For scientific and profitable rearing of rabbit, housing plays a vital role. Housing for rabbits depends on the location of rabbit farm, local climate and size of the farm. Neat design and comfort are essential. There are three types of housing systems, individual cage, hutch and colony system.
In the cage system, the cages are arranged inside the shed in single, two or three tier systems. But single tier is preferable at small farm. The cages are made with welded wire mesh placed on metal stand and about 2-3 ft above the ground. The space of a single cage is 50 cm* 40 cm with a height of 40cm for keeping rabbit from 42 days onwards. Below the cages, the floor should have a drainage system for easy cleaning of urine and faeces regularly. The roofing should preferably be of asbestos, thatch or other locally available materials.
The hutch system is a self contained cage-cum-nest. There can be 2-10 hutches in a row. This system is generally used for small and backyard rabbit farm. It is economical to construct hutches with locally available materials. Walls may be made using muli bamboo, floor by the welded wire mesh for easy cleaning and roof by the chan grass. Floor should be 2-2.5 ft above the ground. The floor space measurement for single hutch is 3.5*2.5 with a height of 3.5 ft at the front and 2.5 ft at the back. Generally, 5-6 rabbits can be kept in each compartment. In colony system, more number of rabbits can be kept together from weaning to marketing age. The walls of colony house system can be made pucca to half the height and rest half with wire net. The floor is concrete. Roof can the made using corrugated tin or bamboo. Size of a room is 10*10*10 ft. Twenty five to 30 rabbit can be kept in this room. As feeder and waterer, aluminum bowls of 400-500 ml capacity or baked earthen bowls are used.Think to constructing rabbit house
- Must have to adequate space otherwise strees and injury may occur
- House must be rainproof as they can't tolerate wet conditions. Rooms should be well-ventilated and free from dust.
- Preferable temperature is 10-25 c but meat breed can tolerate temperature as high as 35-40 c. Try to keep indoor temperature 32 c with relative humidity of 60-70%. So, use housing material which can cool the room.
- Farm should be at quiet place as animals get frightened easily by sudden noise and presence of predators
- Rooms should be clean and hygienic and a well drained site is important.
- House must be in east-west direction to give protection from the sun.