Crawling is a very interesting and profitable occupation. But rabbits are very demanding animals when it comes to care. Especially when it comes to newborn rabbits. Babies are very sensitive to the conditions of keeping, quite susceptible to diseases. In order for the rabbit and the cubs to feel comfortable, it is necessary to take care of the nesting compartment – the brood chamber – before breeding. You can buy it without any problems, but it is more interesting and profitable to make a brood box for rabbits with your own hands.
Why do you need a broodstock?
In the wild, rabbits live in burrows, where they feel completely safe. This is especially important during childbirth, when newborn offspring are especially sensitive to drafts and hypothermia.
In the hole, the rabbit can provide the rabbits with the necessary conditions. But when breeding rabbits at home, they are usually kept in cages, which is not very suitable for breeding. Therefore, the main task of the rabbitry is to bring the conditions as close as possible to the natural environment. This can be achieved by making a womb compartment for rabbits.
Matochnik must meet certain requirements. It should be:
- safe;
- warm and dry;
- clean;
- comfortable
Types and designs
Rabbit breeders usually use different brood boxes. Which one to choose depends on many factors:
- number of rabbits;
- sizes of dwellings for animals;
- the area of the building where the rabbit hutches are located;
- seasons when animals are bred;
- the frequency with which the rabbit’s nest is used.
Types of queens:
- Stationary design.
During inpatient placement, the cage is divided into two compartments of different sizes. A nest is made from the smaller section. It is separated by a solid partition. A circular passage is made for the rabbit. It is made at a height of 10 cm from the bottom.
A simple device for such a nest is to block off a small space transversely with a board placed on a 15 cm wide edge in the darkest part of the cell. It will prevent the rabbits from crawling, will create additional warmth. Usually, a stationary structure is made if the space of the room allows it.
- Temporary construction.
A mobile (temporary) brood chamber is not a very heavy structure, but requires more time to manufacture. It is a rectangular wooden box with a round passage with a diameter of 20 cm on one side. This is the most practical design. It does not take up space, is easily carried, and is easier to clean. Such a mobile queen is installed in a cage where childbirth is expected. When the need for it disappears, such a nest is easy to remove from the rabbit house.
The dimensions of the queen bee for rabbits
The dimensions of the uterine nests are selected according to the size of each individual breed of rabbits. The maternity ward should not be too small so that the rabbit does not feel discomfort and refuses to enter there. If the space is too large, the female may begin to correct the need for it or accidentally crush the rabbits.
When choosing the size of the brood box, you should also take into account the size of the cell in which the pregnant rabbit will be located first, and then with the offspring.
It is important that the “boddy room” for newborns limits the access of outsiders to it.
| Breeds | Width, see | Height, see | Length, see | Diameter of the vine, cm |
| Rabbits of medium breeds: Viennese blue, Silver, New Zealand (animal weight 3-6 kg, body length – up to 57 cm) | 35 | 30 | 56 | 15-18 |
| Rabbits of large breeds | ||||
| Californian | 40 | 40 | 60 | 15 |
| Flanders | 40 | 75 | 90 | 20 |
| White giant, Gray giant, Butterfly | 50 | 80 | 95 | 18 |
| Decorative breeds (weight up to 2 kg and length up to 35 cm) | 30 | 25 | 50 | 10 |
We make a brood box for rabbits with our own hands
Drawing:
Necessary material
The material for the production of the broodstock is chosen taking into account thermal conductivity. The lower the thermal conductivity, the warmer the rabbits will be.
Material material with thermal conductivity index, W (m*K):
- Styrofoam, 0.04
- Sawdust, 0.07
- Drywall, 0.15
- Asbestos, 0.15
- Chipboard, 0.15
- Plywood, 0.12
Many people use asbestos, glass wool and foam plastic for insulation and manufacturing. But these materials are toxic and undesirable for use for such purposes. Mostly wood material.
Tools needed
- line
- pencil
- blow-torch
- door hinges
- hammer
- drill
- nails
- self-tapping screws
- saw
- rails
- jigsaw
- screwdriver
- roulette
Step-by-step recommendations for construction
To make a uterine structure yourself, you need to prepare:
- plywood – 2 pcs. (1.5 m x 0.7 m)
- rectangular clamp
- measuring tape
- drill and screwdriver
- jigsaw
- nails, drills, self-tapping screws, screws
- pencil for drawing
- a blowtorch for final processing of the product.
Stages of making a brood box for rabbits:.
- Draw and cut the plywood using the prepared drawings. As a result, we get two identical rectangular parts (bottom and ceiling), two walls and two side walls.
- On one of the sides, draw a circle for the vine and cut it out with a jigsaw.
- We connect the bottom and the front wall at a right angle. We fix the corner with a clamp. We drill a hole nearby and screw in a self-tapping screw or screw. In this way, we fit all the walls.
- We attach the door hinges to the rectangle planned for the door and fasten the handle.
- We install a limiting bar for the door on the ceiling. The bent nail will serve as a retainer for the door and prevent it from opening freely.
- A small shelf should be attached under the round hole for the female so that she does not trample the cubs when moving.
- All the parts of the broodstock are burned with a blowtorch to smooth out all the cracks and splinters.
This is how easy it is to make a “pot” for rabbits.
Tips for use
- Instead of a door, you can simply make a lid on hinges.
- You can extend the life of the brooder if the bottom is covered with galvanized iron.
- The first-born rabbit should help arrange the nest (line it with straw, cotton wool).
- In order to ensure the comfort of the rabbits and their mother, it is necessary to constantly clean them.
- Mandatory disinfection of the nest – before use and during direct operation.
Maintenance of the queen in the cold season
As a rule, rabbits do not bring babies into the cold. But you can artificially create conditions so that the temperature inside the rabbit hutch does not fall below +10 ° C, then the animals will breed in winter as well.
It is natural that in the cold season, special attention should be paid to nest compartments. They need to be insulated. As well as cages for animals. Matochniks are warmed at the manufacturing stage.
Straw, sawdust, foam are poured between the walls. You can also buy specialized heating mats or films. Ordinary heaters can also be used for heating. They are filled with warm water and placed in a cage, covering with litter. The downside is, of course, that you have to constantly change the water that cools down quickly.
Do-it-yourself warming of the queen
In the warm season, it is not necessary to insulate the mother plant. It is enough to simply put it in a cage and cover the floor of the structure with straw or dry sawdust. The rabbit herself will take care of the rest. They even pluck the fluff from themselves to make room for future offspring.
In the winter season, it is necessary to approach the issue of heating more seriously. In the cold, the mother plant is insulated with thick cardboard or film. If the cage with the nest is outside, it is additionally insulated. The rabbit housing located on the street is also lined with insulation.
Nowadays, farmers have started to use special structures with heating. They also take electric heaters, equip the cages with a warm floor (infrared, film, cable) or electric heaters.
But the most important thing is to maintain the right temperature. After all, overheating is also harmful to the health of animals, as is hypothermia.
How to make film heating
It is quite easy to make a film floor in cages and brood boxes for rabbits. You just need to buy a film with built-in heating elements in a specialized store.
Its power is recommended for the mother plant of 140-150 W / m². It will be enough to put only 25 cm of such a “warm” floor in the socket, attach it to the bottom, connect the thermostat and connect to the network according to the instructions. It is a big advantage of film heating that it can be installed without screed or glue.
It should be remembered that the use of heating is necessary only on very cold days, and when turning on additional heating, the temperature in the brooder should be monitored.
Removing the queen from the cage
There is no exact rule when to remove the queen from the cage. It is not recommended to do this until the rabbits are 21 days old. Then you need to look at the condition of the cubs. They should already be quite active, move and eat by themselves. In the cold season, the queen should be left in the cage longer.
Matochnik is a place where a rabbit can safely hide and safely bring litter, and it is also the “first home” for newborn rabbits. It is necessary to approach its production with full responsibility. But as you can see, it can be quite easily built independently at home.