In household plots, people quite often breed nutria in order to obtain dietary meat and valuable skins. In order for the animal to feel as comfortable as possible, it needs to create optimal conditions for life. From our article you will learn how to make cages for nutria with your own hands. Photos will help you understand the issue of their construction in more detail, and the video presented in conclusion will be very useful for a novice breeder.
Why should you make your own cages?
Making cages for nutria is a rather difficult and painstaking process that requires patience and time. Because of this, many breeders decide to purchase such a product in a specialized store or in the market, but they do not understand what they are losing. It is important to consider the following nuances:
- Firstly, animal cages on the market are almost 3 times more expensive than the cost of materials. As a rule, for one dwelling you will have to pay from 5 to 10 thousand rubles (depending on the complexity of the design), when the cost of materials does not exceed 2-3 thousand.
- Secondly, by making a cage with your own hands, you can take into account your own individual requirements. For example, you can place not one, but three drinkers at once, or make a hole so that the animals go for a walk.
- Thirdly, in the process of making a home with your own hands, you will get great pleasure, because you create the necessary thing yourself. For some people, this point will seem banal, although very often it is the decisive one.
As you can see, it is not at all necessary to purchase an expensive design in a store when you can make it yourself. In the following sections, you will find a list of the necessary tools and materials that you will need for this.
Varieties of cages for nutrias
If you decide to build a nutria cage with your own hands, then you should be aware of the types of dwellings that can be purchased in the markets. They differ from each other not only in size, but also in special nuances that allow you to keep animals in certain climatic conditions. For example, in areas with warm winters, it is best to purchase a structure that can be placed on the street. Such equipment can simply be placed on the ground or lifted if necessary. ATin colder regions, it is most preferable to build wooden houses, installing them in unheated rooms. But for the north, an ideal option would be a closed cage with bedding, which takes place only in sheds, where it is always warm and dry.
Also, designs may vary in the number of tiers. Models are stationary and portable. In some farms, animals are even kept in barrels, specially equipped in such a way that the pets are as comfortable as possible in them. All these nuances should be considered when creating a cage at home. Especially if you want to breed not two or three rodents, but several dozen individuals.
Is it relevant to use mesh cages?
Continuing the topic of housing types for nutrias, it is worth mentioning the most common type, mesh cages. Such structures are most often made portable, so that animals can walk on the grass in the summer and stay in a warm room in the winter. Despite the fact that such cages are quite simple, and the way they are made is nothing special, they are of great relevance among modern farmers. The materials cost mere pennies, and if something happens, the hole can be repaired in just five minutes.
So what is such a dwelling? As a rule, this is an ordinary rectangular mesh box, on the bottom of which a bedding in the form of hay is laid. This design weighs almost nothing,therefore, it can be carried several times a day from one place to another. To make it easier to keep clean in mesh cages, the top should be openable. To do this, you do not even have to buy additional devices like canopies. It will be enough to attach the cover with wire.
Metal cages are the best option
If you decide to start breeding a large number of rodents, then it is best to seriously think about the option of making such cages for nutria with your own hands. Such structures will be much harder to carry, so they should be made stationary. It is best to install them in sheds that have windows for ventilation.
A special grate with round holes is placed at the bottom of metal cages through which animal excrement will fall to the floor. Cleaning such cages is quite simple: you just need to remove the manure from under the structures with a shovel and replace the old bedding with new ones. The top can be made completely open if the cage is indoors, or covered with ordinary slate, which will protect animals from rain.
What material will be required
In our article we are talking about making a stationary cage for nutria with our own hands. Of course, you can choose another variety, but this option is suitable for most farms, especially if the dwelling is located in a heated barn with ventilation.
So, to make one cage for 10 individuals you will need:
- 4 concrete pipes for support;
- about 5 meters of metal pipes;
- mesh for making the bottom of the cage;
- flat slate or wall boards;
- a bag of cement and sand.
This is a list of only the basic materials that you will definitely need when building. Also, depending on individual preferences, it can be significantly expanded. For example, if you plan to allow animals to walk, then you can build a wooden door and a ramp in the cage through which the rodents will go outside on a hot summer day.
List of tools
To make a nutria cage, you will need various materials processing tools. If you do not have something in stock, then it is strongly not recommended to use alternative options, as this may affect the quality of the design. In this case, it would be best to borrow an instrument from a friend or acquaintance. Here is a list of what you may need:
- hammer and nails for slate;
- grinder with discs;
- welding and electrodes;
- screwdriver.
If you plan to somehow improve the future design, then other tools may come in handy. Better prepare everything you need in advance so as not to be distracted in the process.
Don't forget to make a drawing
If you build a structure not according to the drawing, then in the process of work, be sure to make many mistakes. Therefore, draw a frame of the future structure on a sheet of paper in advance, indicating the dimensions of all the details. Remember that even the slightest mistake in the calculations can lead to inconsistencies in the corners of the structure, so be extremely careful. If you do everything right, the design will turn out to be reliable and stable.
Step by step instructions
Thought about how to make a cage for nutria? The photo and description from this section will help you answer this difficult question. Just follow the algorithm of actions described below - and you will not have any problems:
- We make the frame. To do this, we knock together several boards or fasten them with screws. As a rule, 16 boards are used for this (two horizontal boards on each side and two vertical boards), however, many craftsmen also recommend additionally fastening the frame with several diagonals to give it more strength
- We drive concrete pipes into the ground, after digging holes under them, the depth of which varies from 0.5 to 1 meter (depending on the length of the pipe). After that, we insert metal parts into them and fill them with mortar so that the structure has good strength.
- The third stage involves welding. First, we weld several metal pipes with four supports, after which we lay a grid on them and also weld it. It is strongly recommended to make several diagonals when welding, so that the mesh does not burst under the weight of the animals so much.
- We attach the frame to the metal structure using screws or special metal fasteners with bolts and nuts, which can be purchased at any hardware store.
After that, all that remains is to nail the slate to the cage, thereby forming strong walls. If you decide to modify the structure in any way, for example, to install a retractable manure tray, then all work should be carried out before the slate is fixed.
Place for walking
Next to the cage for nutria, you can equip a special place for walking animals. This will be especially true on hot summer days when nutrias cannot stay in the barn for too long. You can make a special hole in the barn wall through which a ramp will pass leading to the street. The walking area should be fenced with an ordinary net, and somewhere in the middle, dig a small hole and install a bath of water in it. This will allow rodents to live in conditions as close as possible to their natural habitat, as well as escape from the heat in summer.
Conclusion
We hope our article has helped you learn something new about breeding nutria in cages. I would also like to recommend that you watch a short video in which a real professional in his field makes a home for animals and tells in detail what each stage consists of. If you have never built cells before, then the material will be very useful for you. By the way, even professionals will almost certainly find something for themselves in the videonew.
