WARNING: This diary discusses the raising of rabbits for human consumption. If this topic disturbs you, please do not proceed.
In our last diary (Part 1): the argument we discussed the argument for raising rabbits as a backyard livestock. If you read that thinking "Yah, I could do that." then the rest of the series will discuss the care, breeding, selection, and slaughter of rabbits for meat. In this diary we will discuss what shelter is needed for rabbits.
Rabbits are generally very easy to care for and require very little in the way of space. They don't need room to run and are generally just as happy in adequately sized cages as they are out in the yard grazing on weeds. For most meat breeds, a 24X36 inch cage is a good size for breeding females (does) but you can also find them larger. You can go smaller for males (bucks) since they're not going to be sharing space with any young.
Rabbits are social but they are also territorial, especially males which will often fight for dominance if housed together. It is important that each breeding rabbit has its own cage. You can have multiple females in the same cage as long as none of them are pregnant or nursing as the extra company causes additional stress on the doe and fights can break out. All metal wire cages are preferable to wood/metal hutches as rabbit urine can soak into the wood and cause it to corrode over time, and rabbits may also try and chew on the wood (honestly, they'll chew on anything). You can make hutches out of wood if that's what you have, but keep in mind that the cages will not last as long.
Rabbit cages should never be made from chicken wire or woven wire mesh, especially on the floors. They should be made of galvanized, welded wire mesh. The walls should be made of 1"X2" galvanized mesh and the floors should be made of 1/2"X1" or 1/2"X1/2". If a cage is intended to house a doe and her little, there should also be either urine guards or "baby saver" wire (which is the same dimensions as the floor) around the bottom 3 inches of the walls to prevent young kits from squeezing through the wire and falling out of the cage. A lot of commercially made rabbit cages come with urine guards (a 3" high strip of steel or plastic running all the way round the bottom of the walls) and that's a good way to not only keep babies in the cage, but to keep rabbit spray (yes they can spray) from going everywhere. It's also good to have some kind of mat for rabbits to rest on. Wire floored cages are far easier to keep clean than solid wood floors, but it can be hard on rabbit feet as their feet aren't padded like cat or dog feet. A bit of plywood or a specially made slotted plastic mat large enough for the rabbit to stretch out on will prevent a condition known as "sore hocks" on rabbit feet. You can also find woven grass mats that rabbits love to rest on and chew on.
If you have a wire floor cage for your rabbit, you should also consider having a litter tray underneath to catch urine and droppings, especially if you're stacking multiple cages on top of each other. They come in several sizes but should fit the exact size of the cage floor. They come in steel and plastic and there are pros and cons for both, but it should be deep enough not to warp over time or flop around when you take them out to clean. You can either fill this tray with shaved wood or shredded paper animal bedding or leave it as is.
The next consideration is whether you're keeping your rabbits indoors or out (and for purposes of this discussion we'll consider sheds or garages "indoors"). Any rabbits kept outdoors should have some kind of roof over their head and protection from wind and rain, but still have good ventilation. This is usually in the form of a hutch of some kind. Whether it's a separate structure that houses wire cages, or part of the hutch, it should be open on at least one side that faces north (out of direct sunlight) and away from prevailing winds in your area. Rabbits can take cold weather, but if you get a lot of snow/wind, then an tarp hung over the open side is also a good idea.
The rest is a matter of deciding what kind of food/watering dishes you want. For food, you have a choice of what's called a J feeder (because of it's shape) which is either metal or plastic, that hangs outside the cage with a hopper that feeds into a rectangular shaped dish that goes through a hole in the cage wall. The benefits of this feeder is that you can fill it without opening the cage and you don't have to worry about the rabbit deciding it's a toy and turning it over. There's also all manner of metal, plastic, and ceramic food dishes. Some that mount to the cage wall, and some that sit on the cage floor. They're easy to clean but if you have a "digger", he could end up digging through pellets and scattering them everywhere. Plus plastic feed dishes can be chewed on (I'm telling you they'll chew anything!). Rabbits can also benefit from eating hay, which can either be tossed on the floor, or put in a "hay rack" that holds the hay against the wall and the rabbit just pulls it through the spaces in the wire.
As for water, most people opt for water bottles that mount on the outside of the cage with a ball point spout of some kind at the end that rabbits lick to drink. Rabbits drink a LOT of water so having a good sized bottle filled with water is important. Some bottles have a flip top that are easier to fill (you don't have to unmount it or unscrew the spout). There are even plug in water bottles that prevent the water from freezing at cold temperatures and some kits that turn 2 liter soda bottles into rabbit bottles. And some people also use metal/plastic or ceramic dishes for water. Larger set-ups with many rabbits also often employ a centralized watering system that either plugs into a garden hose, or comes out of a several gallon bucket and delivers water to individual cages via irrigation tubing to a special type of lick spout. These are very easy, and very convenient, but if you have a sick rabbit that needs to be medicated through their water you may still need a couple water bottles handy for that.
And last but not least, TOYS. Rabbits are intelligent and playful and while they may be fine in a cage all day long, they still like to have SOMETHING to do. Also, rabbit teeth grow constantly and rabbits need something to chew on to keep thier teeth worn down. You can have something as simple as wooden twigs for them to chew on (but nothing from evergreen or fruit trees), wooden dowels, woven willow balls with bells in the middle, an old phonebook (rabbits love shredding paper), or a toilet paper roll filled with hay, or a small cardboard box filled with hay, or any unglazed wicker or woven grass basket or ball.
I was going to talk about feeding and nutrition as well but this diary is getting pretty long so I'll save that for the next one.