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Designing hutch please help

confusedman

Mama Doe
We are trying to design the hutch for George and Fanta but this will be our first hutch and we dont really know which is going to be the best type. We thought about something like this
Hutch1.jpg


a two floor one with a top floor for storage.
We didnt know if it would be better to have two or three doors on the top floor or if the ramp is better from right to left or left to right. We have doubts about the legs as well. (Please note the differences in blue)
Hutch2.jpg

We would like it in natural wood colur
We have contacted John from Dawson's and we asked for the price.
He told us: "I would recommend 2 equally spaced doors on your top level and that the sleeping compartments should be on opposite sides as this will make access to both levels easier for the bunnies. If you intend to put the hutches directly on to the floor then i would suggest legs to keep out the cold and damp. If you intend to raise it on wood or blocks then legs are not needed. The price for this type of of hutch will be £350.00 this will include delivery. I will have to look into the cost of a clear waterproof as the type i use is coloured cuprinol. You could choose to varnish them yourself as for me to varnish would mean added expense because of the time it would take".


Any advice???
 
I think having legs is definately a must, a few inches in each corner should be fine.

Generally I think about 50/50 for the doors sounds correct, really long ones can be harder to deal with as they swing out so far.

I don't think the direction of the ramp matters much, as long as it is long so that it's not too steep.
 
I find that 2 sleeping areas works well, as most buns seem to prefer to use a darker area as a loo - so this means that there would be another 'dark' area that could be made warm and cosy for those cold winter nights :) This is exactly what my nethies do and I find it works well :)

Have a look here for some ideas - prices are broadly comparable to the dawsons :)

http://www.rehutches.com/hutches01.htm
 
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Thanks. I understand that plywood is less strong than log lap??

What about ordering something like that

triplehutchb02.jpg

with the top floor closed for storage, a trap door with detachable stairs conecting the middle floor with the bottom one, an so two sleeping areas??
 
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That looks a good one, they also do one with storage down the side of it as well. I guess it really depends on what you want to store in it.

Like most of the hutch companies Ryedale will make any adjustments to hutches you want.
http://www.rehutches.com/imagepages/triplehutch06.htm you could have this one without the pointy lid.

http://www.rehutches.com/imagepages/doubledeluxehutch05.htm you could have the top layer made into storage.

http://www.rehutches.com/imagepages/singledeluxehutch08.htm with food storage on top

they also can make runs to attatch to them
 
Do you think is better to have a sleeping area in each of the floor or with one sleeping area is enough??

Two sleeping areas is good if you ever need to split off the hutch into two for example if they have a huge fight or you need to quarentine one
 
That looks a good one, they also do one with storage down the side of it as well. I guess it really depends on what you want to store in it.

It's worth thinking about as if it's heavy/bulky you may not want to lift it up to the top like that?

We keep a hay bale in our under-hutch storage, so had to make sure it was sized to suit!
 
I might have missed this somewhere but can you have one with a run attached so that they have access to outside when you are not home?

Rabswood
 
I've just realised we have no access to the garden except through the house and there is no space enough to make it fit through our doors so I think I have to say goodbye to the chance of getting the hutch from Ryedale and we should go for Dawsons who seem to build them in your garden :cry:
THis is an added problem....
 
Better to realise that now than when it arrives! You'd better make sure you mention it to Dawsons so that they know to make sure it's all flat when they bring it :)
 
Hi,

I have a Dawson's hutch and Im really pleased with it. I have two sleeping areas and they use one as a toiet area as was mentioned in a previous post. My hutch is actually on the Dawson website, its the one with the sliding door to the run area.

Dawn
 
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