Rabbit Cages with Easy Manure Collection
by Moderator
(USA)
Lisa's heavy-duty under-the-cage tarp for manure collection
Manure and liquids drain into the bucket, which gets emptied daily.
A shot of the whole rabbitry. The yellow house belongs to the neighbor.
A close-up of a doe's all-wire cage
Our friend Lisa gave us permission to show you her amazing rabbit cage set up. She lives where the winters can be brutally cold, yet her rabbits do just fine as they stay dry and covered.
She is using commercially constructed cages using "baby-saver" wire. The narrower wires on the bottom 4 inches help prevent baby kits from falling to the ground should the doe drop one or two accidentally on the wire. Notice that Lisa has given the cage two water valves - one for the doe and the lower one for the youngsters where they can reach it.
Lisa has rigged a tarp system under each bank of cages. The tarp is just a bit slanted, so the manure and especially the urine tends to slide to the lower end. She put a container there to catch the droppings. Liquid seeps into the ground through holes drilled in the bucket. The solid waste can be collected daily and emptied onto the compost pile.
You can see that her neighbors are just about leaning on her back fence...yet with Lisa's system, she can maintain the entire rabbitry odor-free. We think the whole thing is quite genius!
We hope the pictures will give you some ideas for raising rabbits in your own backyard, despite a small lot or close neighbors. (Thanks, Lisa!)
