Daydreaming (An Ideal Rabbitry)

Over the weekend after Thanksgiving, I was looking at different rabbit vendors to see if there were any sales online. I found myself daydreaming about what my rabbitry would look like if money, time, and space were unlimited. Here are some of the things I would invest in:

1. Automatic water system- So, I am pretty sick of filling bottles after 5+ years now. I realize this isn't the most expensive or complicated thing ever, but I want to have my cages and barn set-up before I pursued auto-water so I had everything just right from the start.

2. A tray-less rabbitry- I would prefer to have a set-up with single rows of cages in a building dedicated to the rabbits. I saw one I really liked in a CL ad. It was basically a modified extra-large carport. It was completely covered on top and down part of the sides, but open underneath for tons of airflow and natural light. It looked like the seller had roll-down tarps for when it was extra cold/windy/rainy. I'd probably have worm/compost beds or something underneath so I can utilize the manure for other purposes still. If it was completely indoors, I'd like a set-up with waste going into a container outside with drainage holes so I can still use it, but it doesn't stay in the building. With my current set-up indoors, I would love to have angled boards like on the KW Rabbit Tech system instead of trays, but ultimately, I am not sure it would be clog-free and frustration-free for the enormous expense, which is why I would fall back to the old-fashioned (yet practical) rows of large wire cages like meat breeders still use today.

3. A rabbit building- I'd love to have a place like Bob Bennett has in his book that is dedicated to the rabbits with good ventilation, an attractive exterior, practical. He used the side of his to store firewood with the long/low roofline and also had an idea for a plant arbor that could go around it to provide privacy and more food. While I am daydreaming, I'd love to have a little office to store my rabbit-related paperwork/books/etc., a dedicated processing area, and grazing pastures outside. After reading about multiple rabbitries having coccidia problems, I don't think a full-blown colony set-up is practical for me though. I love heritage stuff, but there is a reason even backyard rabbitries started getting their stock up and off the ground. If I could protect the area and ensure it stayed parasite-free though, I would still love the rabbits to get regular time outside.

 Wouldn't something like this be lovely with some basic modifications for rabbits?

4. A reliable quality pellet and hay source. That should be easy in this day and age, but it isn't. I've probably gone through 5+ rabbit pellet brands and types over the years due to availability or problems with the pellets themselves. I've had to special order and use oats/alfalfa to stretch out what I had when suppliers came up short. Hay is also an issue at times- I have to go to various feed stores and sometimes just get bags from PetSmart or PetCo when the quality is poor locally. Sometimes I feel like hay bales are half dust/soil when it is a bad cutting and it isn't cheap either. A bale of alfalfa at my local feed store is almost $25 for one. I literally had a spider infestation of some sort of non-venomous web species after buying one apparently good bale of timothy that had a bunch of baby spiders or spider eggs or something I didn't see inside the flakes, too. I am still clearing random spider webs from the corners of the ceiling where the rabbits are kept. I've been thinking about using a non-essential Harlequin or three for a fodder/natural feeding experiment that I will post about soon. I also would love to have some hay pastures on my next property so I can harvest my own for the animals and a larger garden with an orchard to supplement a greater portion of their diet.

I'm sure there's more, but that's what I am thinking about today. What would you change if money/time/space were no object?