Indoor Plumbing, take 2*

Months ago, I promised to post the plans and progress photos from when we built our second hanging cage/flush system. I'm finally getting around to it now, even though it has been in use for 4 months now.

It would be a bit tricky to post plans, but I'll try to at least give you an idea of what we did. Of course, these plans assume that you are buying/building cages that are the same size as ours, which are 24"w x 16"d x 12"h.

It seems a little backwards, but start with the height of the bucket that you plan to use on the bottom, and work your way up. Our bucket was 13" tall, so I wanted the bottom of the lower gutter to be just over 13" from the floor. The gutter is 3" deep, so the left end was secured at 16" from the bottom. It slants up 2", so that the right end is 18" from the bottom. Below is a picture of the right hand end without flashing or cages, for reference.

Next comes the supports for the flashing. They are electrical conduit, running the width of the frame and are attached to the frame horizontally with 1/2" brackets. The one in front is 20 1/2 inches from the bottom (on center), and the one in back is at 24" (on center). This gives the flashing a 6" slope from back to front. The lower row of cages is hung using conduit bars running the depth of the frame through the same type of 1/2" brackets from a support that is 41" (top edge) from the bottom of the unit.

For the upper level, we did our math from the top down. The cages are suspended from the bottom side of the supports at the top. The back piece of conduit is 17" down (on center), and the front piece of conduit is 21 1/2" down (on center. The top edge right end of the gutter sits just below the front conduit, at 22". It slopes down to the left 2", so the left end is secured at 24" from the top.

There is also a center support, and horizontal supports on each end (at 36" down from the top).

Now for plans, to try to make sense of it all. From someone who can't draw...this should be good.

The left end will mirror the right end, with one difference. Each gutter will be secured 2" lower than it's opposite end. So, the bottom will be at 16" (measuring up), and the top will be at 24" (measuring down).
The entire wood unit is 72" tall and 9'9" wide, to accommodate 10' gutters. This left plenty of space for a center support, as well as space between each cage and at both ends. It is 21" deep, including the width of the 2x4's on front and back. This unit is 2" deeper than the first one that we built, and I like it better.

 End supports

 Middle of back, with angle supports to prevent twisting

 Close up of right side, back--we had to add pieces to the legs in order to secure the angle braces on the same depth as the top and middle.

Front of completed wood frame

 Conduit, gutter, and support for flashing in place--I recycled some pieces of corrugated plastic, and zip tied it in place to help support the flashing.

Vinyl flashing in place--once the cages were hung, I secured the flashing to the back of the cages with a couple of zip ties also.

My favorite tool for cleaning now is a 2 gallon pump garden sprayer. It's like having a mini power washer to hose the flashing and gutters off, even daily if I want to do so.

If this makes no sense at all, please let me know. Construction was months ago, and I'm afraid the process is a bit fuzzy in my brain now.
*Do you know how tempting it was to be naughty with the title of this post?

Indoor Plumbing

We finished our first do-it-yourself Flush clean system this week. After months of lifting each cage to clean the litter trays, it is a relief to have this first unit done. Now, these 8 cages can be cleaned in less than 5 minutes.

 Instead of the carrier style cages  (that sit in a tray), these are hanging cages. They hang above a sloped sheet of vinyl flashing (which has already been dubbed the Raisin Ramp). All the waste, hay scraps, spilled water, and dust from food pellets slides down the ramp into a gutter than angles down into a bucket.
Cleaning is simply a matter of brushing the ramps and gutters and emptying the bucket onto the compost pile. If I want to get really picky about it, I can spray and wipe the ramps and flush the gutters with hot water. All of this can be done in 5 minutes. The other cages take me 5 minutes each.

The cages are hung with two pieces of conduit that run through eye bolts on each end of the cage unit. Removing them for heavy cleaning is simply a matter of pulling out the conduit and lowering the cages. Each unit is two 24 x 16 x 12 inch cages separated by a 2 inch hay rack. The hay rack doesn't need to be filled every day and serves the double purpose of keeping the rabbits out of sight of each other, reducing snarkiness. It also cuts down on the amount of hay wasted. I chose to make the units smaller so that I can handle them without needing help.

We're planning to build more of these units, but decided to wait a few weeks to see if we need to make any tweaks to the design. The angle of the slopes has to be right. Too shallow, and nothing slides down the ramps. Too steep and it launches into the middle of the floor like it came off a ski ramp.
So far, it's working exactly as it should.

When we build the next unit, I will post plans and assembly pictures.

Smarter than Bunny Pee

Anyone with animals knows that cleaning up after them is a never ending chore. So, it goes without saying (and yet, I'm saying it) that Sanitation is a major component in maintaining a rabbitry.
Since I'm new to all of this, I have been spending a fair amount of time looking into the various options for cleaning and waste disposal. Now, they've gotten my name and the catalogs have started to arrive. It's rather amusing that you can spend literally thousands of dollars on systems whose sole purpose is getting rid of rabbit poop. I may feature a few of the more interesting methods later.

I don't have any sort of budget allowed for this hobby of mine, so I'm leaning the other direction--the cheaper, the better. Since I'm making my own cages, I'm also making my own litter trays. I can purchase them for about $16 each. Currently, I can make them for $5, and I hope to get that amount down even farther.

Metal pans are out of the question. I don't have the equipment to cut, fold, and weld them. If I did, I'm sure I would injure myself in the process. It would be cheaper to just buy them, anyway.  Making molded plastic trays is also not possible.

So, I've been on a search for a material that is cheap, flexible, and liquid-proof.

My first attempt was to make fused plastic liners for cardboard trays. Fused plastic is lots of fun, the materials are readily accessible, and free. Unfortunately, it's also labor intensive (at least, it is when you're needing more than 20 huge liners), and isn't durable enough. The metal cage wire tears it easily. Back to the drawing board.

Linoleum was my second attempt. I bought a remnant at the hardware store and made 6 trays out of it. One side is water-proof, and I could cut it easily with scissors or an exacto knife. It folded easily and I secured the corners with contact cement and then sealed the seams with silicone. I had to be careful not to get the paper backing wet and they sagged some. Lino is just a little too flexible. But, they cleaned well and would work in a pinch.

The most recent trial seems to be very promising. I purchased sheets of corrugated plastic from an outdoor sign company. The 4'x8' sheets were $30 and I can make 6 trays out of them. It scores and folds just like cardboard, but is rigid and water-proof. I folded them up, used duct tape on the corners and sealed the seams with silicone. No matter what size the cage is, you can make a tray to fit. They are very light weight, but durable. So far, they are cleaning up well. The duct tape makes them a little messy looking, but hey, they're just rabbit toilets. Who said they had to be pretty? If I wanted to get fancy, I could use the contact cement, but I was in a hurry this time.

I'm hoping that I might be able to get some of this material even cheaper, or free, but I might need to be patient. If a sign company makes a boo-boo and can't sell a sign, maybe I can get it for my trays.