I am fairly new to the rabbit world (2 yrs. aprox) and just now (after some small scale trials) began breeding them for meat. Although I had planned and did build a beautiful building w/ nesting boxes I was not able to use it for reasons that are not important and all my rabbits were expecting... So I had to move them to separate cages and come up w/ ideas to provide nesting boxes w/ things already available... Here are some pics w/ ideas just in case you find yourself in the same situation.
Please remember that nesting boxes should be stable, clean, protected from predators, rain, drafts and preferably put in a shady spot of the cage. Pics follow...
Hope they help
These are just some cement and garden blocks I found and made a nest. The floor in this cage in concrete so I put lots of hay. Menta had 8 bunnies yesterday and is her first litter. She did great pulling her fur and already separated the peanuts from the rest. They are doing great. This was our Valentine's gift.
Since this cage has a wire bottom I put a tile on the floor and as you can se cornered the nest using pretty much the materials I found around. This rabbit is also a first timer and is due next Sunday
This is a plastic planter before I filled it w/ hay and covered that spot of the cage w/ a dark towel to make it cozier. Lulu is small so she will fit really well in there... Also a first timer so I hope she does not decide to kindle outside the nest as one of my other first timer did last night. Luckily that one was in a concrete floor cage.
This is another idea I came up with. My hubby just cut three plastic buckets and after cleaning them you just have to secure them in the cage so they don't roll. If you corner them you probably don't need to cover the uncovered end. You can also cut them and connect them back together w/ both open faces up (kind of one on top pf the other) and their close ends to opposite sides... hope you can visualize it... You can also me a cut in a bucket leaving a bit of a roof. However I could not do that cause I raise huge Californians and they just would be too uncomfortable...
Please remember that nesting boxes should be stable, clean, protected from predators, rain, drafts and preferably put in a shady spot of the cage. Pics follow...
Hope they help
These are just some cement and garden blocks I found and made a nest. The floor in this cage in concrete so I put lots of hay. Menta had 8 bunnies yesterday and is her first litter. She did great pulling her fur and already separated the peanuts from the rest. They are doing great. This was our Valentine's gift.
Since this cage has a wire bottom I put a tile on the floor and as you can se cornered the nest using pretty much the materials I found around. This rabbit is also a first timer and is due next Sunday
This is a plastic planter before I filled it w/ hay and covered that spot of the cage w/ a dark towel to make it cozier. Lulu is small so she will fit really well in there... Also a first timer so I hope she does not decide to kindle outside the nest as one of my other first timer did last night. Luckily that one was in a concrete floor cage.
This is another idea I came up with. My hubby just cut three plastic buckets and after cleaning them you just have to secure them in the cage so they don't roll. If you corner them you probably don't need to cover the uncovered end. You can also cut them and connect them back together w/ both open faces up (kind of one on top pf the other) and their close ends to opposite sides... hope you can visualize it... You can also me a cut in a bucket leaving a bit of a roof. However I could not do that cause I raise huge Californians and they just would be too uncomfortable...
