Should You Build Or Buy Meat Rabbit Cages

Cages will be the largest expense of your meat rabbit project, so it's important that you get it right! I cover the pros and cons of building and buying cages, and the essential things you need to know regardless of what you choose.
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Videos referenced:
Thoughts on colonies • Why You Probably Shoul...
Best Wire: • What Wire Should You U...
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[@jillianfrost2910]

I just stumbled across your channel while researching meat rabbits and I just wanted to say your videos are amazing! I love your setup and the detail you go into.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Thanks! Glad you like them!

[@johnfitbyfaithnet]

Agreed! Such good advice and details.

[@sterlingeisenhower5947]

My rabbits have constantly flowing water. 10 feet PVC, 10 of copper pipe, a pump, a fish tank filter, a fish tank heater, and a bucket. It was a little pricey and definitely time consuming, but only once. I HATE water bottles, so I don't have to change out 9 water bottles twice every damn day.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

That sounds fantastic! Hopefully I will be moving soon and am looking forward to setting up something similar. You should post a video!

[@l0gic23]

Would love to see your setup. If not videos, pictures and description on reddit or something would be great

[@westmeadowrabbits]

@@l0gic23 Hopefully I will be moving soon and building a new rabbitry from the ground up, which I will document extensively. I have a couple videos showing different parts of the rabbitry that I think are important.

[@xXhillrunnerXx]

I ended up getting cages from KW last spring and it really was the best option for me with two young children making spending devoted time to cage building hard. It was enough just putting the cages together with my toddler throwing tantrums that I didn’t let him help close the j clips by himself and him climbing into the cage while assembling 😂

[@aperson1181]

Thank you for the suggestion, which type and size did you buy?

[@GeorgeSmith-pe9vy]

I planned on building the frames and buying the cages. That way I can modify it the way I want it.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Makes sense. the more modular you can make your systems the better.

[@vixxcottage]

I had to restart my Homestead. I have a large carport. I need to be out of weather so my best option was pre-made cages. Tractor Supply has Dumore cages price dependant on size. I bought 30 x 30 for males and 36 x 30 for does. These need reinforced with j clips or zip ties. Otherwise they can come apart. 3 cages were $120 so it was very economical. I am not able to build cages and the rolls of wire are astronomical. KW cages I believe are great but the price is high. The Dumore cages are under the carport and manure goes to ground.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Not a bad price, I always tell people to check on the gauge of the wire though. A lot of cages sold by big stores will use 16 instead of 14 gauge wire. Kluberantz is where I get my wire, and you don't have to buy full rolls, but good wire is expensive. But as usual the best way is what works for you!

[@vixxcottage]

@@westmeadowrabbits due to severe neuropathy of my hands I am unable to build cages. Pricing the wire in my location is just not cost effective to build. I attempted to find someone that builds cages with no success. I guess depends which area of country you live.

[@katrinagarland5219]

Wish you hadn't mixed up the 'before weld' and 'after weld'. You said it wrong and then right so many times I am now confused. Otherwise GREAT channel. (Maybe you can do a voice over to correct this).

[@westmeadowrabbits]

When we build the new rabbitry I'm going to redo these older videos. Both work fine, but galvanized AFTER weld is superior for the reasons mentioned in the video.

[@brandongoodrich1325]

Now it’s 250 for shipping

[@jpkoepse]

Do you have any videos showing your rabbit tractors? Do you keep the rabbits separated in rabbit tractors as well? How often are you moving them?

[@westmeadowrabbits]

I don't have a video (but I'm hoping to make one this summer) because I don't use them that much. Typically you'd want to move them every 1-3 days. You'd keep rabbits in them just like you would in cages. Bucks by themselves, does with their litters, and grow outs together. In my opinion it's only really worth it for does with litters and grow outs.

[@permaculturespirit]

How does one keep them cool in a Mediterranean climate where temps are above 100 2-3 months of the year? Ive seen ice blocks but that is not time efficient working outside of the home.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

My area doesn't get to hot, but I know a lot of people who raise them in very hot climates. The need to be bred to tolerate high heat. They need shade and constant airflow. Industrial misters are common at the commercial scale.

[@doubles1545]

Give them access to burrow underground. The earth is cooler.

[@ethankolodny8654]

Thanks for these great videos! Do you not use babysaver for side walls then? Do you think that's unnecessary? Also, if you have bucks right next to does, does a urine guard become useful?

[@westmeadowrabbits]

For larger breeds I don't think you need baby saver. If a kit is dumb enough to get out of the next box that young, I don't want its genetics in my herd. I try to keep my bucks separated, but you can always put a piece of cardboard between cages.

[@justincurtis9094]

Okay, so at what point do I need to separate the brothers and sisters from one another? The ones I got (New Zealand/ Californian), are in a 4x4 hutch and there are 12 in there. The 3 doe are in a 3x3 cage and buck in a normal single cage like the store bought one in this video. I was making a list to go to the Co-Op and when you said $1500…. Well I don’t currently have that lol how many cages (I haven’t sexed them out yet) should I have? I’m assuming males will fight more than female and after the video of your rabbit you had to call on to Jesus because he couldn’t use his “parts”, I don’t want them all to be monks 😅 when the guy brought me the rabbits he brought them all mixed so idk who’s babies are whose. I thought about about taking the 4x4 hutch and splitting it down the middle and redoing the doors on the sides and that would give them a 24x24” on each side but that seems small considering one of you other videos said they prefer a rectangle cage vs a square (I think that was you who I watched that said that….it’s been a few days). I know that’s a lot of questions but here at the little farm, homestead, farmstead, hobby farm… we are aiming for only one bad day and that’s the day they are called home. If you could maybe answer a few of those mainly how many cages you think I would need to separate the 16 that I have 1 buck, 3 doe, 12 smaller rabbits. I’m not even sure the age of them but they aren’t much smaller than the parents (probably about the size of the three black ones in this video that you were showing that you built yourself) so I have 12 of those. I don’t want them to start killing each other or breeding 😅 it could get out of hand. Thank bro and great videos, I’m glad I found your page. ❤

[@justincurtis9094]

Sorry for all the typos

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Oh boy you have got yourself into a fix! I like to separate them at three months, but four months is the latest you can go. Does can get pregnant around that age. Bucks ALWAYS need their own cage. They could get along fine, you could keep them together for months with no issues. But one day you will come out and find them torn to shreds. Does can usually stay with their sisters and mother indefinitely as long as they have space. Three adult does in a 30" x 36" cage is tight, and not sustainable, but it can work for a little bit. That's the general rule, but it varies depending on the rabbits personality, and many does will fight. Honestly my advice is to cull mercilessly. Only keep the best of the best. A lot of beginners will find themselves in a situation like yours, (I did when I first started). With meat rabbits quality beats quantity every day. Pick your best looking rabbits and breed them. Cull everyone else. Then out of those rabbits pick the ones who bred the easiest. Cull everyone else. Then out of those litters pick the fastest growing and best looking. Cull everyone else. During all this keep an eye out for rabbits who get sick our weak. Cull them immediately. It doesn't matter what breed you choose, if you do that you will have an amazing meat rabbit herd in just a few years. That's the strategy for maximum meat production. Breeding for showing is whole different animal.

[@randybacorn6900]

What was the result of the survey asking if people would be willing to pay $100 for a cage?

[@westmeadowrabbits]

It seems two thirds thought it was reasonable.

[@jenniferbunker2757]

How do you stop rats from getting into your cages ?

[@westmeadowrabbits]

I've honestly neve had a rat problem. Rabbit feed doesn't have a whole lot of grain that rats like (it's mostly plant fiber) so they aren't attracted.

[@Schaefer2022]

Where do you live!? Looks beautiful

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Northern MA!

[@judyprice3675]

Im researching meat rabbits & all that goes with this. I would be interested in your cages. Please let me know if you are, in fact, going to sell them. Where are you?

[@westmeadowrabbits]

I'm still thinking about it, but won't be selling them anytime soon. Good luck!

[@jeremiahfix8844]

I live in haverhill and am interested in buying meat rabbits from you. I tried getting a hold of u through email but I never got a reply.

[@westmeadowrabbits]

Hi I never got it! Did you try the contact form on my website?