Drawings and sizes of Zolotukhin's cages for rabbits and how to create it yourself
Rabbits, as you know, are not only fur, but also 2-3 kilograms of dietary meat. Keeping animals is not so easy. Domestic hares are susceptible to infections, drafts. The famous rabbit breeder N.I. Zolotukhin invented cages for rabbits, drawings with dimensions and explanations for which are now in the public domain. The advantage of the conditions of keeping offered by him is that the animals give healthy offspring, they get sick less.
Features of the cell according to the Zolotukhin method
The designs proposed by Zolotukhin are combined into blocks of 6 cells located in 3 tiers. One block is designed for breeding 18-36 animals, 3-6 in one cage. Each terrace has 2 rooms separated by a corner trough. Flat slate / boards and coarse mesh are used as flooring.
The part of the flooring adjacent to the rear wall is made mesh (along its entire length). Through the mesh, urine and feces fall out of the cage. In the cold season, the floor is covered with hay, including the net. The litter is not removed until spring to insulate the animals' dwellings.
To prevent sewage from the upper levels from falling into the lower ones, Zolotukhin proposed 2 options for the location of the tiers:
- The back wall of the third floor is straight, at the second and third floors it has a bevel at an angle that allows rabbit feces to fall down, bypassing the cages located below.
- Mesh cages are arranged in terraces: the upper one protrudes above the second and first, the second - above the first. The feces and urine of the animals fall to the floor of the rabbitry.
The feeder is located at the bottom of the door. The corner design allows feeding without opening the door. To bookmark the feed, the door is thrown back, the trough is cleaned, and the feed is added. When the door is lifted up, the trough with food returns to its original place and becomes available for the animals.
The uterine compartments are located on one side, one below the other, and can have a common door for 3 tiers. On the side of the door, a threshold with a height of 10-15 centimeters should be installed so that the rabbits do not fall out of the mother liquor when it is open. During the summer nesting, the mother cell is separated from the rest of the cage by a board 10-15 centimeters high.
The rabbit arranges a nest in the uterine compartment, from which the rabbits will not be able to get out until the age of one month. Then the board is removed, the female is deposited in a cage adjacent to the tier. There is enough room for the little bunnies to move. The board-limiter of the uterine nest in the summer version does not need to be protected from the teeth of the rabbit with a metal sheathing along the edge.
In winter, a closed wooden box with one entrance is placed inside the cage. For the comfort of the bunny, the back wall should be higher than the one where the entrance is.
Advantages and disadvantages
The advantage of this design is that the litter stays dry and does not require frequent cage cleaning. Keeping things clean comes down to cleaning the rabbitry floor once or twice a month. An important aspect is the availability of materials at a price, the ability to make a rabbitry on your own, without the use of expensive tools. A design flaw is that rabbits on frosty days can freeze in a cage where there is little litter.
Design
The basis of the structure is a frame made of wooden blocks. The frame is made simultaneously for 3 tiers along the entire contour. Vertical posts are calculated taking into account the height of the bottom cage above the floor. The bottom of the facade of each tier is raised by an additional bar. The contour of the facade consists of two parts, intended for the installation of a mother liquor door, a door with a feeder. The intercellular space is divided into 3 parts: two cells and a septum-sennik.
Dimensions
Dimensions of a block of 3 tiers, 2 cells each (centimeters):
- width - 240;
- height - 150, including the distance from the rabbitry floor to the floor of the lower cage - 30;
- depth - 60.
Tier dimensions (centimeters):
- width - 240;
- height - 40;
- depth - 60;
- the width of the intercellular septum along the ceiling is 40.
Cell parameters (centimeters):
- width - 100, including the mother liquor door - 40, the door with a feeder - 60;
- height - 40;
- depth - 60.
The dimensions do not take into account the thickness of the bars from which the frame is made.
How to make it yourself
Making rooms for rabbits using the Zolotukhin method does not require special skills, special tools and expensive materials.
Tools and materials
Block making tools:
- hacksaw;
- a hammer;
- level;
- scissors for metal.
Materials:
- boards;
- timber;
- metal mesh;
- flat slate;
- cellular polycarbonate.
The thickness of the timber is at least 40 millimeters. Unedged board - 25-30 millimeters. Mesh with a cell from 3 to 4 centimeters. Polycarbonate can be replaced by chipboard.
Manufacturing steps
Due to its size, a block of 6 cells is easier to assemble in the place where it will be permanently installed.
Frame
The frame is made of bars. From the side of the facade, it has a thickening of 5-7 centimeters to obtain the desired slope of the flooring. Slate (200 x 60/70 centimeters) is nailed to the frame, a mesh (200 x 10 centimeters) is attached to it. Install the back walls made of polycarbonate. The cages on the terrace are delimited by V-shaped mesh senniks.
Roof
The roof of the upper tier is made of chipboard, polycarbonate, slate. The floor of the third, second floor is the ceiling for the second and first rows.
Uterus
During the summer season, the mother plant is fenced off with a board 10 centimeters wide. For the cold period, a plank box without a bottom is prepared with a 15x15 hole, 30x40 in size, and a wall height of 16-20 centimeters.
Trough
The feeder trough is made of board or tin for the entire length of the door, 6 wide, with a side height of 3-4 centimeters. The angle of inclination to the door is from 35 to 40 degrees. The sides are fixed to the frame on one nail, which allows the feeder to be rotated along the axis. The outer side is made of plywood
boards.
Frequent manufacturing errors
The most common mistakes:
- make cells individually and then assemble them into a block;
- insufficient angle of inclination of the floor.
