My current setup utilizes the standard cage stacks with plastic duratrays. While this is an excellent system for saving space, it does require alot of manual labor because the trays obviously have to be pulled out, carried outdoors for cleaning, and then carried back in. Metal trays are next to impossible to use in a system like this (although some men can handle them well) because they are just horrendously heavy, especially for cages full of does with good-sized litters.
The other thing I don't like about stacks is the difficulty of reaching rabbits in the top and bottom-most cages. Although this doesn't pose an insurmountable problem at present, I can see where it would get much more difficult as I get older and way more arthritic, LOL.
If I had to do it again, I would construct one long building with a single row of cages extending from end to end on both sides. I would have no cage smaller than 30 X 36 inches (and maybe 30 X 48 for breeding does), and there would be no cage trays at all if I could find some way to build pits or remove manure often enough so that nothing smelled and there wasn't a big fly problem. Even if I decided to continue using trays in this situation, it would be easier to slide them in and out at waist level than to raise and lower them constantly from the top to the bottom.
I would continue to use no urine guards, but my bucks would be separated from the does as they are now. I would continue to use no hay racks, but shove the hay through the bars near the doors as I do now. I would line my barn walls with some sort of easy-clean plastic or vinyl material and leave a gap between the rows of cages and the wall for easy cleaning (unless I could find some way to hang cages from the wall but remove them easily one by one) .
I would have wider aisles then I have now to enable myself to spin around completely holding a cage tray, if necessary. I would have shelving on either end to hold feed buckets and other equipment. I would put one or possibly two doors on either end of the building to make it easier to drag cages in and out (and the doors would be wide enough to fit cages through easily).
I would have numerous vents everywhere along the sides and ends of my building with hinged flaps covering them to open and close as I choose. I would also need to keep the whole rabbitry as predator proof as possible but if I could manage it, I would love to be able to open the sides of the building completely in the summertime for maximum air flow.
I would continue to use the crock-loc feed dishes that I use now which are more of a pain to dump than the 'J' feeders, but much easier to toss into the dishwasher and sterilize, and much kinder to an angora's furnishings.
An automated watering system has always been a big temptation and I may yet install one someday, but for now it seems important to be able to accurately gauge how much each rabbit drinks each day. Since Angoras are prone to woolblock and one of the first symptoms of a blockage is decreased feed/water intake, I feel like it is dangerous to take the manual labor out of this part of my operation, at least for now.
There are many other things I would do if I had to do it all over again, but this is a list of the most immediate concerns. I have left the issue of climate control out (heat in winter and A/C in summer), but that is only because the temps in this part of the country are not usually as extreme as they are everyplace else. If that should change or I feel that climate control is needed someday, then I would reconsider that too.
I got quite a bit of grooming done this week and there are lots of older juniors in long coats who need attention now, LOL. Below I have posted a few pictures of Spang's Devaki, a Sr. doe who was going to be bred this fall but who refused to cooperate, so she will head off to the showtable instead:-). Devaki is a beautiful girl who is not necessarily the densest rabbit in my barn but who is extremely well balanced. Once her coat comes all the way in (the guard hairs on her sides reach all the way down to the table and she is bigger in general) , then she will be ready for some action at the shows and maybe pick up some legs if she's lucky, LOL.
More again next time. Have a great week!:^)
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