# How big?



## firstmice (Sep 18, 2013)

Hi
Hubby has agreed for me to have a shed for my mice to be 

What size sheds did everyone start out with? And how many mice or cages do /did you have in there? 

thanks


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## onionpencil (Jan 6, 2013)

well how many mice do you have now? how long have you been keeping/breeding them? how many breeding projects? never had a shed, but these things may help other people help you decide how much shed you need.


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

Are you looking to start showing? I *think* I read somewhere that you are, so I'll carry on based on that 

Firstly, how many varieties will you be keeping? In very simple terms, each variety would want at least ten boxes/cages; i.e two boxes for your stud bucks, four boxes for does with litters, four boxes for young mice running on and those you want to show. More boxes per variety gives you more mice you can show, but less than eight boxes won't work for any show variety.

I would suggest starting with one variety in ten or twelve boxes and see how you go from there. If you feel up to the work of double that amount of boxes, take on another variety. I recently had to cut down. I had expanded my number of cages but as I work full time and have other hobbies too, I was finding keeping 40 cages clean a struggle and am now back down to 29 with five backup cages if needed.

Your ten boxes should ideally have a floor space of about 25cm x 40cm, this is a very useful size. You can keep 4-6 adult does in one cage, or a doe with a litter, or a buck with two or three does. So you need shelf space 40cm deep and 2.5 metres wide for one variety. So if you have a two metre long shed, you could have two varieties on three shelves or three varieties on four shelves, if you can manage to keep 30 boxes clean within your existing schedule.

In addition to your shelves, you'll need to set aside space for your food bin, bales/bags of substrate and bedding, and a table for sorting your mice out.

If you are thinking of showing, have a read through this:
http://www.fancymicebreeders.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7744


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## firstmice (Sep 18, 2013)

onionpencil said:


> well how many mice do you have now? how long have you been keeping/breeding them? how many breeding projects? never had a shed, but these things may help other people help you decide how much shed you need.


Thankyou haven't got my mice yet,just trying to get a feel.for how many I could get in theory


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## firstmice (Sep 18, 2013)

Thankyou Sarah Y. That was really helpful and well explained 
I know I definitely would like cream satins,but there are so many beautiful varieties aren't there!

Going to be tough to choose!

Thankyou 
O yes I am planning on showing


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

Well if you keep cream satins, you can keep normal coated creams too and show in two sections. On a good day, this means you could win best self and best satin, and then you have two chances at best in show 

Satin and normal coated can be bred in the same line without negatively affecting either coat type. In fact, some people say that only breeding satin to satin will thin out the coat, so breeding satin with selfs is the best way forward. I don't have personal experience of this though. Creams also throw pink eyed whites (PEW) which can be shown, and stones, which can't be shown. When the babies are born you can easily see which are PEW and which are cream or stone, as the black eyes of creams and stones will be clearly visible through the skin.


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## firstmice (Sep 18, 2013)

Thanks again,for a really helpful detailed answer 
You will be getting fed up with my questions soon!


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## Lyra (Mar 1, 2013)

I wish I've thought about asking those questions on this forum when I started breeding!
I've had many problems with cages, the number of mice that could be inside and so on, size of the cages being the most problematic. Was planning on building a shed in a future as well. I think I'll use some of yours suggestions too, *SarahY* - thank you!

*firstmice*, I find your questions (and answers from others) very helpful, so ask away! :mrgreen:


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## firstmice (Sep 18, 2013)

Thankyou


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## PPVallhunds (Jul 26, 2010)

id say as big as you can get him to get you.
ive got a new one as i ran out of room in my old brick one (pluss its leaks), my new one is 6X8


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## firstmice (Sep 18, 2013)

PPVallhunds said:


> id say as big as you can get him to get you.
> ive got a new one as i ran out of room in my old brick one (pluss its leaks), my new one is 6X8


He's pretty good about it  6x8 sounds good,  Thankyou


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## firstmice (Sep 18, 2013)

Got my shed  10x6 

I'm not going to put up pics until I've sorted and painted it though, cause it's green and a bit tatty at the moment, but I have plans  
Is it sad that I'm excited about a shed? :lol:


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## Lyra (Mar 1, 2013)

Wow, I'm so jealous! Congratulations! 

It's not sad at all, I'd be just as excited as you - all my friends and family would be rolling their eyes at me, so I know what you mean, though


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## firstmice (Sep 18, 2013)

Ha ha thanks  my family know im nuts already ha ha


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## MiataLife (Sep 17, 2014)

Any updates on your new set up? I'm trolling for ideas


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## andypandy29us (Aug 10, 2012)

Ive managed to save up for a concrete garage in the back to put the mice in .... it will need lining and insulating but it should be 6 x 11 hopefully .... and ready for the spring  im so excited about it ... my friends think im daft lol .... they are not into mice


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