Keeping rabbits in the aviary
A rabbit enclosure is usually a fenced-in outdoor area. It can be made from plastic or metal mesh and several sheets of slate.
Rabbit enclosures with a fenced-in walking area
Inside the aviary, you need to put feeders with grain and hay, as well as nipple drinkers. Sparrows or other birds can flock to feed, increasing the risk of infection of animals with viral diseases. To avoid this, close the top of the aviary with a net. It will also keep the rabbits safe from dogs and cats.
This simple design is suitable for summer rabbits. Females can be placed in the aviary. Males are housed in a separate area to control rabbit reproduction.
There will be fights among males in the first days of cohabitation. When the territory is divided and a hierarchy is established, conflicts will end.
Fights can resume during the mating season if the female is placed in the enclosure with the males. Therefore, for mating, use a separate area of the aviary or homemade rabbit cage.
Too much light enters the rabbit enclosures covered with a chain-link netting, making the animals uncomfortable. Therefore, it is necessary to install wooden booths with an earthen floor or sheds in the aviary that will provide shade within the open space. It is in shaded areas that rabbits will dig holes.
Read also the article: how to feed rabbits in winter at home?
Advantages and disadvantages of a fenced walking area
The fenced-in rabbit walking area has its merits and demerits. The advantages include the following features:
- it is easy to care for animals in such an enclosure and monitor their health;
- the fenced enclosure is well suited for mating animals;
- it is easy to clean in an open walking area, since the floor remains earthen;
- in the enclosure, the conditions for keeping rabbits are close to natural, the animals develop strong immunity, so they get sick less.
The disadvantages of the walking area include:
- lack of mother liquor;
- increased consumption of compound feed for animal feeding;
- slow weight gain by rabbits.
Unlike cage keeping, it is difficult to equip a mother house for rabbits in a fenced walking area. Without a separate queen cell, adults can gnaw off the offspring, which makes it difficult to breed rabbits in an aviary.
Using only hay and grain to feed rabbits will not get you good weight gain. Giant rabbits, for example, the "Gray Giant" breed, need to be fattened for meat for at least 6 months, using expensive compound feed. Otherwise, the rabbits will not gain weight.
The enclosed walking area is only suitable for summer keeping. Such an open-air cage should be combined with cage keeping, or choose early maturing meat breeds, for example, "California".
Therefore, keeping rabbits in an enclosure with a fenced walking area is unprofitable. Such an aviary is more suitable for keeping down breeds of a rabbit.
Wooden enclosure for rabbits
The combination of cage and enclosure can provide greater weight gain for rabbits than open enclosure enclosures. To assemble a wooden enclosure, you need to make several booths from chipboard.
During construction, you will also need several galvanized sheets for the manufacture of the upper floors of the boxes. The aviary will be multi-tiered. Rabbits can gnaw through the wooden ceiling of the tier, and the metal roof of the cage will not allow animals to spoil the structure.
Each wooden box is lined with a metal mesh on the outside. Holes for rabbits are cut out in the side wall of the box. The tiers of the aviary are connected with boards, on which transverse strips are nailed, so that animals can move freely along the tiers.
The floor in the aviary is made of planks, which are installed on 5 cm high bars to ensure air circulation. The distance from the wall to the system of wooden houses should also be 5 cm.
The aviary is fenced with a wooden side, the height of which is 20-25 cm. Thus, a small walking area is equipped for the animals.
For normal functioning of the rabbits, a large amount of air must enter the aviary. Therefore, the room where the tiered aviary is installed must have good ventilation.
A powerful fan is installed in the room, which is connected to the air circulation system. If you plan to keep rabbits in an aviary not only in the warm season, you must provide for heating the air.
Install feeders in a common walking area. Using hopper feeders will save you a lot of time. Also, in the aviary, install a sennik and a salt shaker so that the animals receive the necessary trace elements.
Nipple drinkers are installed in each box. A separate drinker is made in the mother liquor.
Advantages and disadvantages of the design
Making an aviary for rabbits with your own hands is more difficult than equipping a fenced walking area. The wooden structure also has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of the rabbit enclosure include:
- the possibility of its installation in a small area;
- large capacity;
- reduced risk of infection coccidiosis;
- the possibility of year-round keeping rabbits in the aviary.
Since rabbits are kept in a tiered system, connected by wooden passages and manholes, the probability of infection of animals with coccids is minimal. When installing the feeder in the walking area, feces also remain outside the boxes. Cleaning is done every two days. Each box of the aviary has a separate door for easy cleaning.
The disadvantages of a wooden rabbit enclosure include:
- expensive arrangement of the aviary;
- the complexity of its assembly;
- keeping one family of rabbits in the aviary.
The wooden enclosure is only suitable for keeping related rabbits that are accustomed to each other from birth. If you run an adult rabbit from another family into the enclosure, then fights over territory will begin. Since the area of the enclosure is small, these conflicts will lead to deaths.
Lighting of a wooden enclosure
The advantage of the aviary is that there is no need to integrate lighting into the system of wooden cages. The main energy consumption is for space heating.
Rabbits have enough light that enters the room through the windows. The aviary can be installed in a garage or shed. Dimmed daylight is most suitable for keeping and raising rabbits.
Read also the article:rabbit breeds with photos, names and descriptions of breeds!