Two summers ago we realized that the demand for rabbits had reached a critical point. We didn't have the room for more critters, but we had a need and a demand for more. And we were getting tired of having to move our stock in and out of the greenhouse for the winter. At that time we here in the US were experiencing a massive shortage on lumber. What lumber was available, was ridiculously expensive. And to go with that, the cost of construction materials in general was getting more expensive as well. We crunched the math, and figured out that a mere 20' by 20' barn would cost us well over $15,000 to build it. Buying a pre-built unit started at about that same price range as well.
Except....maybe not?? I reached out to several shipping container brokers. What they had to offer would be a bit less than that half of what the lumber would have cost us. We bought 2 40' used, clean, weather tight, connex containers. It took a couple days to get them both delivered, as they closest holding depot was half a state away. But they were delivered by a mere pickup with a roll-off trailer.
Before they arrived however, we had to get the new barn site prepped and ready. We had to clear some trees, stumps, and misc brush. Then I used my tractor and some attachments to get the ground kinda leveled out. I followed the tractor work with a bobcat and a loader bucket to get the area a bit more smoothed out. I was not aiming for a completely level site. I wanted the boxes to sit on a grade that would allow water and snow to drain from the roof. (shipping containers are pretty much just giant rectangular boxes...water can/does pool up on the roof if they sit perfectly level).
With the boxes delivered and in place, I got to work on the new barn. I cut out spaces for the windows, and a side door. I left the factory end doors in place. After the windows were installed, we installed the rabbit cages. We were able to increase our breeding stock to over 20 does. Last winter we discovered the cages we put together were not quite what we hoped they would be. So this past summer we built new ones. We can hold almost 30 does now, and nearly a dozen bucks. We don't expect to actually fill all those spaces....but the extra room is nice. Here are some pics of the new barn, and of a few rabbits from the various litters last year.
