As you go along, you’ll find things that aren’t strictly made, designed, or intended as rabbit supplies or as dedicated rabbit equipment, but that prove to be very useful in the rabbitry.
Every now and again, I like to take up a collection of a handful of things that are easy to overlook and easy to take for granted. Then I share them.
When we share the things that help us, the things that work for us to simplify, save time, or solve a problem, everybody wins.
So here are…
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Another 5 Favorite Things to Have on Hand in the Meat Rabbit Barn
It almost feels like there are more things that get used in the rabbit barn in the summer than the rest of the year. Given that rabbits are most stressed by high heat and summer temperatures, there’s probably a reason that is true.
Here’s my list of five more things that I find myself reaching for in the summer. (And at other times of the year, but more often in the summer for sure.)
1. Towels
The rabbit barn is where my ratty towels go to retire. When my bathroom towels start to show some wear, they go to the barn, where they serve a few purposes.
One of the best uses I find for towels in the rabbitry is for swaddling and holding rabbits, especially for hygiene, health checks, or procedures that might scare the rabbit or have them freaking out, squirming, or scratching.
Towels make it easy to wrap the rabbit and keep it safe while I work on it.
I might do this for
- Nail trims
- Sexing for very skittish kits
- Treating nest box eye or eye infections
- Administering medications or shots
- Syringing liquid feed, electrolytes, or medications into the mouth
- Quieting and weighing a rabbit that tries to flee (if you do this, be sure to zero the scale with the towel on it first, or weigh the towel separately and subtract that from the rabbit’s weight so the weight is accurate)
- Covering and wrapping a rabbit that is hard to remove from the cage or that is aggressive can help protect legs and feet from getting caught in the wire
- As a dust cover for scales, material, and equipment
For things like nail trims, I can easily wrap the rabbit in the towel with the opening to its belly side, then remove each foot while I hold it to clip the nails; I keep the other three in the towel where they can’t scratch me. I sit down on a chair with the rabbit’s back to my belly so it feels secure. Usually, rabbits will not squirm much when you do this.
For any of the uses above, it often helps to lightly cover the rabbit’s eyes with the corner of the towel. As long as a rabbit does not feel like it is flying through the air and it can’t see to sense danger, it will typically stay pretty quiet and calm. And if you have one you are worried about being a biter, this gives you good protection. Just don’t pull the towel tight enough to smother the rabbit. A loose cover is all you need.
I’m pretty used to handling my rabbits for these things, and I don’t use the towel as much as I did when I first started out. But there is one time I always use a towel to handle rabbits. And that is…
When children are holding the bunnies!
I have a large family full of a lot of young kids. I love when they visit and learn about the farm and the rabbits. Of course, they always want to hold a rabbit. I’m fine with that, but even a light scratch is enough to cause a child to jump and let go of the rabbit or to squeeze to hold on tight and cause injury.
By wrapping the rabbit in a towel, the child is protected, which better protects the rabbit. It also makes it so it is more difficult for the rabbit to jump and run away. This works very well for when children -- or even teens or adults who are not used to handling meat rabbits -- hold rabbits.
I find it useful to have two sizes of towels in my rabbit room: full-sized bath towels for larger rabbits, and a hand towel size for use with kits and smaller grow outs.
2. Sheets
Old sheets also find their retirement in the rabbit room (and sometimes in the garden, but that’s a different topic).
Sheets are good for various uses. They can make good
- Covers for a rabbit that is scared and needs quieting
- Top covers to provide shade if the sun is too strong in one spot during the day
- Dust covers for equipment
- Shades or covers for open windows, weather for wind, rain, or shade
- Cage covers for dusty cleaning or spraying in the room, etc.
Sheets don’t see a ton of use in my rabbitry, and when they do, it is usually to shade a cage from the hot sun. It is handy to have one or two around for when I need them, though.
3. Small Boards
I also like to keep a few small scrap boards around. These are usually the size of the cage top or smaller.
Some of these small scraps find their way as shims to level a table or set of cages.
Scrap wood could also be a good urine guard or divider between cages. This can be useful if you get bucks or grow outs peeing on each other through the wire.
It could also be a barrier between an adjacent buck and doe set so they can’t breed through the wire (I’ve never had this happen, but I’ve heard enough other breeders say it’s possible to believe it, at least enough to keep does and bucks separated by distance or a solid barrier.)
What I use these pieces of scrap wood for the most is as shade. In my barn, depending on the time of year and the time of day, sometimes I can get a sun ray shining directly in on a cage through the window. Most of the year, it’s not hot enough to bother. But in the summer, when the weather is hot, it can make a huge difference to a rabbit to be able to get out of that direct sunlight. So I’ll throw a small board on there to block the light and provide some shade.
I have even seen a rabbit breeder who uses larger sections of scrap plywood as a roof for his wire cages outside. He simply builds a stand, sets the cages on it, and cuts long sections of plywood the width of the cages, then lays that over the top roof wire. The area is protected from predators with chain link fencing.
The droppings fall down to the ground, which are then periodically cleaned out and applied as fertilizer to the garden on the other side of the fence. The rabbits are quite happy living in plenty of fresh air and light, with the protection they need from the sun and rain.
Easy, simple, cheap, and done. Who said rabbit housing has to be expensive or fancy to work well!!
4. Rubbing Alcohol
Rubbing alcohol has a few uses in the rabbitry. One or two might surprise you!
These are a few of the things I use alcohol for in my rabbit room.
- Cleaning and sterilizing clippers and other equipment between rabbits
- Wiping down surfaces like scales if needed between rabbits
- Cleaning permanent marker off plastic cage tags
- Cleaning hardened, dried-on dry-erase marker off cage tags
- Wiping and sterilizing rabbit skin if needed for medical applications
- Cleaning hands between rabbits to reduce the spread of germs or illness
- *I have never done this, but alcohol can be diluted in water and used as a cooling mist or ear wipe for hot weather -- but do not spray in the eyes!
A bottle of liquid rubbing alcohol is handy to keep in the rabbit room and is a good addition to your meat rabbit first aid kit. The ready to use alcohol prep wipes are very convenient and easy to use, and are my personal preference.
5. Fly Stickers!
Fly control is important in the summer rabbit barn. Not only are flies annoying, but they are a potential health risk if they are overpopulating your barn or rabbit area.
Fly maggots are a health threat, too. Fly strike is a serious problem that can occur, especially if you have a wounded rabbit. Rabbit wounds + flies spell death in almost every case.
Besides that, maggots and flies are just gross! (And I’m not grossed out by much.)
Cleaning cages regularly to break up the fly life cycle, sprinkling lime on manure piles or on the barn floor, and using an odor and moisture absorbing material below cages and in cage dropping pans will do a good job of limiting your fly population. A fan will deter them, too.
Aerosols and pesticides help control flies, but they can cause respiratory problems for your rabbits.
In peak fly season, though, one of the only reliable ways I’ve found to keep the fly population manageable and low is to use fly stickers.
Fly stickers are a cheap, easy, harmless solution that won’t poison or harm your rabbits. In my opinion, there is hardly any better or more affordable method of fly control for barns, farms, and rabbit rooms.
If you’re looking for more ways to help control the fly population around your rabbits, check out these 15 Tips For Controlling Flies In The Rabbitry.
Another 5 Favorite Things for the Rabbit Room
What’s Your Favorite Thing for the Rabbitry?
Do you have a tip, trick, hack, or favorite thing to share? Let’s hear it in the comments.
What’s something simple that you use for your rabbits that might be useful to others?
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