dimensions for the conical part intended for collecting waste.

The body is made of iron, and the inside is lined with wood for insulation. The frame base serves for the stability of the structure. Its height is 1.4 m.

Cell size depending on breed

Pedigree Giant rabbits are a large species with impressive parameters: they grow from 55 to 65 cm in length, their weight is from 5.5 kg to 7.5 kg. Based on this, the cells for them must be special.

For one adult, the dimensions will be as follows: length 95-100 cm, width 70 cm, height 60-70 cm. For young animals, the total area of the building will be at least 1.2 m², height 40 cm. Particular attention should be paid to the floor. It is covered with a dense mesh 2 mm thick. Bars with a thickness of 35-40 mm are placed under the bottom with intervals for collecting feces.

If the masonry is done tightly, then a pallet is placed in the house, which is removed every day.

The California rabbit is a selective breed that is unpretentious to the living conditions; the hard hair on their paws allows them to line the floor with a mesh or lattice. The dimensions of the individual are also less impressive; they can weigh from 4.5 to 5 kg. Area 0.4-0.5 m².

For representatives of the breed, which are kept for meat, a hole 2 x 2 m in size and 1 m deep is sometimes dug as a home. The walls are reinforced with slate, the floor is laid out with boards or mesh. They surround the top with a fence and make a roof. Separately, they dig a small hole, which is not reinforced with anything. In such natural conditions, rabbits reproduce better and raise offspring on their own.

Cages with bookmarks for feed

For fattening, cages are built with the following dimensions:

length 0.7 m;
width 0.5 m;
height 0.3 m.

Drawings of cages with feeders, all photos are clickable, click to enlarge:

The structure is made of wire with a diameter of 6 mm; a thinner wire is wrapped around the joints to secure them. Nipple drinkers are used to supply water, and food is kept in small feeders. The rabbits are fed for a week.

Rabbits are quite capricious, and keeping them is not an easy task. An important point in successful rabbit breeding is the arrangement of a rabbitry.

Requirements for a rabbitry

Selecting a location

Having approximately decided on the livestock, you should find a suitable site. An empty garage, shed, or outbuilding are suitable for keeping rabbits indoors if they are equipped with ventilation and a heating system. Two or three-tier rabbit hutches are placed in rows.

Groundwater deposits should be low, soil with good drainage. Silence is of great importance for shy animals. Even being close to a dog is undesirable for them.

Rabbit pit

Living in burrows is natural for rabbits. The microclimate establishes itself, reproduction occurs year-round, the incidence of diseases decreases sharply, and feeding is carried out simultaneously.

However, there are also disadvantages: unregulated mating, the difficulty of individual observation, and the likelihood of escape.

Depending on the livestock, they will decide on the diameter of the future hole and dig it up to 2 meters deep. For holes on the street, drainage is required, which is covered with coarse sand on top. Nest houses, feeders, and drinking bowls are installed.

Stepping back 1 meter from the edge of the pit, they hammer tin into the ground around the perimeter to prevent the digging of long holes and further escape. It is advisable to place a hut or tent on top of the pit so that precipitation does not reach the rabbits.

Two-section cage

It is not advisable to make a cage into one section: low hygiene, spartan conditions for delicate animals. Rabbit breeders have almost abandoned it, although it is very easy to manufacture.

The two-section cage is very popular, and in the media you can find various versions of the photo of the rabbitry. It’s not difficult to build one with your own hands. This type of rabbitry is a box almost 2 meters long. The height is made a little more than half a meter; and the same depth. The five sides of the box are made solid, from unpainted sanded boards.

Having measured 2/3, make a partition with a hole cut out, or make it in two parts. The large section is intended for walking and feeding. In a smaller part, rabbits usually rest. This type of rabbitry is also called group.

Queen cells

A special design of cages is intended for breeding. They make a queen cell almost a meter high. This is so that the female can lie on the lid of the nest, watching the cubs.

Queen cells are simple rabbit hutches with one section in which a nest is installed. It is made from plywood, the dimensions are usually standard: up to half a meter in length and depth, and 0.3 m in height. Outdoor queen cells must have additional burning.

Multi-tiered cells

Experienced rabbit breeders know how to make the rabbitry easier to maintain. It is very economical to arrange the cells in tiers. The most common method is 2 floors, but to save space and make caring for animals easier, breeders install 3 tiers.

The design feature lies in the correct arrangement of tiers and the original floor design. It is made mesh at the back wall. The width is left mainly 20 cm and each subsequent tier is shifted back by the same distance, relative to the bottom one.

Thus, the waste of the rabbits will go directly into the installed collection.

Tiers are usually equipped with two-section cages with and without nests.

How to decide on a drawing

The total height of the rabbitry is about 1.5 meters. This includes the height of the cage legs, approximately 1 meter, and the structure itself – half a meter. The width is arbitrary, depending on the installation location; the depth is maintained at about 75 cm, taking into account the installation of the mesh at the rear wall. The roof is placed at a slight slope, going deeper.

When drawing up drawings of rabbit hutches, you should take into account some nuances:

For a large group of young animals, the width of the cage is made larger, up to 3 meters, and accordingly the depth is also increased.
Queen cells are made of a more modest size - about 1 m² of total area.

Materials

The amount of material is calculated based on the number of buildings and drawing calculations. For the design you need:

Beams, slats, planed boards, plywood;
Mesh for walls, partitions, floors;
For the roof - roofing felt, tin, slate;
Latches, door hinges, portable handles;
Self-tapping screws, nails.

Standard carpentry tools are suitable. If more complex work is involved, involving welding and cutting, then it is better to seek help from knowledgeable people.

Assembling the rabbitry

A strong wooden beam or corners are used for the frame; thick boards are used for the walls. The front wall is made in the form of a frame with a stretched mesh. The floor is lined with edged boards, making a deep slope. A certain distance of the floor near the rear wall is also covered with a mesh to remove waste.

It is desirable to have a double floor: leave the bottom solid, on which you can place a tray for collecting waste, and cover the top with a grid of slats.

For the outdoor option, the idea of rabbit hutches with a double bottom will provide an invaluable service in winter: as feces decompose, they release additional heat, heating the floor.

The top of the rabbitry is covered with wave slate. If the building is in a shady area, then tin can be used.

Feeders are also made of wood. They are installed in such a way that the rabbit does not get his paws into it.

For a group of rabbit hutches located on the street, it is advisable to build a canopy.

DIY rabbitry photo

It is simply impossible to keep rabbits without a good rabbitry! Summer, winter, portable, made of different materials, with different cage arrangements - there are now a lot of types of rabbit houses. How to decide among the variety of designs and build a good rabbitry with your own hands? We will talk about this in our article.

Rabbit farm: what should it be like?

In fact, there are few requirements for a room such as a rabbitry. It is important, first of all, to provide for the absence of drafts, the possibility of regular cleaning, lighting and comfortable cages. The remaining nuances are only an addition to the first three. At home, you can make a convenient rabbitry without spending much on materials. Of course, there are also spacious, insulated rooms that are built specifically for a large number of cells.

Rabbits are usually kept in insulated rabbitries, as in the photo in the gallery, if there are a lot of them, and production has been established for a long time. If you still keep a small number of long-eared rodents, you are probably wondering how to build a rabbitry with your own hands as quickly as possible.

Opt for lightweight construction made from wood, metal mesh, and other inexpensive materials. This option for a rabbit house is suitable for all beginner rabbit breeders. If desired, it can be stored in a barn for the winter.

Rabbit house design

So, if you decide to equip a room for rabbits, you need to decide on the number of cages and the type of their placement. It is necessary to allocate space for construction, cutting timber and other work. After which we calculate the size of each cage based on the number of rabbits and build a rabbitry. For one female rabbit with offspring or for 3 adult rabbits, you will need a cage with dimensions 70x70x50 (LxWxH).

The structure of the cage is simple - the back wall should be opaque, the floor should be solid, with a mesh strip behind the cage to drain manure and urine. The front and side walls should be made blank, the cage door should be made of mesh. The structure of the cage floor can be entirely mesh or lattice, but then you need a manure tray under each house. Cells can be placed one at a time or in tiers. Usually they choose tiered placement, this saves space for the rabbitry.

Feeders and drinking bowls must be made in each cage, but when kept outside in the summer, the haybox is placed directly outside, as are the drinking bowls. The area with the cages can be fenced off, and then the rabbits can roam. For the winter, rabbit houses can be brought into the barn, and the hay barn and drinking bowls can be hidden in the same barn until next spring. It is better to make the structure on legs. This is necessary so that the rabbits do not stay close to the ground and do not catch a cold during the cold season.

The height of such support legs is at least 20 cm. In addition, these supports will make it easy to lift an empty rabbit coop. This is very convenient if you decide to take it outside during the warm season. The following video shows what an almost completed but not yet inhabited rabbitry looks like, made from wooden beams, plywood and mesh.

How to make it yourself?

To understand how to build a rabbitry with your own hands, you will, of course, need drawings or at least a diagram of the future structure. You can take ready-made schemes, or you can do everything based on the number of rabbits on your farm. The cage, depending on which rabbits will be in it, can have different sizes. For example, for a rabbit and offspring you need a large cage with a queen cell and a light part. These structures may differ in appearance, but their principle is the same, see photo for an example.

The dimensions of the removable queen cell are approximately 40x70x60 (WxLxH), the light part of the cell is 70x70x50 (these dimensions may vary slightly for each farmer, this is normal). The queen cell is not equipped with a drinker and feeder; they are placed only in the light compartment. The floor of the main cage is made of lattice or plywood with a mesh back (its width is 15 cm). In the queen cell, the floor must be made solid.

Adult male rabbits or replacement young animals are kept in cages measuring 120x70x50 cm. Pregnant or fledged females are kept with their offspring separately from other individuals. The following video will tell you in detail about the structure of the case with the queen cell.

Materials and tools

If we are building a rabbitry from wood and inexpensive materials at hand, we will need the following:

wooden beams, boards, slats;
metal corners, pipes;
wall cladding (iron, tin, OSB boards, flat slate);
roofing material (polycarbonate, slate, ondulin, linoleum);
mesh for the floor, walls, hay barn, door (with 40 mm cells);
hinges, latches, screws, hammer, nails, screwdriver, screwdriver.

Frame and its assembly

To build a rabbitry with your own hands, you need to start with a frame. It is knocked together from wooden beams or welded from galvanized corners. Many farmers prefer timber because it is lighter and cheaper. The frame is made based on the number of cells, the dimensions of the timber are 45x45 mm. Then the frame is filled with ready-made sections from the mesh on the frame. This way you will literally assemble your structure piece by piece.

The mesh sections of the floor are covered with plywood on top to prevent rabbits from trampling their paws. This plywood is periodically removed, washed and dried. Rabbits cannot tolerate drafts, so we make the back wall of the rabbitry solid - from OSB, plywood or polycarbonate. When the frame is assembled, the doors and hay barn are made. Using self-tapping screws and hinges, the doors are attached to both compartments - the queen cell and the main one.

Then the mesh for the hay barn is cut. Regardless of whether we build a rabbitry indoors or outdoors, we must cover the structure with roofing material. Metal is not used for the roof, as it gets very hot in the heat if the structure is located on the street. We cover all protruding parts of the assembled structure with sheet metal.

Feeders and drinkers

When we build a rabbitry, it is important not to forget about the convenient location of feeders and drinkers. The length of the feeder is almost the entire length of the door, the height is at least 10 cm for an adult rabbit, for one head of young animals - 5-7 cm. The height of the feeder from the floor is approximately 10 cm. Where we keep a female with cubs, we place a feeder of at least 40 cm long.

Feeder standard: metal profile 40 cm long, 4 cm wide and 4 cm deep. The narrowness of the feeder does not allow babies to climb into it and contaminate the food. Feeding containers can be movable or fixed. Movable ones are usually attached from the outside, and are filled without opening the door. The immovable ones are hung inside.

There are a variety of drinkers, but experienced rabbit breeders are very fond of bottle drinkers. They are also perfect for beginners, as they are simple and cheap. The water tank is based on a plastic bottle with a hole in the lid from which water slowly flows out. You can understand how such a drinking bowl works by watching the video below.