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Hutch Choices - Please Help!! - UD Got Pictures

Hutch Choices - Please help!!!

  • New Patio and 6ft run combo - in a few months time

    Votes: 7 58.3%
  • Old Patio and 5ft run combo - next month

    Votes: 5 41.7%

  • Total voters
    12

kerina

Warren Scout
Measured up our patio last night for the 6ft x 2ft hutch with 6ft x 4ft run from Happy Hutch which we are (were) planning to get next month when we've paid for OH's car repairs.

Slight problem - it doesn't fit! :censored:

I now have two options. We either buy a smaller combo from happy hutch which will fit (a 5ft x 3ft run would fit as this is what he currently has) which would give him the same size run as he has now, but a bigger hutch (current hutch is only 3ft x 1ft).

OR

We have a new patio laid at the top of the garden and go ahead with the big 6ft x 4ft run combo. HOWEVER, this would take longer as we would need a few months to save up to have the patio laid, so would mean he is in a small hutch for longer than we wanted.

He is a medium sized agouti rabbit, called Thumper - he weighs 1.5kg and has strangely huge (but very fluffy) feet!!

Kerina
xxx

Admin edit: Please let the swear filter do its job.
 
Last edited:
Hi Kerina!

If you could post a picture of your setup then we might be able to come up with some more alternatives.

If you do need mesh for putting some/all of the run over grass, we have some to spare from building our own hutch & run. It's weldmesh not chicken wire so should keep your bun nice and safe - he sounds very cute, especially those feet :lol::lol:
 
Is the current hutch def only 3 x 1?

If so, def get a bigger hutch asap as even with 24/7 access to a 5 ft run, thats not alot of room. Or just buy the bigger hutch for now and use the old run and then get the patio and new run in a few months if thats possible? :D
 
Is the current hutch def only 3 x 1?

If so, def get a bigger hutch asap as even with 24/7 access to a 5 ft run, thats not alot of room. Or just buy the bigger hutch for now and use the old run and then get the patio and new run in a few months if thats possible? :D

Yes, the current hutch is 3 x 1 and it sits at one end of a 5ft x 3ft run. He has 24/7 access. As the hutch is built in to the run, I have to buy a whole new combo - but space on our patio is a problem, hence my post!!

I am inclined to wait a few months and build a new patio at the top of the garden and get him the biggest combo available, but obviously I am concerned about the size of the hutch part of his current combo.

Just so as you all know, when we built the current combo, we hadn't discovered this website and so we were ignorant - I am trying my best to rectify this problem bearing in mind cost and space and my stupid sloping garden!!

Kerina
 
Sorry about the swearing thing - didn't know there was a swear filter!! :oops:

I won't do it again - i promise
 
Yes, the current hutch is 3 x 1 and it sits at one end of a 5ft x 3ft run. He has 24/7 access. As the hutch is built in to the run, I have to buy a whole new combo - but space on our patio is a problem, hence my post!!
.......
I am trying my best to rectify this problem bearing in mind cost and space and my stupid sloping garden!!

How big is the maximum area of existing patio that you could give him?

There might be an option of modifying existing run to fit a new hutch or similar to help you out - how's your DIY? If you want some help, PM me & I'll see what I (and OH) can do.
 
How big is the maximum area of existing patio that you could give him?

There might be an option of modifying existing run to fit a new hutch or similar to help you out - how's your DIY? If you want some help, PM me & I'll see what I (and OH) can do.

The maximum area of the patio to the right of our back door is approx 3ft x 6ft, to the left of the door, about 2ftx 6ft. I could get the 6ft combo and it would overhang the back door slightly, but I also have a netherland dwarf called Smokey who also needs a new hutch (but I am trying to rectify one thing at a time). Smokey is also in a hutch that is too small, but it doesn't seem to bother him as much. He stays in a lot. He has the same type of combo as Thumper, the same size but 1ft narrower.

I am heading off to Microsoft Paint to do some drawings of my patio and current hutches etc. Then you will all see what I mean and my long term predicament of getting them both larger hutches.

Thank you all for your patience - i'll be back soon with drawings

Kerina
 
Hi Kerina

how about a childs wooden play house,can get 2nd hand one and they are great,and then use the run you have already and put a cat flap in the shed.I wish i had done this with my bunnies but we got a happy hutch in the new year.I would hate my husband to find out that i am disappointed in it but i am.A little playhouse should fit on your patio dont you think?Get one with little shutters and a daisy on the door;)

Jackie x
 
Okay

This is my crappy drawing of my patio with where the current hutches are - not to scale

PatioLayout.jpg


And this is my crappy drawing of Thumpers current hutch - smokeys is the same but is 5ft x 2ft :shock: - even worse I know

Hutchdrawing.jpg
 
another option to think about is to put the run, depending on your DIY skills, above the adjacent hutch run. it's hard to describe so i must try and post some pics of the solutions i have used in the garden! i combined 2 hutches and runs in this way last year when space was getting tight on my patio and it worked!
 
Ok - still thinking about it but a couple of questions

- have you thought about trying to bond Thumper & Smokey? If this worked, you'd only need to fit one hutch/run combo in (plus only one lot of cleaning out!). Someone who knows more about this could give advice on how easy it would be etc.

- is the ground the other side of the wall from the patio level with the top of the wall or lower down? I'm wondering whether you could gain a bit of space by putting the hutches on the wall/the ground behind.

- I think I might have misunderstood your dimensions - what is the total width of your patio (left to right) as you face it coming out of the back door? And from the door to the wall is 6ft?

Sorry to quiz you :oops:- just trying to get it all straight in my head to give you a helpful answer!
 
Ok - still thinking about it but a couple of questions

- have you thought about trying to bond Thumper & Smokey? If this worked, you'd only need to fit one hutch/run combo in (plus only one lot of cleaning out!). Someone who knows more about this could give advice on how easy it would be etc.

- is the ground the other side of the wall from the patio level with the top of the wall or lower down? I'm wondering whether you could gain a bit of space by putting the hutches on the wall/the ground behind.

- I think I might have misunderstood your dimensions - what is the total width of your patio (left to right) as you face it coming out of the back door? And from the door to the wall is 6ft?

Sorry to quiz you :oops:- just trying to get it all straight in my head to give you a helpful answer!


Hi Kate

Answers as follows:

1. Yes I would love to bond Smokey and Thumper but they are both boys. Smokey is neutered but Thumper is not yet as the rescue say he is only 3 months old. My plan was to get him neutered when he's ready (6 months??) and then give it a go! But it may well fail as they are both boys.

2. The ground on the other side of the wall is the same level (ish) as the patio (not the top of the wall) but does start to slope quite suddenly from right down to the left.

3. Yes, from the door to the wall is approx 6ft. From right to left I think it is probably approx 8ft but if the hutches are longer than the 5ft from the right to the gap in the wall, they will overhang this gap and we can't get onto the lawn at all. Also the hutches already overhang the back door of the house partially so any longer than 5ft and we wouldn't be able to get out the back door.

I have taken some photos this morning, but they are really dark (bloody winter). I'll post them below.

Kerina
xxx
 
This is both the hutches - i was standing on our lower patio (that has a shed and wheelie bins on it so no room), which is to the left of the back door.

Thumper001.jpg


This is Thumpers hutch just so you can see the design of it

Thumper002.jpg


And this is my gorgeous Thumper Bumper (or Mr Bumps as he is now known!)

Thumper004.jpg


Kerina
 
Aww - Thumper looks very cute :love:

Ok - some suggestions

- Have one of the buns as a house bun temporarily, using the bigger of the two exisiting hutches from their run as a hidey house inside, whilst putting other bun into biggest hutch/run combo you can fit on the existing patio. If you had space, you could put the whole thing inside so they could be confined to the hutch/run if necessary or open (what looks like) a door in the end of the run so they can play in a whole room.

- Bond the bunnies (you need to ask other people about this - we have two boys but they're brothers so that might make a difference), and put both into the biggest hutch/run combo you can fit on the existing patio.

- Can you get the big run part of the combo first & put it on the lawn so each of the buns get some run time in a bigger space until you can sort them out permanently? I'm sure buns can cope with some slopiness, but it depends whether you have the usual Leicester boggy garden problem, as you might get a bit muddy taking them in and out. It doesn't fix the problem totally, but means they get to stretch their legs & binky.

- All the other options I can think of involve quite a bit of DIY (and materials), so it depends whether you want to go that route or not.

Hope some of the above is useful, or at least food for thought.
Gotta go now - work calls.....
 
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