Rocky Hill Rabbits

I will get pictures of our rabbitry once we have it the way we want it, but our rabbits are kept in a barn with an open front, a big opening on the side and another opening on the back for air flow. 

We are lining the long back wall with hanging wire cages (Dumor brand) so we can optimize our space. Of course, the Dumor cages won't be sturdy or big enough for Flemish, so they are going to go in custom-built hutches so they will have more space. 

Just outside the barn is a grassy "play-pen area". 

 

Each cage has its own feeder and water bottle and the barn is raked out once or twice a week.

We have a quarantine area for new rabbits.

 

I pick grass and weeds for them and also offer hay. They also do get the occasional treat.

 

In summer we freeze big juice bottles and gatorade bottles and give them to the rabbits to lay next to. It doesn't take them long to figure that part out ;) I also find that adding electrolytes to their water helps and when it's really bad (105 in the shade and not a bit of breeze) we bring out small fans. 

 

Every day each rabbit is handled a little bit, even babies. They are handled since birth since my hope is that most of my stock may end up on a show table at some point and I know it's not fun dealing with a rabbit who struggles and scratches every time it's picked up.  

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We examine the rabbits weekly to check ears, toenails, do nail trimmings, etc.

 

 

We use wire cages made by Dumore and we actually like them.

We recently added a few stacker cages. I know there is a lot of controversy about which is better; wire or hutches with solid or slatted floors. Both styles have their benefits and drawbacks. One thing I dislike about wire cages is the size of the door. I like having a large door. It's so hard sometimes to get a struggling rabbit out of a small door. With the all wire cages, it's much easier to clean them and the rabbits. Poop doesn't really pile up like it can in a hutch and it's all open which lets more air in. My cages are all in the barn, so weather isn't a concern for me, but if they were outside they would need cover. The wire on the sides of these cages is large enough that a newborn kit can slip through so we took hardware cloth and cut it in wide strips and ran it along the bottom to keep them in in case they made it out of the box.

With larger breeds of rabbits I would say definitely go with either a hutch or combine two of the 36x30" cages, and even then, I would worry that the floor just isn't stout enough to hold the weight of a Flemish. Also, Flemish need more ear space so I highly recommend just building an awesome, large hutch for the giants.

With Flemish I have found they do better with a built-on nest box. I have had Flemish moms squish kits when they hop into the nest box. When using a hutch with the box built onto the backside they did very well.