How many people homemake their whelping boxes ?
Ive been over to B&Q today and bought everything that I think we will need for a whelping box.
I managed to get a piece of wood thats 4ft x 3ft for the base for free as it was the bottom of a stack of packaging. I also bought some decking squares and some lengths of thick wood planks to make a frame.
Ive knocked the decking sections off the square and attached them closer together so theres no gaps and they will make my outside wall. Im now attaching those 3 along to a long piece of plyboard stuff (I actually think its strong compressed cardboard type stuff but its really thick and sturdy). Once ive made the 4 sides im going to attach them to a wooden frame and attach that to the flooring. Ive bought varnish so its then waterproof. How does everyone else make their whelping boxes ? Im hoping this is going to last more than this one litter

Also am I allowed to put a photo up when ive finished ?

We make our own and of course burn each one after it's been used once. Unless you have a small toy breed you will need pig rails, we use very sturdy broom handles for this. (Thin ones will just bend when the btich lies against them.) It's very useful to have a front that drops down so that you can lock pups up again once they get to the stage they can climb over the front. (Not that it takes long before they can get over the higher front either, but it gives a bit extra time for when you need to confine them temporarily.)

The home made ones I have seen have been made of white furniture/contiboard and the front has a lift out part that allows Mum to get out but keeps the pups in, the pig rails have either been a ledge a few inches up the sides or plastic pipe instead.

For my first litter I used a puppy pen from Doghealth, at one end the base of an under bed storage box as the bed with the heat pad at one end of it, when the pups started getting out of the bed to wee etc. I swapped to this tray from B&Q which was for potting plants up on, it had 3 sides and an open front and worked very well.

Now I have one made by Linkabord with base and pigrails, made from recycled plastic, can be colapsed and stored away and the pieces soaked in the bath to get rid of germs or hosed down if needs be, the B&Q tray is still used when pups are a bit bigger.

Alot depends on the breed size and the number of pups there is likely to be.

> Also am I allowed to put a photo up when ive finished ?

No I'm afraid not - you can put links to photos in your profile but not on threads, thanks :-)

I have bought lengths of wood to attach about 5-8inches up on the inside as pigrails, would this be ok ?

Also what I had planned to do was put a 3 ring kids paddling pool with towels and sheets inside there for when shes actually whelping and then once shes all done and settled I planned too just roll all that up and throw it away so it stayed a bit cleaner inside the whelping box for the puppies.

hi sue weve always made ours ,we go to ikea and get the wood that was for wardrobs but have bits missing so they get sent back to the store, we made a box for a large breed for about £15 and that even with screws and hinges! :)....the pool is a good idea if we breed our small breed girl next year i will be useing 1 for whelping too :)

We have got all the wood now :) We bought everything from B&Q as we dont have an ikea close by. Its cost £34 and that included the varnish and screws ( wow screws are expensive)

I have bought lengths of wood to attach about 5-8inches up on the inside as pigrails, would this be ok ?

Depends on the thickness of wood, the weight of the bitch etc. When we did this for a 24 kg bitch it did not work as the wood just bent when she leant against it, hence using the strongest, thickest possible broom handles ever since. You also need to be able to remove it after a couple of weeks as otherwise when pups are mobile they can get stuck.

ahhh ok thankyou, shes 23kg. I will get some strong broom handles then

we use the plastic piping which is easily cleaned plus it can be cut to size and removed easily when puppies are bigger.

Over the years our design has changed , we make it so it can be used from day one until puppies are ready to leave, it is actually 7ft x5 ft with a partition so I can move puppies from one side to the other for cleaning where mum still has access at all times, then when puppies are older the partition is removed making it a big play area, the fronts are slats so they can be added as puppies grow . We extend it  with puppy pens so they have a play area and the whelp box is where they sleep plus it is so easy to keep clean.

Well the whelping box is coming along fantastically although its very heavy, the wood is doubled with sheet wood on the inside and decking planks on the outside They are connect in the middle with batons so there is a gap. I was wondering about maybe putting insolation in there, like they do with houses with the brick tie in the middle if that makes sense.

It doesn't need to be that elaborate, it is only used for a few weeks and if made of something that can't be sterilized after use should be thrown away.

If it is very heavy and the bitch doesn't settle where you put it you are likely to get a hernia trying to move it.

we only used contiboard and that was heavy enough! we did put 3x2 underneath to lift it slightly of the floor so the air could flow through.It was easy for me as my hubby is a joiner so I just told him what I wanted and he made it.

I made my own...had thick plywood cut to size and attached to a base, all with brackets and bolts so comes apart easily. I painted it white and cut a doorway out. It is now in storage and will last many litters. I didnt use pig rails for my medium sized bitch.

We made our own out of MDF. I'd be wary of varnish in case pups chew it myself. The front of the box we made so we could place two pieces of wood slotting in, lower level lasted 2 weeks so Mum could just walk in and out, then we added another on top to keep pups in and Mum could hop in and out. After that, we removed both pieces of wood so the pups could enter the play pen which is where they also had their food/water. I didn't use pig rails for my large breed but one of us sat beside them for 2 weeks day and night.

Screws for whelping can be bought cheaply from Toolstation.  Free delivery if order more than £10 or you can go to one of their shops. Screwfix also cheap