Rabbit Housing: Planning, Building, and Equipping Facilities for Humanely Raising Healthy Rabbits

by Bob Bennett

Overview

Create a safe, sanitary, and efficient home for your rabbits. In this informative guide, Bob Bennett provides clear step-by-step instructions for building attractive all-wire hutches of all sizes, with additional tips for adding the necessary accessories like feeders, watering systems, nest boxes, and fencing. From the direction a hutch door should swing to proper ventilation and protection from predators, Bennett covers everything you need to know to create a housing structure that will help promote a healthy and productive rabbit-raising operation. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781603429665
Publisher:	Storey Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	07/03/2012
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Bob Bennett is the author of six books on rabbit raising, including Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits and Rabbit Housing, as well as numerous magazine and newspaper articles. He has served as the editor of Rabbits magazine, has been a contributing editor to Countryside magazine, and is the founder of Domestic Rabbits and a past director of the American Rabbit Breeders Association. An Air Force veteran, Bennett has a master’s degree from New York University and lives in Vermont, where he has raised rabbits for more than 50 years.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter One: Planning Your Rabbitry
A Brief History
Primary Considerations

Chapter Two: Building All-Wire Hutches
Choosing Welded Wire
Sizing the Hutch
Planning the Door
Plan: Easy Wire Hutch
Multiple Hutches
Plan: 10 Small Hutches
Plan: Top-Opening Hutch

Chapter Three: Outfitting the Hatch
Types of Feeders
Watering Methods
Installing a Watering System
The Best Nest Box
Plan: Wire Nest Box with Flanges
Plan: Wire Nest Box without Flanges
Building Your Own Carrying Cage

Chapter Four: Sheltering a Backyard Rabbitry
Simple Three-Wall Structures
Closed Buildings
Installing Hutches
Fencing All Around

Chapter Five: Building and Outfitting a Big Operation
Heating and Cooling
Ventilation
Manure Management

Chapter Six: Tools, Equipment, and Routines
The Necessities
Optional Items
Miscellaneous Equipment
Rabbitry Routine

Resources
Index

Editorial Reviews

This book delivers, providing plans for a full range of rabbit homes, from a simple metal hutch to a full rabbitry. Bennett has more than 50 years of rabbit-raising experience and has authored half a dozen books on the topic. No-nonsense advice plus focus on materials and products leave little room for error. There is something here for both the experienced breeder and the beginner. The building projects are clearly described with line drawings illustrating construction and technique. VERDICT This excellent manual should be paired with any rabbit care guides, and, with the development of urban farming, should see a growing demand. A sterling work and highly recommended.

Library Journal