I have a shed but how do I kit it out? U/D It's a BIG shed

In light of my Honey Bunny suffering from stasis again I think the best thing for her would be to have a shed to sleep in at night time.

We have a 6x4' shed that we can clear out and use (at the moment it's used to store spare tanks/cages etc which I can easily move to my own place).

However we were wondering how best to kit it out? I assume it's not a good idea just to stick the rabbits in there? Will we need to buy another hutch to put in it or can we fill it with straw and just stick a wee hideaway box in for the pair of them? If we were to put a hutch in would we need to lock the rabbits in it at night or would they be OK to just have the run of the shed?

We thought maybe they could just go in their run with the old hutch in during the day and just use the shed for sleeping in but we're open to suggestions.

My rabbits go in a 6 by 4 shed at night, and a run during the day, untill we attatch a run to the shed.
I bought a little dog kennel thing that I stuff with hay for them to sleep in when they get cold, but to be honest, they prefer lying on top of it :roll:
I insulated the shed, put lino down and skirting board up, and sealed all the edges so no wee would get under and ruin the wood.
I personally would use the old hutch as a base to put their hay/food/water in, but leave it open all the time so they have more space. Or get a new little wooden house or something if money isnt an issue.

well today my mum said that the rabbits may as well have the 8x6' shed that's attached to the run at the moment. She's going to ring a guy tomorrow to have a window put in it and a door leading in to the run. We'll get the hutch moved in so the bunnies will have the run of the 8x6' shed and the 8x5' run during the day when no one is home.

Now I have a question, how do I put lino down? I assume it's not as simple as just leaving it lying there?

My mum also asked these questions...

Can you find out exactly what folk mean when they say insulated huts?
Ours is not insulated. Are they putting in wall insulation too? What are they doing with the floor besides lino and what are they doing with the roof?

Try and find out what access folk think is best between the run and the hut? Full size door or catflap style.

How do folk provide ventilation? I am wondering if it will get quite hot in there in summer.

Any help would be great thanks folks

I put some lino down in our shed, but I was able to slide it under the frame - just undid the screws a little and with a bit of effort and help from my wife was able to flatten it out nicely. Then screwed the frame back down and the lino is held firmly in place.

It wasn't very easy though!

For our shed, I built two levels and our bunny likes to jump up on them:

http://www.facebook.com/d.j.dickinson?ref=name#/photo.php?pid=3126821&id=688419185

She's only in the shed at night.

You can insulate a shed in different ways. I've used Thermawrap in one animal shed which is a kind of bubble wrap with foil on the outside. You can get it in DIY stores. It makes sheds cool in summer and warmer in winter. All you do is staple the stuff (with heavy duty stapler) to the shed walls, then attach ply wood all over it to seal it.

Alternatively, you could use straw as the insulator, stuffing it between ply boards and the shed walls. Or tubes of expanding foam that builders/joiners use. Attach a sheet of ply, then squirt the foam behind it. It hardens when dry.

Thanks for the advice ruby, do you staple the plywood over the stuff or do you have to fix that in place some over way?

I don't know if I'll be as lucky with the lino though. Could I just staple that in place as well do you think?

RubyGordy said:

You can insulate a shed in different ways. I've used Thermawrap in one animal shed which is a kind of bubble wrap with foil on the outside. You can get it in DIY stores. It makes sheds cool in summer and warmer in winter. All you do is staple the stuff (with heavy duty stapler) to the shed walls, then attach ply wood all over it to seal it.

Alternatively, you could use straw as the insulator, stuffing it between ply boards and the shed walls. Or tubes of expanding foam that builders/joiners use. Attach a sheet of ply, then squirt the foam behind it. It hardens when dry.

Click to expand...

I had a children's Wendy House converted by getting someone good with wood to put in a ramp leading to deep shelf that runs along two sides of the shed. Bunnies sleep up there. Ventilation - put in three metal vents, one on each side of apex roof and one in the door. Access to the run attached - wendy house already had its own door so had smaller hatch with sliding door cut into lower half - bunnies are shooed into the house and locked in during the night. Only downside is as home is so large does take a good hour to clean and redo! My flooring is the original wooden flooring, I just line layers upon layers of paper before the sawdust and hay.

Crunchie said:

well today my mum said that the rabbits may as well have the 8x6' shed that's attached to the run at the moment. She's going to ring a guy tomorrow to have a window put in it and a door leading in to the run. We'll get the hutch moved in so the bunnies will have the run of the 8x6' shed and the 8x5' run during the day when no one is home.

Now I have a question, how do I put lino down? I assume it's not as simple as just leaving it lying there?

My mum also asked these questions...

Can you find out exactly what folk mean when they say insulated huts?
Ours is not insulated. Are they putting in wall insulation too? What are they doing with the floor besides lino and what are they doing with the roof?

Try and find out what access folk think is best between the run and the hut? Full size door or catflap style.

How do folk provide ventilation? I am wondering if it will get quite hot in there in summer.

Any help would be great thanks folks

Click to expand...

I had a cat flap put in today, but I have had to use two clothes pegs to hold it open so they can go through:

Thanks for this guys, I was also wondering if we were to put lino down would the rabbits slip on it? Would we need to put something else down so they could move about without slipping? We're measuring the shed up today for a piece of lino.

The lino we got isn't actually totally smooth so hopefully the bunnies will be OK on it. We also got adjustable vents yesterday and hopefully the guy is coming out to put the window in along with a little door to let the rabbits in and out. It'll just be like a hutch door which we can keep open on a latch but shut at night.

We're just going to put their hutch inside the shed for them but should we lock them in the hutch at night or will they be OK to have the run of the shed at night time too?