KW Cages Rabbitech System Review

I've had my Rabbitech system for about 7 months now. I thought it was time to post a little review about my system.

As far as looks go, it is big, shiny, white and medical lab looking (a bit out of place in my old garage), but I love my Rabbitech system. It is very professional looking and sure beats dumping drop pans. There is still work involved maintenance wise though(contrary to popular belief lol)...just different work. Instead of running around dumping pans, I stand and wipe down things. I pull down and replace panels. I spray waste down a trough. I dump the manure/urine collector and hose it down. It's not too bad, but some areas are a bit tricky to get into. I often scrape my knuckles on wire, but I have rabbits. Everyone does that.

I have not had a problem with clogging hay as I saw on some reviews of these types of systems, but hay does slow down the spraying down of troughs. Overall, I think it is very well designed. The back panels and side trays do a very good job of keeping urine inside the system and not on the walls/floors. I can easily scrub cages (floor tops and bottoms) when the back panels are removed. The finish is very durable. I have had no issues with rust or chipping. There was definitely thought put into it.
If I were to make improvements, I'd suggest the following:

• a quicker/easier way to take off back panels for cleaning (arthritis-y hands). Otherwise, I love, love, love the back panels...such a simple, but functional feature. 
• slightly more space between cage front bottom edge and trough top edge. I could get cleaning tools in there easier without scraping hands.
• The PVC spray-down troughs are great, but finding tools to clean it at first was a challenge since you must use nonabrasive tools.  After several other tries, I now use a stoneware pan scraper from Pampered Chef...probably not what PC originally intended. This helps keep the trough smooth so pellets roll down the trough as intended. An automatic rinse system for the trough would probably be helpful (less chance for urine to dry), but I haven't tried this yet. I worry about damp wool on my Angoras. I do
• a better set of instructions for non-laboratory maintenance department professionals. Instructions were sketchy. In their defense, though...the system is probably sold to a smaller percentage of regular folks with rabbitries. We did eventually get everything together without calling customer service...and I admit that I may be challenged in this area.

 

This is not a design issue, but something to be aware of. We purchased the manure separator bin (an accessory). We attached our garden hose as designed, but the lay of our land meant flow was so slow to render it useless. I have to hand-carry and dump liquid waste...blah. The manure separator seems like a wonderful thing when the system is higher than the surrounding ground though.  

Also, I put my one-sided system together as the directions indicated. Once it was all balanced and silicone-ed in place, I realized I had to move my system out from the wall about 18 inches to get behind and clean it. In talking to others, someone much smarter than me told me they turned their troughs where the manure slid to the front of the cage instead of the back. This doesn't look as pretty in my opinion, but it does save space in a smaller rabbitry. I'm probably just jealous that I didn't think of it myself. 

New Rabbitech System = Rabbit Room Remodel

"Peru" means purple....very purple.

"Now where ARE those directions?"

Christmas (and my birthday, and anniversary) came early this year.  Hubby surprised me with a new cage system from KW Cages...Rabbitech Cages.  Woohoo!!!  

They arrived this week on a nice little pallet.  That meant moving everything out of the rabbit room and a good scrubbing. Blah.

Sooo, since the room was empty anyway....out comes the sketch pad to draw up a rabbit room makeover.  First was a new paint color...
something bright and tropical.  A fiery coral was my first pick, but I really wanted something cooler.  So I went with a Behr paint called Peru.  Jeepers, it's super purple!  I could never get away with that inside the house...so we just went for it.  Hubby was kind enough to help...again.
 

All put together and ready

 In the end, we only finished half of the rabbit room...just enough to get the cage system in.  The rest will come along throughout the winter.  But I have a nice sketch to guide me.   


It took two days to put that Rabbitech system together, but this morning...it was totally worth it!  Just a bucket of water down the drains and I was done cleaning.  Bye, bye trays.  Thank goodness! What to do now?.....well, groom....of course.    

Angora 101 Webinar July 14th

www.texasangorarabbitclub.weebly.com

The Texas Angora Rabbit Club's webinar entitled Angora 101 is set for this Saturday, July 14th from 9:00am to 10:30am. Everyone has been working hard to make it a success. Our presenter will be Sasha, our current TARC President.  Sasha shows English and Satin Angora rabbits here in Texas and nationally.  She was very instrumental in helping me get started showing rabbits.  I always learn something when she's around.  

The webinar is designed to help people who do not have an Angora rabbit yet, but would like to learn more about them...and also those might already have an Angora rabbit, but are new to Angoras.  They do have a few slots left, so it is still possible to to sign up.  The webinar is free to TARC members.  There is a $5 fee for non-members.  It's only $5 to join TARC so just join and get any of the future TARC webinars for free. Click here to register. 

New Pens for Indoor Living

Defiance checking out her new pad

My rabbits live inside. It's just how it is for me right now.  But inside living has its downsides.  There's constant cleaning, vaccuuming, and dusting.  I work hard to keep wool off of everything...often just one step ahead of my DH. I race to deftly pluck that stray wool strand off the back of his beloved Ohio State jacket as he heads to the car in the morning.  Crisis averted :)

Hershey in her new 2'x4' pen.  

I don't mind the cleaning...mostly.  But there is one thing that constantly plagues me:  My wire cages are ugly.  Practical, functional, superior in design...yes.  Decorative....no.  I don't know why it bothers me, but I want to have it all: beauty and function.  And my wire cages just weren't cutting it. After a ream of crumpled up papers landed in the recycle bin, I finally came up with an idea that my DH would build and I can live with.


So here it is:  2' x 4' bunny living with upgraded wire floor addition and open sky light (to compensate for the days my rheumatoid arthritis decides it doesn't want to open rabbit doors).  The base is painted with low-tox milk paint and tiled base keeps stray urine from contacting the wood. Two 24"x24" trays slide underneath for easy cleaning.  Wheeled legs make rearranging easy.  The wire cage just lifts off for easy cleaning. The entire ensemble wheels easily down the hall and out the back door for cleaning...unlike those unweildy 30"x36" cages.  These new pens have an increased floor space of 72 square inches compared to my roomiest cages (30"x36").


I should mention that our work has been months in progress. These cages are version 2.0. The first version had solid floors and was a stinky urine wet wool disaster...immediately scratched. I'm sure that two months from now my DH will hear those dreaded words from me..."Hey, Honey! How about if we....?"  That is how I am.  I prefer to think of myself as forward progressive, but those actually living with me may think differently. Either way,  I am so thankful that he is always willing to try whatever crazy idea I have.  Such patience is hard to find.

    

Scientific Research Tidbits

The rabbit has historically been a neglected creature in the scientific research community.  Oh, yes, those little guys have been used for research for many years, but the rabbit itself had not been researched near as much.  The World Rabbit Science organization was formed (with the first World Rabbit Congress in 1976) to unite rabbit scientists around the world.  On their Web site, there is a section for online scientific research.  I love this stuff because it is as objective as information can be, regardless of your philosophy.  


I just wanted at share some interesting tidbits gathered from rabbit research around the world, resulting in a journal called "Recent Advancements in Rabbit Sciences" Edited by L. Maertens and P. Coudert.  This book was a joint effort of COST (European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research) to consolidate fragmented, short term and discontinuous rabbit research into one area.  Fourteen countries participated. The journal is in pdf format and available to download so you can read all 309 pages at your leisure haha. NOTE: The page number where I found the information is in parenthesis.

• Artificual insemination (AI) is widely used on European rabbit farms. This required the use of hormones to keep all does on the same breeding cycle.  Recent regulations have forced European rabbit farms to look at nonhormonal methods to improve reproductive performance.  Here is what  researchers have found: 

• Scientists have discovered that cage changing, or doe gathering, before insemination has not clearly been shown to increase doe receptivity.  Some studies said YES, some studies said NO.  Scientists must be able to reproduce results before they can say it works (31).
• If you are breeding a doe with a litter, controlled nursing applied 2 or 3 days before mating (by closing access or removing nestbox) is effective.  Receptivity is best when mating occurs right after the doe nurses her kits.  Controlled nursing works best for mating receptivity if kits are completely removed from doe's area...no smell, no sight, no hear (34).  
• The "buck effect"...placing a doe in the cage next to a buck, was not shown to increase receptivity as it does in other animals. What?! This made such sense to me so I was surprised it could not be easily proven. The "buck effect" works with other animals...with rabbits, not so much.  However, bucks in the cage next to a young doe can induce sexual maturity and receptivity in those young does...not in older does, though (41-42)...so all is not lost.   

• Investigations show that does prefer to jump on an elevated seat if possible.  A second floor is used by does as a withdrawal area from pesky kits.  The floor material of second floor is important to consider because solid surfaces (such as wood) can carry risk of endoparasite infection (81) and slots can get manure and urine on kits below. 
• In the last few days before kits are born, their nostrils open up and they can smell the food that has passed through the placenta from the mother's diet .  If a kit is born to a doe fed parsley during gestation, they will be naturally drawn to parsley odors after birth.  This preference continues through weaning, with kits displaying a preference towards the foods the doe has eaten(88-89).  How cool.  
• Controlled nursing (removing nestbox from mother's cage and replacing on a time schedule) kits remained in the fear freeze stance for less time than free-nursed kits in experiments. These kits also had a higher growth rate and a higher degree of relaxation.  I am jealous of these kits and their higher degree of relaxation.  
• Kits are highly senstive to people handling them in the first period of life so it is important to handle them.  This lowers their stress reaction due to the 'fear' of humans after weaning (93).  A higher tolerance to stress means stronger immune systems. It's a win-win.  
• These handled kit's reduced fear is long lasting and specific to the handler species. If you want your kits to be people friendly, handle them when you take them over to mama for nursing. These handled kits later showed higher conception rates when mature than non handled ones, too.  The optimal window for handling kits for reduced fearfulness is 15 minutes before and 30 minutes after nursing during the first week of life(103-104).  These little guys connect us to happy, feel good nursing activities. Kits handled like this are said to be 70% more bold, making better people rabbits...if you raise fancy breeds.  
• During a group housing experiment, it was found that solid floors are not recommended due to urine and dropping contamination, causing disease. Floors should be perforated.  Alternative floors such as plastic slats (baby pig slats/MIK flooring) experienced more sore foot lesions(113). The use of footrests on wire netting floors is recommended to provide a comfortable resting area and void footpad injuries(116, 119).  Wire netting walls are also recommended to allow individually housed rabbit does to have social (visual) contact with their neighbors(117, 119). 
• Research has found that a combined method of controlled and free nursing is best when raising kits.  Free nursing during the first week of life and controlled method afterwards.  Milk production of does was not affected by the nursing method.  There were differences though, if mom was a first timer. First time mothers and litters benefited from controlled nursing with lower mortality rates.  However, experienced mothers did better with free nursing (119).  The combined method is a good compromise.  
• Cages  (size, equipment, etc.) used in rabbitries are suitable for production and also that they have no harmful effects on welfare (119).  There it is...in writing...in a scientific journal. 
• HOWEVER, The addition of a wooden stick, or other environmental enrichment, in rabbit cages had a positive effect on rabbit productive traits, behavior, carcass and meat characteristics.  AND such enrichment is a good way to improve public image of intensive breeding programs (125).  

This is just the tip of the iceberg of cool info.  Maybe it's worth an additional post. But don't take my word for it...check it out here.

Fall/Winter Preparations

Everyone has their little list of rabbit winter prep chores.  Here are mine along with a couple long term plans.

• Pressure wash the cages and cage accessories.  Hoping to enlist DH and his new pressure washer for this one.   
• Finish construction on the BunnyShip Galactica (the new rabbit pen).  Here are a pic of the gutter assembly.  The final model will be sheet metal (galvanized)...I think.  A coroplast sheet substitutes just fine right now.  It did reveal the need for stabilizers underneath the sheet, though.  

The leaf guard is inverted to collect manure for easy disposal in the garden.

• Prep the nursery for Little Sun's litter.  Hopefully the mating took.  I chose not to palpate.  She is running around with mouthfuls of hay, so the signs look good. 

• Fight the fur mite monster. One of the bucks has fur mites, a common problem with wool breeds. Ivermectin given orally has had minimal effect on the little devils.  I took him to the vet (trying to score some Revolution), but nothing showed up on the scrapings.  Our vet is really wonderful.  He enjoys seeing the bunnies and tries to save us money, too. Since our boy is not in misery and is otherwise healthy, our plan was to give Ivermectin for a bit longer, then come back for Revolution if that doesn't work.  Dr. Wright feels like he is at the tail end of this anyhow. His skin is clear and he is not itchy...just a few pesky flakes and webby spots.   Since the Ivermectin has not worked as quickly as I'd like, I am trying the diatomaceous earth as well (food grade, of course), being careful to keep his cute little face dust free. 
• Make new carriers for next year's shows.  This will probably be a winter project.  The carriers in the size I like are about $40 each, so we will try our hand making a few.  
• Some type of cooling unit for the buns.  This is in preparation for next spring/summer. It is so ridiculously hot here.  At times, it is quite difficult to show my rabbits in heat like this.  All the shows I've been to in Texas have been outdoor shows. This is OK when the weather is cool, but show season shortens when it warms up. However, bunny health does come first and I am not above leaving a show if they do not look happy. I do hate leaving, though. Perhaps I should get other types of rabbits more suitable for the environment I live in?  Heavens, no.  Adapt and invent to accomodate my rabbits? Yes. Absolutely. I LIKE English Angoras and I am pretty sure my rabbits like me, too.  My rabbits enjoy climate controlled living anyhow so it makes sense to keep their climate controlled whenever possible.   

Rabbit Pen Prototype

Well it only took about six weeks, but we finally have a bunny pen sketch.  DH started construction on the base already.  Yippee!

I just need to decide on finish for the base. Although wood is not the best product to use in rabbit cage construction, we decided to make an exception as this is only the prototype and it is a more economical option.   Cage construction has been slowed down by the el-cheapo j-clip pliers we bought at Tractor Supply.  Nothing against TSC, the pliers are meant for small fix 'em ups, not huge cage construction.  We should have ordered heavy duty pliers online, but to be honest, DH moved much quicker than anticipated.  I was unprepared...
happy, but unprepared. BUNNYRABBIT.com is on vacation this week, so I'll have to figure something else out.

So construction will continue once I have some better pliers onhand.  For now, I just have to figure out how to protect the base.  Paint is the first step.  Just have to work out the details with the rest.

The Housing Plan..Sort of

Currently, all my EA rabbits live in either 30x30 or 30x36 wire cages.  The plan was for the does to have the larger cages, but I couldn't take Mr. Biggles' cage from him because he was our first English Angora and we all have quite the soft spot for him.   Everyone has exercise time, but I cannot help but feel that I could do better.   Sometimes it is a real pain to get everyone out for exercise so I've been looking for an alternative that helps me and them.  

Plans are in the works for a sort of pen which will really be a larger version of the wire cage they live in already.  I am in the drawing stage right now and will post a sketch as soon as I get a workable construction plan.  My idea gets more complicated as I need this to be an indoor solution as the weather here seems to remain ridiculously hot.  I am looking at something along the lines of 36"x60".  Don't think I'll find a drop pan that size so I'm looking at alternatives.    

The X-pen on the floor thing is just too messy for my fluffy little guys.  Biggles and Charlee lived in our unused dining room (house rabbit style) for the first 5 months of their lives.  Biggles' personality became like that of a small dog...super social.  I later found out that is his personality regardless of X-pen or wire cage.  He's just that rascally.  It was great having them nearby, but a full-time job keeping them and their area clean.  I could not imagine how someone with a real job keeps up.  

Anyhow, all this lab rabbit research got me thinking of the idea of having everyone in pens.  That is what initially got me thinking about a large wire pen with a wire floor that is more compatible with wool upkeep.  More room to exercise was a big motivator.  I am convinced that rabbits would benefit from a more social environment(as indicated in the lab research), but cautious as the current show rabbit model has a lot of supporters, and quite frankly, most of these folks are quite knowledgeable..even more so than many general practice veterinarians (as a result of lack of exposure).  There is something to be said for experience. Besides, the labs are not dealing with show animals where nips (and subsequent white hairs and scars) and excessive grooming, such as nibbling on a show coat, can be detrimental. I have to admit that I am hesitant about deviating too much, but wish to do what is ultimately best for the rabbits and myself.  It's all about taking the calculated risk towards innovation, emphasis on "calculated." I'm sure that someone else has done this.  I would love to see their results.  

I'm not quite going with the colony model just yet.  My rabbit have been individually housed, but I am not above a little carefully constructed experimentation with future litters, if any.  Our first two EAs (two bucks - Mr. Biggles and Charlee) were a bonded pair and they really seemed to enjoy each others company.  They continue to be housed side by side.  They are often found cuddled up to each other through the wire  so I see how a group setting would be advantageous for overall health (not to anthromorphize). 

Just a note:  there seems to be a lot of research about group housing, but they mostly utilize solid floors and hay as bedding so disease (coccidiosis, etc) can be an issue.  I think if they researched the benefits of wire/properly slotted floors in a group setting, they would experience a decrease in disease issues.    

The idea of keeping my rabbits in larger pens just makes sense to me.  I know of at least one other rabbit person who does this as a sort of outdoor exercise pen.  The wire will help keep everyone clean.  The rabbits get room to actually do more "rabbit things" like hop around and stretch out their legs.  I am excited to have some sort of idea in my head as to what I would like...now to get it on paper.