Planning a new bunny building

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murph72

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Catawissa, Pennsylvania, USA
We're in the final planning phases of a new bunny building. We live on a 42 acre farm, but the barn was gone years before our arrival. I've talked the hubby into building me a new rabbit building to replace my current setup. My question prior to starting the building is: What do you think are the most important things you'd want to include? If you've already gone through this process, what is your favorite thing about your bunny building you couldn't live without?
 
Running water in the barn.
Counter tops to prepare Meals.
A fringe to store fruit and veg in.
Maybe a little unit to examine kits?

These are just ideas I have gathered from other uses rabbitry's. Hope I have helped.
 
In mine I have a sink with hot and cold water ( I use a little immersion heater)

fridge for veg/ meds that need to be kept cold.

air con or fans! also a heater for winter for does hutch.

make sure they are well insulated (makes all the difference believe me!!

Storage I have shelves and cupboards for storing spare bowls, bottles and grooming equipment

A nice big notice board for all your rosettes you win :D

we have a doorbell lol cause we cant hear people at the door :p

chairs for sitting clipping claws and for grooming.

A high table for grooming/ posing

easy clean floors!! makes all the difference for cleaning up lol!!

areas for storing shavings/ hay etc

um thats all I can think of for moment

oh good lighting ;)
 
Good luck!
Post pictures as you are building it if you can, I'm hoping to deck out a new shed in a few months aswell
 
Proper Air circulation, Vents and fans
Running water and sink
A nice (carpeted) table to pose the rabbits on and a couple of "holding" boxes (like at a show) to get the rabbits used to being put in and out of a box.
A proper cabinet for medications and first aide materials.
A separate cabinet for cleaning supplies.
Proper food storage (to prevent insects or rodents)both for the food you are using and the food in reserve.
A well located bin for a hay bale and straw bale- easy access
Storage for show carriers and show supplies
Storage for Shavings
Cage Card holders for info on the rabbits
Hanging Clipboards (or bulletin board) for notes
 
I definitely will post pictures as we go to show you how it is coming along. I'm not sure that we're going to start it and finish it in a short period of time though because we're simultaneously changing out the windows in our house (not a cheap project either). We're kind of tackling the two at the same time because I don't want to wait on the building and we plan to use the old windows (which really are not old, but we want better house windows) in the bunny building. My husband is into eco-friendly construction now so the Southern exposure is going to have a whole wall of windows that will let sun in during the wintertime to help with heating and in the summertime the overhang above the windows will keep out the sun.

I'm not yet sure about what we're going to do for ventilation. We are putting in quite a few windows (probably around 14) so we should be able to get a cross breeze. I also saw where someone used box fans pointing down in the summer to help move more air. Any other ideas?

I never thought of having holding boxes to get them used to showing...that's a great idea...and really simple to make. Thanks! My hubby does woodworking so as long as a project involves wood I can usually get him on board. LOL

I can't wait to have all my supplies in one location. Right now they're in several locations in the house, the woodshop, the garage, and the bunny building. Plus, not having frozen water dishes will be SOOO worth it. :) I think I'd sell my left kidney for that!
 
I think eventually we're going to make solar panels for the roof to run the electricity for the heating and cooling of the building, so that would mess with the skylights idea. We were originally going to break up the roof line and put some windows near the top of the building to give light, but it actually ended up being more trouble than it probably is worth. Hopefully the windows will be enough light.

I am concerned about ventilation. I've been in bunny buildings that the ammonia smell is stifling. I'm not sure if the windows and fans with cross breezes will be enough or if we need to add vents at the top and bottom of the walls here and there. My only concern then is that I don't want to lose heat in the winter from these vents, even if you can close them I wouldn't expect it to be completely air tight.
 
if you have a lot of windows to, then only thing is that the heat from the sun would get bad in the building and harder to keep warm unless very well insulated during the winter.

can make vents that have covers that you can put on them, like a steel cover. might be more effective than ones that just close
 
It will be very well insulated for the winter. The window locations on the southern side will be to allow for the sun to come in and warm it during the winter, but an overhang above the windows will block out the sun in the summer. It's a design we saw on a site looking at alternative energy sources and it's pretty simplistic. It basically calculates the position of the sun at different seasons and uses it to your advantage. We'd also like to put solar panels on that southern roof eventually, which will allow for us to collect solar energy that can be used for electricity to heat and cool the building.

I am thinking about adding vents. I might just wait until the first summer to see if the windows and fans are enough ventilation. If not, I can always cut vents in where they're needed. I hate to add extra holes that could let heat escape in the winter if I don't need them.
 
I have a peaked roof and all the hot air rises... so we installed a "poultry" fan near the peak to blow the hot air outward... It has louvers that stay closed as long as the fan is off and opens when the fan is on. Helps keep the heat in during the winter and sucks the heat out during the summer. Can be hooked up to a thermostat to go on automatically when temps reach a certain level. Makes the barn temperature self-regulating.

It's called a "Poultry Fan" because the motor is sealed against feathers and fur. Won't suck fur into the motor and burn out.
 
Oh, that sounds like a really cool idea. Is that something you could get at a Tractor Supply Company kind of store? Do you have that installed at the peak on an end wall?

Is one enough for a 24 x 30ish building? My one end will be open on the western side, but my eastern side will have a garage bay up against it for storage of my ATV, cage supplies, and what not.


 
I just want to say I'm green with envy about your new building....I hope to have my own bunny barn someday soon.

I love all the great tips and info
 
murph72 wrote:
Oh, that sounds like a really cool idea.  Is that something you could get at a Tractor Supply Company kind of store?  Do you have that installed at the peak on an end wall? 

Is one enough for a 24 x 30ish building?  My one end will be open on the western side, but my eastern side will have a garage bay up against it for storage of my ATV, cage supplies, and what not. 

 
Click to expand...

Yes, it's installed on an end wall at the peak (high point where all the hot air is). It's on the western wall... I open the doors on the eastern side (because it's in the shade and always cooler at that end) and draw the cooler air through. I also have fans on the eastern wall - ground level, at the end of the aisles (angled upward, not aimed at any bunnies) to keep the air moving on real hot days. My "barn" is not insulated, so I also have misters on the roof to cool it down if it gets above 90F.
 
These are the options I'm looking at for when we do our bunny barn. I haven't decided yet which one I like.

I'm thinking that Art's inheritance from his mom will probably come in about 8-9 months or so (not sure how long it will take) and we're going to take that money to do a bunny barn first...and then anything else (like the central a/c getting fixed).

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...41443&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...41443&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...41443&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...41443&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

I want it at least 12 X 16 - preferably something like 12 X 20...and I'm going to put ceramic tile on the floor so that we can let the bunnies out to play in runs...and then powerspray the floor...
 
I've been thinking a lot about bunny buildings, I've been drawing up my own plans for my dream rabbitry, I might post them in here when I get a chance. The designs I've made are very ecofriendly.

Have you considered building your rabbitry below the ground level? Having some, if not all of it submerged will help with heating/cooling.
 
TinysMom wrote:
These are the options I'm looking at for when we do our bunny barn. I haven't decided yet which one I like.

I'm thinking that Art's inheritance from his mom will probably come in about 8-9 months or so (not sure how long it will take) and we're going to take that money to do a bunny barn first...and then anything else (like the central a/c getting fixed).

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/THDCoordinatingItemsView?productId=100600002&N=10000003%2090401%20541443&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/THDCoordinatingItemsView?productId=100350372&N=10000003%2090401%20541443&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/THDCoordinatingItemsView?productId=100592111&N=10000003%2090401%20541443&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/THDCoordinatingItemsView?productId=100592127&N=10000003%2090401%20541443&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

I want it at least 12 X 16 - preferably something like 12 X 20...and I'm going to put ceramic tile on the floor so that we can let the bunnies out to play in runs...and then powerspray the floor...
Click to expand...

I want the second one or the 4th one seriously you even get better sheds than ours lol they are fab we don't have anything like that over here :(



If anyone wants to see my pictures I am more than happy to put some up will prob get new ones tho as we have a new shed now that has not been shared yet :p
 
If you're really into eco-friendly, you could do a rain bucket system for wash water. That would be fine for washing out trays (not for drinking though).
 
Polly, pics would be great. I love to see what people have and there are so few pictures on the web of bunny barns.

Claire, we actually have a rain collection system from my hubby's woodshop that we use to fill up our ponds. I'm sure if he can think of a use for the water he'll be bringing home more containers to keep it in. As it is, we really don't use the collection containers much. We just let it run into the pond to either fill it or give it a water change. With all the rain we got this summer, I haven't used well water yet to add anything to the pond.

Dave, I'm going to pass your underground idea past the hubby. The only thing I question is if we could do it in conjunction with the solar idea...I'm not sure we could have one side that high and one that low, but maybe he'll have an idea.

Peg, we're leaning towards a pole barn. We used one of those to build my husband's wood shop/storage barn and it worked well. I'm also thinking along the lines of a 24 x 30 with another garage bay on the end that would be separated from the bunny portion. I'd like to keep my ATV, plow, extra cage materials, cages, etc. in there to keep the bunny barn less cluttered. It will be more work to construct, but I'm hoping it will be done to my specifications (whenever I decide what those all are) :)
 
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