There are many ways to keep rabbits in the garden. A few years ago, these animals were bred mainly only in cages. Recently, the aviary method of keeping rabbits is becoming increasingly popular among owners of mini-farms . The main advantages of this method are the rapid growth of livestock, reduced lunge and time saving of the furrower. You can make a convenient aviary for rabbits in a personal plot, including on your own.
What materials will be needed
To assemble the aviary, first of all, it will be necessary to prepare a beam of 50x50 mm. This material is necessary for the manufacture of the frame. Actually the fence itself is the easiest and cheapest way to make a chain link. The usual mesh of this variety rusts very quickly. Therefore, if the owner of the homestead wants the rabbit enclosure to last as long as possible, he should buy a painted netting.
Also, for the manufacture of an aviary for rabbits, consumables will be needed - nails, self-tapping screws. In addition, it will be necessary to prepare cement and sand. For the construction of the shed will need plywood. If rabbits are supposed to be kept in winter, mineral wool should also be purchased. For the roof you will need roofing material and boards.
What tools are needed
In order to build a rabbit aviary, in addition to materials, you need to cook and tools:
screwdriver;
hacksaw;
hammer.
Hands should be worn gloves. Next, let's see how to make a rabbit aviary correctly.
Aviary scheme
The design of such a pen for rabbits may have different. For a small number of animals, a small aviary is arranged, which is a frame made of timber, assembled in the form of a parallelepiped, covered with a chain link and covered with a wooden roof. Floors in such an enclosure are usually made of wood.
If it is supposed to contain a lot of rabbits, it makes sense to collect an aviary for large area rabbits. In this case, it is mounted using approximately the same technology as conventional fencing made of netting. The roof for a very large aviary from the boards to make, of course, is problematic. Therefore, in most cases, rabbit breeders leave such corrals open at the top. Or also tighten them with a chain link.
Using this scheme, you can quickly make a very convenient aviary for rabbits with your own hands. A drawing of a similar design can be seen below. In order for the animals to hide from the rain or the scorching sun, on the one hand a shed is attached to such an aviary.
The keeping and breeding of rabbits in cages has some of its own characteristics. In some cases, the owners of household plots launch all the animals at once. But it is much better to make fenced compartments inside for the male and queens with small rabbits. This will control the reproduction of animals.
Installation steps
The aviary for rabbits is mounted in several stages:
poles are dug around the perimeter of the walk;
supports are interconnected by a bar above and below;
along the perimeter of the aviary, a trench 70 cm deep is dug;
mounted netting.
As a result, at the end of the work (after backfilling the trench), the grid will be buried in the ground. Therefore, rabbits will not be able to dig and escape. Some homeowners do not bury the netting in the ground, but simply dig a shallow foundation pit inside the enclosure and fill it with concrete (with a slight slope). After the cement mixture has hardened, a layer of earth about 20 cm thick is poured over the resulting “floor”. Of course, rabbits will not be able to dig concrete either. However, this method, of course, is suitable only for small walks.
The content of rabbits in large enclosures implies, as already mentioned, the arrangement of a shed. The latter is also assembled on the frame. Mineral wool is installed between the inner and outer layers of plywood. It is not necessary to make the shed big and tall. It is enough that the rabbits inside can freely stand up in a column. The entrance to the barn is made so that an adult animal can freely enter it. If there are a lot of rabbits, several entries are worth making. The inside of the shed, located opposite the enclosed enclosures for the producers of the enclosure, also needs to be separated by a partition.
Assembly technology
Begin to perform work with the assembly of the shed. First, the frame of the required size is knocked down. Then they fill the floors from the boards, sheathe the barn with plywood from the inside and install the partitions. Then they install mineral wool and a hydroinsulator. After this sheathed shed outside. Then make the roof, also insulated with cotton wool. It is easiest to sheathe it with roofing material. Fasten the roof to the rear wall of the shed for hinges.
Next, they arrange the aviary for rabbits. The supports are installed in a trench dug around the perimeter of the aviary. They are connected by a bar along the perimeter below and above. Next, proceed to the installation of the chain link. It is easiest to fix it to wooden posts with nails (bending them with a loop). After the fence is ready, the trench is covered with earth or gravel. At the next stage, a timber is attached to the frame strapping under the upper chain link.
Of course, in the aviary you need to make gates. They are also collected from timber and fitted with a chain link. Separate gates are made in the branches to the manufacturers. You can hang the resulting door on the usual hinges.
Walking equipment
Keeping rabbits in enclosures is a relatively simple process. The first thing you should do in the paddock and in the shed is to lay straw. You can close the floor of the shed right away. In the aviary, such litter will need to be done after the rabbits launched into it eat all the grass. Feeders are usually installed only in the range. It is easiest to make them from a sheet of plywood by nailing rails at its edges. Drinking bowls should be fixed to the timber both in the aviary and inside the shed. To prevent young rabbits from digging holes, small closed boxes with openings-inlets made in them can be put in different walking corners.
Output
This is how the aviary for rabbits is going. The maintenance, cultivation and reproduction of these animals in such a walk will certainly be successful. Indeed, in an aviary, rabbits usually feel much more comfortable than in cages. And therefore, they grow and develop much better. If the owner of a personal plot carefully considers the choice of a feed supplier, his animals, among other things, will never be infected with any infectious disease.