This is a story that's got something for everyone... a little good-ole boy ingenuity, a little self sufficiency, a little techo-nerdism ending up in an evening of good eatin'
As any of you that read the rabbit forum know I run a rabbit colony instead of individual cages. I stated with little more than an old dog pen with some spare chicken wire thrown up to cover the lower quarter to keep the little ones in. Over the months the colony has flourished and my setup has matured.
First was the implementation of the one way rabbit door. As the pen was a refit dog run patched to hold much smaller animals I had a number of holes that needed to be patched as the rabbits found them. So, I put together a one way door of sorts out of PVC and wire to allow the escapees back into the pen after I had patched the holes. This has turned out to be a great asset, though with (knock on wood) all the holes patched it hasn't been used much lately.
Next came the more involved feeding station. Nothing grand mind you just moving the feed to a better area, keeping it out of the rain better and providing an area that let me catch, with more regularity, the rabbits that were feeding.
Now, the latest innovation for the colony, the catch pen. For months now I've been using a landing net to grab rabbits for examination and slaughter. Up till now this has worked rather well. However, they are now up to 4 burrows in the colony most of which now seem to be interconnected. One of which is under the feeding station. I used to be able to go into the pen and slowly block off all the burrows but the one under the feeding station is impossible to close off. So, my ability to cull specific rabbits was extremely limited. I didn't want to shoot the rabbits either because the ones I usually want to cull seem to be the most skiddish and hang out by the burrows. I don't want to hit one and have it make it back down into the burrow and die. I also don't want to have a bullet pass through one and get one of my expensive breeding stock sooooo.... I came upon the idea of the catch pen.
One corner of the pen has been divided off. I set the corner post and dug up about 6" of soil throughout the whole area. I then laid down wire and covered it back over. This is to keep them from burrowing in this one section of the pen. I then set up a second post, with threshold and lintel with a hinged door and a high cross bar to mount my door release from.
You can see from the pic that I now use this area for all greens feedings. Typically we throw many of our (safe) weedings into the pen as well as spent plants from the garden (corn, beans, etc) but we now put them into this area so they are very comfortable with the pen. Also, most of their water is located in the pen. This shot was right before the first catch. I waited for a few more of the right age to get into the pen and then fired the release.
The release is a simple gate catch, with the rope from the gate attached to a swivel D ring. At first I had this then connected to a long rope. I had the rope run all the way back to the porch of the house. This was alright but, when not in use the rope got in the way, and I had to double loop the rope when not in use so it wouldn't get accidentally tripped. Which means I had to prep the trap (which would scare off the rabbits for a bit) and then wait for them. I also could only spring the trap from one place. If I wanted to do it from somewhere else I had to rerun the rope (not a big deal but it again would scare the rabbits until everything calmed down again) So, the idea kept coming to me... this would be a lot easier if I could do it by remote. I even ended up on Radio Shack's website to see what sort of actuators they might have and day dream about how cool it could be if.... Well, it stuck me while I was looking at the site that I had everything I need right here.
Having a number of kids means eventually you've got a few less than operable RC vehicles around so like Dr. Frankenstein I went to work. I pulled the receiver and drive motor from the car (saving the steering servo for another use) and mounted them to the back of the upper cross bar. I then ran some line to the release and installed a roof to keep the electronics dry. Now all I have to do is flip the switch from anywhere around the pen and the motor fires off, the release is pulled and the door slams shut. Then I can pick any rabbit I want, inspect them, cull them, what have you. Ease of use AND I get to use a remote. Now, if I could just get my recliner out by the pen it would be the perfect gift for any man. :P
Just thought I'd share in my little accomplishment.
J
