Cleaning Cages?

[hopntailrabbitry]

Do you hate taking those trays out? And then trying to put them back in which can be sometimes pain in the butt espically when they aren't good sliding them in? Well I'm sick of tired taking out trays all the time and wasting 2 hours of cleaning while I can use like a little over an hour to tend to my bunnies.

Anyways, I need your opinions of what and how I can replace my trays to something really easy to clean! And also instead of me just pulling out the trays. I looked at home depot to see if I can use anything to replace the trays I found a few things but I really don't like the idea. But I'm also thinking maybe Wal-Mart might have something? Any ideas of how I can replace trays and use something easy where I won't have to take anything out?

Thanks!

 

[gentle giants]

Do you have your bunnies in a barn or outdoors? I have mine in a barn, and part of my cages are the ones with trays, and part of them have solid floors because of the heavy Flemish bunnies. Tell ya what, those trays are a breeze to clean compared to the solid floors!

 

[hopntailrabbitry]

My rabbits are in a barn.

 

[BlueGiants]

OMG! I have40 trays to clean every week! ...most are 36" x 36" and I have 3 under every 2 cages on the second level... You want a pain, empty a weeks worth of Flemish poop in 3 foot long trays!My family suddenly finds a zillion other things to do! My daughters have tons of homework! My husband has to work on the car... or run uptown... or he leaves for the weekend to go hunting... LOL! For me it's a labor of love!

:sweep

But I'd rather clean the barn than clean the house!!!!!!!!!!!!

(There are new cage systems for barnsthat have slantedsurfaces under the cages that directs the waste into collectiontroughs that you hose down... but they don't make them big enough for my Flemish!!!)

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

I have trays as wellin 1/2 of my barn. I don't pull thing bigs ones out all the

way when I am cleaning them until they are empty and ready for a rinse. I use

a heavy duty dustpan and scoop and scrape them with that then I take them

out and rinse with the hose. Saves on the back! I do notice that the metal

trays are much harder to get back into the slots. The Dura-trays slide right in.

I am working on replacing all of the metal trays with the plastic ones.

The original half of my barn is a bit different. The racks are made of wood

3 high. I framed 2x4's into a trough of sorts and attached plywood to the bottom.

Then I made a lip to keep the cages from slipping off. The troughs are lined with

heavy plastic and I put shavings on top of the plastic. The droppings fall through

and when it's time to clean I just scoop with the dustpan and keep sliding cages

over. Every other week I change the plastic. It works great especially in the winter

when it's too cold to use the hose.

Roger

 

[Bo B Bunny]

BlueGiants wrote:

You want a pain, empty a weeks worth of Flemish poop in 3 foot long trays!

:laughsmiley:This made me laugh - I don't know what it is but it was so funny to me!

I am always joking that Tony poos are bigger than the sheep poos! (pretty close at least!) and I can't even imagine Flemish poos! :shock:

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

I am learning that flemish poop is in a whole category unto it's own!



Roger

 

[BlueGiants]

Ummm, did I forget to warn you about that part... :embarrassed:.....



:laugh:

So Sorry! Really I am!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

So we call little mini-rex poos - poos

Flemish poos are like... what?*in the deepestvoice I can muster*POOS!

 

[BlueGiants]

:yeahthat::roflmao: (But don't tell Roger's new girl... she is royalty and we don't want to upset her delicate sensabilities...)

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I picture this big hunk of flemmish doe prancing around with a tiara as if she were a dainty little thing.

 

[BlueGiants]

Now I'm going to have to do up a picture like that! LOL! Can't get THAT image out of my mind!

:biggrin2:

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

Yes she is royalty and has definate ideas about the way things go.

She refused to eat until I figured out that I had to pour her some bottled

water make her a dandelion green and parsley salad and then the main

course of pellets seasoned with oats and sunflower seeds.

Blue Giants I you spoiled her!!!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Did you get her from BlueGiants?

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

Yes she is one of Blue Giant's babies. All 15 lbs of her and she isn't even

6 months old yet.

 

[BlueGiants]

Hopntail- what kind of trays do you use? Are they metal or plastic (Duratrays?) What size? What do they rest on? Do you use shavings or anything in them? Trying to get an idea of why they are so hard to slide....

 

[hopntailrabbitry]

They are metal trays. And I have that kind of stack cages from Bass.

 

[gentle giants]

I would definatly switch to the plastic ones, they are much easier to slide, lighter wieght, and don't rust like the metal ones can after a while. Not to mention easier to clean, you can hose them down like Blue Giants said, stuff just slides off.

 

[hopntailrabbitry]

Ok, I guess I'll try them.

Thanks

 

[BlueGiants]

The metal trays are VERY heavy! (Especially full of POOP and pee!). I couldn't lift mine... when we started out, my husband set up the coops with metal trays. I hated them! (OK, I have big rabbits, big poops, big trays... but what good is it if I can't clean them?

You should look into using the Duratrays. They are plastic, well molded not to fold and they hold up real well. We've been using them for many years with no trouble.

It can be expensive to replace all your trays at one time, but you can do it slowly... and it may be easier on you to lift and slide. You can pick them up from dealers at local shows (and not pay shipping) or you can order them from several different suppliers. (PM me if you want some suggestions.)

You can see what they look like (and the sizes) here: http://www.enter.net/kart/kart.pl?cart=c85563x1&action=category2&catid=2&pwidth=3