Hopper Haven - New enclosures

If you visit the fundraising section you may be aware that we needed to build four new enclosures at Hopper Haven, for the last 8 residents that didn't have permanent enclosures of their own.

Thanks to everyone who has bought valentines bunny bags, easter bags and joined in the rabbit raffle in my attempt to raise funds for these new enclosures.
Altogether these raised just over £200, and have made a great contribution towards the cost of getting these done,along with the Christmas PAP funds and the PAP money we received late 2011..

We now have permanent accommodation, consisting of either a minimum 6x2x2 hutch within an enclosure,or a shed and enclosure, for up to 40 groups of rabbits (around 100 bunnies)....

The site we had to work with




Me and hubbie got the posts in on week one.....



and over the last couple of weeks I have got the gates on and the wire up (the new enclosures are the four new gates on the left hand side)




I'm really pleased that we've got these built now, even though my neck and shoulders are seriously paying the price!!

Thanks to Jennifer for getting the slabs laid, and Lou and Mary for clearing the site in preparation. Between us girlies (and 1 bloke) I think we've done a great job!!
When I left last Friday three of the enclosures had been taken over by the residents, and it was fantastic seeing them have the same amount of freedom as all the other residents, being able to come out of their hutch and dig, lie in the sun, and argue with their neighbours:lol:
The fourth enclosure was having its new owners move in over the weekend.

Thank you again to everyone who has contributed Your money really has made a difference!

Good to see this excellent progress. Hope the new residents are happily settled. :wave:

Well done to all involved - it looks fantastic, I'm sure the buns really appreciate your hard work

I am about to build somthing like this so your photos have been a help.
Did you use iron gates for strength or some other reason.
The problem I will have will be how to put a roof on as it must be fox proof, but also cope with the weight of snow.

Thats brilliant - it looks great - well done to everyone involved!

amazing work... well done ladies and bloke

Looks great

Awesome

fantastic. :wave:

Excellent

That looks lovely for the buns and like it took ages and lots of hard work- well done xxx

Well Done!

rabbitapril said:

I am about to build somthing like this so your photos have been a help.
Did you use iron gates for strength or some other reason.
The problem I will have will be how to put a roof on as it must be fox proof, but also cope with the weight of snow.

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We use the iron gates for longevity, and because they look nice.
Anything made of wood that is moved upto 10 times a day every day tends to lose its shape and also rots. We have enough maintenance of wood with around 30 enclosures, 7 sheds and 40+ hutches:lol:

I want to do something like this for my buns! Could I ask what you use on the floor? I do have grass but it is disappearing.

It is very wonderful, you should post photos of the residents enjoying their new setups

Those enclosures are fantastic! You've done some great work there.

LaraFarah said:

I want to do something like this for my buns! Could I ask what you use on the floor? I do have grass but it is disappearing.

It is very wonderful, you should post photos of the residents enjoying their new setups

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The hutches are on slabs, the rest of it is soil. We were hoping to seed them, but I doubt we'd be able to leave them empty long enough to do that.

I will be posting photos of the residents soon!

That looks awesome

Do you have mesh under the soil?

I meant to ask, have you got access to a van and space for two hutches? I have a five and a six foot hutch I have no use for xxxxxxxxxxx

GrahamL said:

That looks awesome

Do you have mesh under the soil?

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No. The mesh is buried down for 6", and we tend to bury bricks or parts of slabs along the edges under the soil to discourage digging around the perimeter.
The rabbits are locked in their hutches at night, and Louise is at the sanctuary 24/7, so any excessive digging is spotted immediately.

stargrrlclaire said:

I meant to ask, have you got access to a van and space for two hutches? I have a five and a six foot hutch I have no use for xxxxxxxxxxx

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Thank you
Do you have any pics of the hutches? I'd have to see if anyone could collect from Kiddy.