Indoor Rabbitry

[emily381]

Does anyone have a small indoor rabbitry. We are just starting out and I would really like to start out indoors. Currently it is also our only option. We have a small sun room that we are planning on using.

I would love to see some pictures of others doing the same thing. Planning on only starting off with 10 holes for about the first year or two. Is this possible? Oh and we plan on breeding Lionheads.

 

[emily381]

Also has anyone ever used the NIC cages as cages for their rabbitry.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

It is possible to keep a small rabbitry in your home, but keep in mind that it will require pretty extensive cleaning to keep things fresh and odorless. When we had our rabbits in our house, I lined the cage trays with newspaper and switched it out daily.

I wouldn't recommend NIC cages for a breeding herd. Intact rabbits can be littertrained, but are not "perfect" with it. You will still find droppings outside of the box, and bucks have a tendency to spray their surroundings with urine. It's best to use wire cages with drop trays so that the rabbits aren't sitting in their litter or soiling porous flooring (carpet, fleece, etc). I'd also recommend purchasing shower curtains to hang and protect your wall, and a sheet of linoleum flooring or computer chair mats to protect the floors. I don't mean to scare the rabbits out of your home, but they are animals and they are messy. Keeping everything easy to clean is important for your own sanity, but also for the health of the animals living with you.

 

[DogCatMom]

There are a couple of indoor rabbitries shown in Bob Bennett's Rabbit Housing: Planning, Building, and Equipping Facilities for Humanely Raising Healthy Rabbits. Photographs, interviews with the people who operate/run/own/live with the indoor rabbitries, specifications for cages that are large enough for bucks, does, and does with babies.

For the DIY crowd, Bennett also provides instructions on how to *make* cages from wire that comes on a roll. Evidently, it saves a boatload of money, but for me that "boatload" would be spent on doctor bills sewing up my hand/finger/whatever from sharp wire and klutziness.

 

[majorv]

I've never tried keeping a bunch of rabbits inside, well, we did keep 4 inside for a month or so. Personally, I couldn't do it for any length of time because it's work to keep the smell down and the loose hair cleaned up. I know it's doable because we knew someone who had their rabbitry in their living room.

 

[Rosies Rabbitry]

I have a 2 bedroom apartment and I have converted my second b/r into my rabbitry. I have 12 hole total and its tough to keep them from all being full when its time to breed. I was at the Lebanon.PA show a few weeks ago and was able to sell 4 rabbits to make room for my upcoming litters.

Its a lot of work having rabbits indoors and I am finding that keeping up with 7 I have now is much easier and less time consuming than the 11 I had.

My place doesn't smell anything like a rabbitry and I even let them out to run around with each other on a regular basis.
:bunnieskiss