Ventilation in Wendy House

Hi

I have just recently got a 4 x 6 wendy house for my rabbits which i am converting this weekend to make it a safe place for them to live in.

I am making a split mesh door to go on the inside so when i open the main door they can not run straight out, putting vinyl flooring down and insulating the roof to keep them warm.

The question is how much ventilation do they need? I have a hole on the door which i am removing the panel from and replacing with mesh, i also thought about removing one of the side windows and replacing with mesh for air, but with a panel to close it off at night. During the day i will leave the main door open for air (it will have a run on but in bad weather probably will not fix to front)

Is this enough or do they need more?

Thanks for your help

Sounds about right , are they gonna be happy with a house like that :lol: , lucky buns. val

This is my shed for my bunnies, we took out the windows and fitted mesh, but i have the windows and put in when the weather is bad.

Also leave the door open during the day, and shut them in at night.

Thank you for that, once I have finished it I will post pictures to show you, hopefully they will be very happy there with all the room.

Thanks again for the advice

JO

My guy`s love their space now, they went from a 5ft hutch with runa ttached to the shed. They spend most of the time in the shed spread out and chilling.

Look forward to seeing your shed when its done.

Any questions I`ll be pleased to help.

My Playhouse is similar to bunnies' shed. I took the bottom glass out of the windows and replaced with mesh, cut the door in half to make a split door and cut a hole in the top half and replaced with mesh. Then I put floors in level with the mesh, with a hinged centre piece so I can get in to clean. I need to get some pictures really. The split door is great for when a bun wants to go back in and sit by the mesh but still have the option to come back out at will.

If you've not thought about upper floors I'd recommend them. The first thing my buns do when they go in at night is run up the stairs onto the top floors, then sit by the mesh looking out. My floor is an L-shape across the front and down the right hand side, with a ladder to a small intermediate floor about 2ft square, which has another ladder down to the bottom floor. Plus it increases the floor space from 24 sq ft to 48 sq ft.

It's also fun to hear them thunder around on the hollow floor! (the floors are only 5mm plywood on a 2"x1" frame).

Um20 could we have some piccies, it sounds a wonderful idea.

Janice

Okay I exaggerated, the floor space goes from 24 sq ft to 44 sq ft, but I will get some pictures this weekend to show you.

I just remembered that upper floors also mean that the bottom floor can be a feeding/toilet area and they can sit above all that. Plus in summer they can sit in the shade at the back of the top floor in line with the breeze coming through the mesh, or sit downstairs where it is slightly cooler.

The only trouble is that they can also see the multitude of cats that come in our garden at night, so sometimes when I'm in bed at night I can hear the occasional thump! At least they're not bored!!

This is Blossom and Brambles house. We have mesh on the inners of the windows so they can have all four windows open during the summer months but they always get closed up at night time. They have the bottom part of their door open from 7 am till an hour after dark ... if the weather is bad I cover the top of the run with tarpauling (sp) this way the rain doesnt get blown inside their home and they can still go out if they want to



This is where the boys live they have windows that open and close that are covered by mesh too..... clever hubby! and as you can see he has made an internal mesh door so they get good ventilation all day and is shut and locked up an hour after dark. The bottom part of the door is stationary so no chance of any bunnies running through your legs when you open the door it just means us stepping over it. As you can see I have the bottom part blocked off at the moment ... because a nasty cat is stalking them at the moment and Bernard doesnt like it .. infact he is finding it very worrying ... that way he cant see it :wink: Plus we live at the top of a hill and its always very windy and it keeps the draft off them but allows the air to circulate

One word of warning for all here (based on the pics I've seen) - rabbits can bite through chicken wire!! Our run was all chicken wire until Ben managed to bite through and I saw him out in the garden one day :shock:

I found that the mesh that is used for cages (and is available in rolls from B&Q) is much stronger and bite proof. It's also harder to cut (wire cutters required) but that's a small price to pay for piece of mind. I replaced the bitten chicken wire with mesh, and new panels I built were done with the mesh.

Having said all this there is still chicken wire there but he doesn't bite it anymore. He might do though if he got left in there too long (he likes to come out in the full garden if he's out).

I had a rabbit when a was little that escaped by chewing through the wire on the front of his hutch! If a bunny can chew through it so can a fox :shock:

I don't see any chicken wire on these photos :shock: Mine isnt chicken wire ... its galvenised steel ... and believe me cutting it with the wire cutters was bloomin hard work ... hubby had to do it :wink:

That's good then, it looked like the wire that came with my run and which was surprisingly easy to break.

I've also got some pics of my rabbit chalet on t'web:

http://www.bowernet.com/rabbits/hutch.asp

You can see the design and the extent of the ventilation. You can also see how they ALWAYS sit on the top floors by the mesh and look out. Sometimes Mary makes a little nest for herself under the first floor, but they mainly like to sit and watch the world go by :lol:

When I clicked the link it said page not found?

Blimey, you're keen!! I was writing the response and the website at the same time, it's all done now :lol:

Well if there is bunny pics to be seen Im there :lol: :lol: :lol:

That looks great and you buns look very at home