Raising Meat Rabbits (Part Four): Elevated Cage Systems
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ม.ค. 2023
- There are MANY ways to raise rabbits, and elevated cage systems are by far my favorite. We use 3 types of cages to raise out our meat rabbits and we love each for their own reasons!
Raising Rabbits Series Playlist: • Raising Meat Rabbits S...
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i have raised rabbits for 54 years and watched alot of rabbit videos and your the first person to explain that there is a top and a bottom to the floor wire, great job.
Thank you so much!!
Any golden tips, Rex?
I finally got a Dutch buck and a beautiful black Mini-Rex doe! I'm so excited! And I'm so scratched .....That tip about top/bottom on wire was great, thanks.
I like Salatin’s idea of keeping chickens under the rabbits and wood shavings/sawdust. Nothing smells bad. The rabbit poop gets mixed up in the shavings by the chickens scratching it out. Collect your high quality compost off the floor twice a year! No cleaning!
Yes I like his system too! We have thought about moving the rabbitry into the chicken yard
finally, the first utube rabbit raiser that explained that there is a top and bottom to half inch x 1 inch floor wire. I've been raising rabbits for 54 years now and your the first online homesteader that has explained it . great job,,, your videos are very informative and without all the drama, unlike some of the other homestead peoples videos. GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.
Thank you so much!! I can't even remember where I saw that information but yes, knowing which way is "up" with the floor wire is so important! Thanks for watching! ♥
oh well done!!!!!!!!! Outstanding tidbits, the which way to run the wire just saved me a LOT of frustration having to rebuild a cage!!!!! When I had rabbits in the past I never built their cages so I would have had no idea until everything was assembled.
I did it wrong at first so you don't have to!! haha
I grew up with my dad raising rabbits at one point we had 126 and we too would sell and eat them, but for growing up in that kind if life this is the first I hear them being called a doe and a buck I had no idea!! As they say, you learn something new everyday 😊….Thanks for sharing
Oh!! Yeah that's what I've always heard them referred to as! Did your dad call them males and females? 126 is A LOT!
@@SageandStoneHomestead yes thats what they were always called to us a male and female. That’s pretty cool to learn after all this time that they’re not a male and female its a doe and a buck lol now I need to quiz my dad to see if he knows the true terms then I’ll tell him lol
I followed a lady on TikTok who was constantly being harassed for keeping her rabbits in wire cages. Which is nonsense of course, but it goes to show you how misinformed people are. You have a great setup!
Pet rabbit folk can have strong opinions!!!
Levi says the 2x2 we put the outside tractors together with are called Furring Strips. We used 2x4 for the vertical corners.
Great cages. And very informative. 😊 rabbits would be great for a small farm
Rabbits are awesome even if you have just one as a ferliser maker!!
Thank you heather that was a very well put together video with a ton of information that I am going to definitely jot down and notate and keep for when I finally get my rabbits! LOL thank you so much for all the hard work you put into your videos.
Thank you so much for watching!! I'm very glad that they are helpful!!
Nice farm, nice videos. Greeting from Czech republic(EU) P.S. I have Californian rabits too.
Great rabbits! Thank you!
Use Burt's Bees chapstick to heal hock sores. Works very well and it's safe if they lick their feet.
Thanks for the tip!
You should do a cooling tot 😊 look up the rabbits center 😊
I'll check it out!
I found 36 x 30 x 24 rabbit cages at Tractor Supply, reg $44.95 on sale for $34.95. I bought 5 and installed them on a custom built welded 14gauge red iron platform suspended 4 1/2 feet above a shaded concrete surface (I'm 6'6" tall) in a breezeway under a tree canopy. Buck in the center cage, flanked by does, flanked by turn-out cages. I use cardboard slabs under hay for better bunny support and change it out weekly.
When I feed hay, it's bundled into a 1/2 - inch bundle. This makes it more manageable. In a hard freeze, I put rubber plant warmer mats inside the cages.
What do you bundle the hay with? Your setup sounds awesome!
@@SageandStoneHomestead
I just weave the hay strands and circle one or two strands around and around. The whole bundle is edible and more of a treat than a staple. I feed 18% protein pellets.
Great 📹 video
Thanks so much!!
Thank you! We appreciate all your insight and advice. You have been a vital resource in our rabbit journey. April & Brian
You guys are too sweet! Thank you so much! ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you so much for this series!!!
You are so welcome! I'm so glad it's been helpful!
I dont have any question for now Just want to say hello :)
Hellooooo!!!
Great video,
You gave me some interesting ideas to think on.
👍
I'm so glad!! Thanks for watching!!
Excellent video! Thank you for sharing your knowledge! ❤
You are so welcome! Thanks for watching!
Lots of useful info. You're good at this!
Thank you so much! ♥
I have watched all of your rabbit videos. Can you include the link for the tongs you used to pick up the rabbits in your earlier videos?
Here is one that is super similar!! www.amazon.com/Grabber-Reacher-Tool-Foldable-Wheelchair/dp/B08PL1QDFF/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=339IH4BK5Z7H9&keywords=19+inch+grabber&qid=1672797933&sprefix=19+inch+grabber%2Caps%2C238&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzSjBNV1NORVQ5QjdFJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTkwNzUwMjVQTFVWTlgzMENQUCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzczMzUzSjNYVzdaUUw4S1EyJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
This has been a great resource! Straight to the point and highly informative! A masterclass and masterpiece! Love from 🇲🇦 Morocco
Awe thank you so much! ❤️🐇
Hi Heather, Thanks for the information. Just got started.
You're so welcome, thanks for watching!!
Good job, congratulation for your hard work. Very fantastic.
Thank you so much!!
You've put a lot of effort into this vdo, thank you so much! ;)
You're so welcome! Thanks for watching!♡
Very interesting and informative!!! I've only had rabbits in the past as pets when my boys were young. I wish I had these videos at that time to guide my husbandry of the rabbits. I have a "grabber" tool like you and keep it with me when I'm mowing grass. So handy to grab a stick or a piece of trash etc., rather than having to stop the mower, get off the mower and remove the unwanted item. Such a neat little tool to have on hand!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge, I look forward to the next episode, stay safe!!!
I'm stealing the grabber-mower idea!!! I need a longer one, LOL!
@@SageandStoneHomestead Works like a charm!!!
Can confirm rabbits will chew on plastic 😅 My spoiled house rabbit chewed on her food dish if it was empty for 3 seconds. I did get a ceramic dish for her and she hasn't tried chewing on her litter box, so it might have just been because there was food in that plastic.
I FORGOT to get Favie a litter box today!! UGH! Soon.
@@SageandStoneHomestead oh, no!! I've used a box. It has to be changed often, but we get enough packages!
We can wait, he's been outside this long!
So nice k cute Rabbit’ great cage rabbitry’ hello my friend watching from Philippines
Thank you so much 😀
I fabricated mine out of reinforcing mesh for concrete covered with chicken wire on the sides, and the bottom i welded on horizontals 3-4mm wires (depends what i had around to re-use) spaces the size of my index apart. so it roughly works out at 1/2" apart.
I love that!!
Great video! Still trying to figure out where we could put the rabbits and keep them cool (and warm). I wish we had one more barn!! Cheers Heather!
That big barn where the chickens were congregating in the cold, does that get super hot in summer?
@@SageandStoneHomestead There is only the large door for an opening. It faces north. It gets warm in there!
Ah, yeah if it gets too much above 90 in the Shade that may not be a good space. We have friends in Canada who keep rabbits in very nice hutches over winter and the same hutch style would be cool for summer too. AC DC Acres!!!
Very talanted & experienced
Thank you!
On our 'rabbit tractors', we just used 2" chicken wire about a foot around the edges, (going back towards the middle of the cage), in an 8' by 8' 'tractor'.
The middle didn't have any wire at all. But my brother and I moved these twice a day and we would check on the 'grow outs' several times a day too. [We never had any 'predator' problems due to our dogs always being close by the rabbits.]
Of course the area we would have these tractors in was level ground, (pretty much), and these grow outs were only in the tractors about 6 weeks. We typically butchered them around 12 weeks old. We never had any problems using the 2" chicken wire on the bottom like this, but I think that this was due to my brother and I checking on these rabbits several times a day.
A good 'farm project' for us 'youngins' back then.
Good job on your videos! Thanks!
That's an excellent idea to keep them in while still allowing them to forage!
Awesome setup
Thanks!
Love your hoodie
Haha thank you!
Great setup! If one day I get a barn, I hope to have a similar set up. Very efficient. In the meantime, the hutches will do. I love the Californians! I used to have some a few years ago- I'm tempted to get them again. 😅 I had some food wasters too. Then the goats (free ranging at the time) learned there were "treats" underneath the rabbit pens, so they would bee-line there as soon as I let them loose. 🤦🏻♀️ (btw, I don't recommend free ranging goats- we took down our old fencing and it was convenient at the time, but man did they get into everything!)
Free ranging goats sounds like a nightmare with bees HAHA I love your hutches and We would have built something similar if elevating the tractors didn't work out as well as it did.
Glad I found you. Great explanations. Question: I saw your tractors on blocks. How do you move them? Thanks a mil.
We don't move them anymore. Our ground is just too wet and gross during the rabbit growing season. (We don't like to breed rabbits during the heat of the summer.)
I keep my rabbits in cages with hardware cloth because of the snake problem and sometimes rats eating the bunny's feet!!! Great vidoes.
OH MY that's crazy!
I've never had the resting mats. A family who raised & showed rabbits told us to use sheetrock. The rabbits will rip the paper off & chew on the gypsum, but the minerals in the gypsum are very healing for the rabbit's feet & hocks. The paper & flakes of gypsum are also good in your garden compost.
Great informative videos on raising rabbits Heather!! Thank you! God bless!
That's so smart!! I would worry about them getting constipated but apparently that isn't a problem?
@@SageandStoneHomestead I've never had a problem with that. I will say they do make a mess but it seems that they are overall happier & more content. Having something to occupy them maybe?? My bunnies get all excited when I walk into the rabbit shed with an armload of fresh sheetrock! 🐇🐇🙂
Funny!!!! It makes sense that the gypsum would benefit the garden too!!
@@SageandStoneHomestead a great perk is the sheetrock can be free if you drive around town where there is new home construction & even remodeling going on. Watch the dumpsters outside by the drive! Sometimes they throw away 1/2 sheets! You can get a lot of squares out of that! I always ask & have never had someone turn me down & have even had a couple carpenters crawl into the dumpster to pull out more pieces!! 😁
Levi's brother has a home remodeling business so we may have a great source for it, I'll ask!!
Hello Heather. How's it going?
Hello!! Going well and staying busy of course!! How are you?
still in gathering information. this video was a wealth of information on cages. Thank you so much.
Is there a particular place that I could find the baby saver wire that’s 1 inch by half an inch?
Check KW Cages online!
Enjoying the series. How do you separate the manure from the hay in your barn?
Oh I don't! We keep the hay for the goats in another part of the barn but the hay dropped by rabbits mixes with the manure and it actually makes a great garden compost as it breaks down!
Thank you so much for this video it was very informative and helpful, I am considering getting two bucks and four does so I can keep two separate Bloodlines so I can also breed The Offspring. So my question is how Litters One Adele produce in her lifetime
If you breed for 4 years and take summers off it's about 25 litters per doe!
Great series on rabbits! Do you find the rabbit manure causes a weed problem in the garden due to hay feeding and residual hay/waste hay mixed in with manure?
No, not at all! They mostly eat pellets. But we do use goat manure/hay refuse in the garden too and any weeds that do come up are loosely rooted and very easy to pull. They are few and far between.
AWSOME VIDEO. We're to get the wire in bulk, we're to get bulk feed? And dimensions on cages? Thx
It really all depends on what's available close to you and what you want out of your rabbitry. We buy feed and cage supplies locally. Our grow out cages are 2 feet by 5 feet and fit 5 rabbits each. The breeder cages are 30×36
@SageandStoneHomestead thank you very much. I'm semiretiring. On my ranch in upstate maine. Got chickens for eggs. But need more health meat, I hunt rabbits but it's not economically.
2:10 for mounting explanation 🥰
Thanks! ♥♥
@SageandStoneHomestead no problem, thank you, this is such good information! Glad to provide timestamps if helpful 😊
When you move out the kits from the mother do you separate the bucks and does into separate enclosures?
And can you combine 2 sets of kits into the same enclosure once they grow out?
Yes we do separate by gender but you don't have to. We sometimes like to grow them out longer and past about 10 weeks you risk them breeding. They may not but they could.
We mix litters (separating genders) at weaning if we don't plan to sell kits. Otherwise I like to keep track of who has which parents to make breeding pairs and trios.
Total newb question, but if the bottom of the cage has a bit of rust on it do you need to cut that part out/ get a new cage or us that okay to keep? Thanks!
I keep it on but watch it because it will likely fail in that spot eventually! You could put a resting mat over that spot and it may last longer
For hanging barn cages, is odour going to be an issue if they are hanging above concrete? I heard you say dirty is ideal and that makes sense. It makes me wonder if the ammonia from urine will soak into the concrete and leave a lasting odour over time, which i wouldn't be able to handle. Would you suggest i put down a tarp under the cages so ensure it doesn't soak in, and do the deep litter method on the tarp? Or would i have to remove the concrete floor or house them elsewhere? Thanks! 😊
From what I understand, the urine will soak into the concrete. There is a channel called "Slightly Rednecked" and he has made almost a funnel system under his cages with a tarp and everything funnels into a 5 gallon bucket for disposal. That could work out very well for you!
Do you tan your own hide? Or do the pelts tear when you butcher them so early? Do they have to be a certain age before pelts can be used? I have had rabbits but i got a massive breed and they died before my infrastructure was in place for breeding.
We have tried to egg tan before and I did something wrong because the hair fell out. We will try an alum tan again someday! The hides we used were from 16 week old rabbits because I had heard younger skins may tear more easily.
Lathing…maybe firing strips
Yes!! That's the term! Levi reminded me yesterday haha ♡♡
17:53 Have you ever considred using square tubing? 🤔 I also don't like the idea of having rabbits chew on treated wood, but also don't like the idea of replacing untreated wood often. Steel square tubing is the only compromise I can think of, but there may be drawbacks to that that I have not thought of 🤷♀️
Would we have to weld the wire to the tubing? Truthfully rabbit urine ruins the wire cage floor about as fast as untreated wood breaks down, so really there's rebuilding and upkeep regardless.
@@SageandStoneHomestead Yes, it would require welding. We recently purchased a small welding machine for other stuff around the house, so I don't really mind it.
I saw another video today where the man used PVC pipes for the frame. I think the benefit there would be that it should not get as hot in the sun.
I was thinking about using the type steel mesh that people use on steel jungle gyms, or sometimes as grills on barbeques [for the floor]. Those seem stronger, less likely to sag and less likely to cause sores. I don't know what kind of impact urine would have on that though 🤔
You may get poop buildup too, and that's a pain especially when they are also shedding their coat.
@@SageandStoneHomestead Mmm. That is a fair point. Will give it some thought. 🤔
Saw one woman cleans her cages with a blow torch. That seems a bit extreme for me and not sure it would get everything off anyway.
But I do wonder how the grills would hold up under a high pressure hose cleaning system. I have one around and it works miracles with bird poo and such around the pool area. (rocks and sleeper type slabs). Wasn't actually that expensive either, comparatively. Got it on sale.
I'd bet if it works for bird poop it will work for rabbit cages!
Couldn’t you turn the vertical cage on its side?
The wall wire is wider than the floor wire and would be bad for their feet. But I like your thinking!
I’m new to rabbits, heading into our third breeding. I have a similar raised cage setup. Curious to know how you constructed your waste trays in the stacked setup, or where you purchased. I’m considering adding a lower level to my current raised level.
Thanks for the great videos!
10:50
I bought my stacked cages used and I'm not sure of the brand but they are factory made!
@@SageandStoneHomestead thanks for the quick response. Are they galvanized metal? Maybe I could have an HVAC company make something like that for me. Otherwise I considered a cheap linoleum on top the bottom cage, then just sweep it off every once in a while.
It's coated with something. I am not sure what! You could do linoleum on part of it for them to rest on, but you'll want an easy way for the urine to eacape.
Hey Heather! How many rabbits do you keep past 12 weeks usually? I was thinking I'll start of my rabbitry with 2 - 3 does and 1 buck, leaving kits with the mama till7 weeks and then putting them in a tractor until freezer day at 12 weeks. So I figured I would only really need 4 cages and 2 tractors. I see you have many cages, though.
We started out with just tractors and moved to the raised cages for our breeders, we do have more than we need and we never take kits out past 12 weeks unless we need another breeder. We have 4 meat does and 2 bucks, but we also have 2 pet quality does and 2 bucks, and their litters need to wean for a couple weeks before they are sold too. We have 1 grow out tractor for each doe, so we know there's enough to have kits cycling through them always.
When are your breeding months? I guess I mean what months temperature wise do you not breed in? Thank you!
I will breed in September if it seems like heatwaves are behind us, and into the spring I play it by ear, but usually I'll squeak in our last breeding in May. Temps need to be under 85F for the bucks to remain fertile for most breeds. There's a temporary sterility that can occur over a consistent 85! Plus the heat is hard on pregnant mama's. ♡
@@SageandStoneHomestead thank you so much Heather ♥️
You're so welcome!♡♡
I just tried baked rabbit tonight for the 1st time. The meat has good texture, comes apart pretty easy. It was bland since I've never cooked it before so I didn't eat a loft. I want to get into canning, BAD. What's your favorite way to cook it? Are you going too have start to end on cooking/canning? We have 10ac, will be living there no later than next summer, we'll see. Its kinda just me at this point and my 13yr old boy. I'm Mr. Mom, single dad. We want animals and pets and food.
Jonesy at Jonesy Family Store @ Yahoo.
Hello!! In the raising rabbits playlist I have at least one video on how to cook rabbit, and in our "sage and Stone rabbits" playlist there is another one plus one on canning them start to finish! I'm so glad you're raising rabbits. If you have a hard time locating these videos let me know and I'll link them!
Do you have any concerns about the lack of space for the rabbits to run around?
Not at all. Over the years of raising rabbits we have seen them thrive and be happy and content in these spaces.
What do you use to film?
I use a gopro Hero9 Black with a media mod and max lens mod!
Hey what are those orange things in th cages?
resting mats so the rabbits are not on the wire all the time.
hi im only new to rabbits and i want to start breeding for meat ,i want to start building my suspended wire cages and have a very large roll of 12mm x12mm ( half inch by half inch) wire that i want to use up , the question i have is will there dropping go through ? im looking at breeding Newzealands
Yes it will go through! There may be a corner or 2 that need wire brushing for cleaning every once in a while because hair buildup there will stop some poo from falling through. But we have some cages with that size wire!
@@SageandStoneHomestead thanks very much for your reply thats good to no, by the way keep up the great videos there very descriptive and easy to understand and it really shows you love what your doing and not just for likes etc
Do your breeders live exclusively in the hanging cages or do you ever put them out on grass?
They are in the hanging cages year round. We don't put anyone out on grass, the cages with white lids are up on cinderblocks.
@SageandStoneHomestead Thanks. I just bought 3 cages and the associated supplies. I'm going to get it all set up in my barn this week. Because we have concrete floors, I'm going to set up corrugated PVC under the row of cages that is on a slight angle towards the front of cages. Then I'll run an eavestrough along the bottom, which will also run at an angle into a bucket that has mesh at the opening to separate the 2 outputs.
I'm still trying to source some good Californians, but it's proving challenging. This breed is not as popular in southwestern Ontario at it is where you are, and I'm finding that many people seem to cross them with NZ. What are your thoughts on the advantages or disadvantages of that cross compared to purebred Cali?
You can cross them and the F1 animals are hardy and grow fast. Problem is when you breed two F1 crosses together, it's anyone's guess what happens in the F2 generation and results could be varied. Both with health and with growth rate. The issue is the cross' genes aren't stabilised yet and you can get real winners or real losers in the same litter.
Do you have rat problems with dropped feed?
Yes we have rat and mice problems anyway living in the middle of corn fields.
What can be used to clean cages
We use a high powered blast with the hose and dry in the sun.
Can salt or any liquid soap be use
I'm sure that would be fine
Where I can get that cage?
I like bit wide n long
We made most of the cages shown, but you can try looking up KW Cages online!
how much do you sale a pair of rabbits
We do $40 each or 3 for $100. No more left until winter though!
Ok thanks we will try to get some in the fall
Market for the rabbits please
What do you mean?
I would like to get advice and market for the rabbits
Advice
Advice on how to sell the meat or breeders? Is that what you mean?
How many rabbits do have in your barn ???
Iv seen what happen running free and having the rabbits take a chock out of you it hurt it better keep. Rabbits in cages
Right now I have 6 does and 4 bucks out there!
Saw dust
Where?
@@SageandStoneHomestead don't need to just trying to tell you sawdust is cheap use what you want
What do you use it for though? In the nest?
Shredded paper
I get at the bank they give it to
It doesn’t look like your rabbits like the resting mats. They are not using any of them.
I guess they don't need them if they are not using them. Which is good. We do selectively breed against the tendency for hock sores.
Pourquoi toutes ces charmantes dames parlent elles sans arrêt sur un ton monocorde à devenir dingue ét en plus en anglais. Je n en peux plus je coupe.
Okay, bye.
Amazing video as always Heather.. very very informative. I have a question you have do you have Facebook or tic tok to send a personal message. Thank you.
I replied to this earlier but youtube may have blocked it because I put my email address in it? I don't have any other social media except this TH-cam channel but I have an email! Sageandstonehomestead @ gmail dot com (let's see if they let that one slide, haha)
Amazing video as always Heather.. very very informative. I have a question you have do you have Facebook or tic tok to send a personal message. Thank you.
I don't have either one but we do have an email!! SageAndStoneHomestead@gmail.com
@@SageandStoneHomestead thank you that's what I was going to ask you for.
OH it was two comments! I'm glad you got it!!