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4.5
I reviewed the Midwest playpen dog cages back in September of 2020 when I was still raising Goldendoodles and Labradoodles. I loved them for weaning and transporting my puppies! After my review everyone was buying them in the dog breeding world. Since then I've retired that mission and the husband opted to use my Midwest playpens and cages for raising meat rabbits. It's a huge size compared to the tiny 2.5' x 2' x 18" tall stackables most folks use and by far cleaner, easier on adding or removing rabbits, and more humane by offering the rabbits a nearly normal life as well. We did some adjustments by dropping the pen floors down to the very lowest position, added the clear sidewalls and corner protectors inside to divert urine and feces into the plastic trays below with puppy pads. Works fantastic. The husband built lovely slightly elevated to the rear side stands to accommodate 4 of the 3' x 3' cages in a row on each side of the rabbitry, covered the surface with rubber so they can be hosed down, and everything is at waist level for easy access to the bunnies and taking care of them. When it's time to breed, we use a small dog carrier, slip it through the huge doorway of the crate and force our ladies into a corner where they quickly hop into the carrier. Then we can carry and release them to the buck instead of being scratched up or causing trauma and stress to our does. Additionally, due to the huge size of the interior we added a 'Booda' cat litter box for the kits to be delivered and weaned inside, and we can open the top of the cage (the two wire doors) to take it out when the does are not giving birth. This allows us to hose them out before the next kindle is due. But better yet is being able to add the jumbo sized corner litter box. Now all of our bunnies are being potty trained to use them. Once we tweaked out the small problems and issues, we ended up with a stunning and super clean rabbitry that is not only efficient, but keeps our bunnies happy and content. We have opted to use the 4' x 4' sized cage for our Flemish giant buck as he needs the additional room when mating with another Flemish doe. Because the Flemish are so gentle and friendly, we have no issues moving them about or catching them in the larger sized dog crate. These crates are also made with the coated wiring which alleviates any sores or injuries on the rabbit's feet. As a note, we left the original horizontal flooring in instead of opting for the 'grid' version for the does to prevent any kit losses were one to slip out of the Booda nesting box. Since we keep a piece of two-by-four in each cage for rabbits to gnaw, if any 'berries' are on top of the wire, a light tap sends it through to the pans below. But knowing the kits will not fall through is worth this small additional effort. The cages allow the rabbits to remain in a screened in outdoor enclosure with roof overhead for optimum airing. We have a portable swamp cooler we use during the summer for cooling them down, and they love it. Winters are so mild in southeast AZ that we have no concerns, plus they have their enclosures to hide in as well. The dog cages can be moved easily enough if needed, but so far there has been no reason to do so. It smells wonderful, no urine as it absorbs into the potty pads. We hose down the entire supporting stand tops every other week, but only to eliminate dust since the urine and feces is nicely contained in the trays. We dump the trays daily, and change out the puppy pads weekly along with a rinse from the hose. We simply remove all of the trays, spray the stand top down, then replace the trays. Since the stand is slightly elevated to the back all water runs off onto the fake grass below and to the front. Dumping daily is so easy, too. Fast, efficient, and so much nicer than 99% of the rabbitry cages we have witnessed so far. Highly recommend this method, as these cages are very solid, secure, and will last forever. This works well for a smaller homestead rabbitry. The commercial growers generally have more compact and efficient units, which we've considered, but did not like the tiny cages, the lack of 'exploring' area, or the stacking methods which reduce human to animal contact time. We feel all animals should have a fun and normal life regardless of their mission or purpose.
