(Elve Especially) Come and give critigue on my HUTCH plans

OK, This is ment for outside (which is sort of obvious) for 2 bunnies. Say anything you want, be as blunt and honest as you want. This is for the good of the bunnies not me. I haven't included mesasurements because a haven't decided on them yet but think big, for egsample the highest point will be about 5 or 6 feet tall and the run will be half of that. Just to give you a rough idea. There will be doors at the back also but i accidently left them out. I have decided that I will have a completely solid floor throughout and it will be raised on wheels to be portable around our land.

AHHH grrrr its so small!!! I'm off to try and fix it.

It's a similar kind of layout to mine...



I'll have to get a better photo of it when the weather comes...

I got it in wyevale when I was desperate, otherwise I wouldn't have got it there, it's has some flaws but that's a story for another day.

If I could change one thing it would be that the back of the run was sheltered, because Zoe likes to build her nest up the back and only occasionally goes upstairs, and she does like to hide so I have to cover it over for her to feel safe, I see from your plan that you have that so that's great.

The wheels are a great idea, but put brakes on them because the wind could blow them down the garden!

I have seen hutches about like that I think they look ace , I am on the hunt for cages at the moment, cos shes probably getting a boyfriend in summer... and I dont want them to be to confined so its got to be huge! lol...
Your plans look ace, good luck in the building of it

Thanks heaps, do you realise your bunny is standing up in both pics? that is so cute.

So does your run have wire on the bottom?

No, we put plywood on the bottom, which is fine but the man in B & Q said there was a better wood that we could have used, but we couldn't get in the car because it wasn't as flexible as plywood (can't remember the name).

I cover over the plywood with polythene because her urine was hard to clean off the plywood, but polythene is cheap on ebay by the roll and can just be wiped down and dries easier when she has a "full clean" with water and disinfectant. I cover the polythene with old newspapers so she's more comfy and it soakes up any spills. Wire is quite hard on their feet so if you use that you'll really have to cover it with lots of straw etc.

I'm gutted I got that hutch in wyevale, I paid around £135 for it (with flaws :x ), but you can get them for under £100 on ebay with postage!

Snowflakes mummy said:

I have seen hutches about like that I think they look ace , I am on the hunt for cages at the moment, cos shes probably getting a boyfriend in summer... and I dont want them to be to confined so its got to be huge! lol...

Click to expand...

Depending on your budget and size of your garden, I've seen some truly awesome dog kennels with runs, and I'm currently saving up for one... it's going to take me months and months but it'll be worth it - some of them are a couple of hundred but some are over £500!!! :shock:

This kind of thing... (not necessarily dog kennels, also look at aviaries and cat housing):

on ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DOG-KENNEL-AN...7752774407QQcategoryZ1283QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dog-Kennel-An...52856116QQcategoryZ101434QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Top-quality-d...52813329QQcategoryZ101434QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

others...

http://www.stusanimalhousing.co.uk/dogruns.htm

http://www.rusticwoodland.com/index.html?lang=en-uk&target=d33.html

The beauty is you don't have to convert a shed and then add a run, it's all combined, but you can modify it to add a bit of mesh to the windows etc if you wanted.

Lol I just realised you're probably looking for indoor cages! All the ones I posted are outdoor housing.

OK, I took some pics today when I was cleaning her out...



Here's the inside of the hutch with the roof off... I've used a blanket sort of like a carpet!

oooh - am I a hutch critic? Total amateur more like

well, since you asked - nice and big, but shade is the thing - if it's not placed under a tree or by a wall, it will heat up like an oven inside won't it? Not sure how hot it gets where you live, but even in English summers we struggle to keep sheds cool. My garden faces south and gets very hot - I'm going to peg duvet covers over the washing line to make a tent over my hutches, and they all have nice cool concrete floors to lie on too. The shed is impossible for me to shade, and has a black tar roof, so it gets pretty hot, but the floor is concrete which makes a massive difference - the girls just lay flat out on it and keep cool.

Rabbits don't cope well with heat as they would normally be underground in the cool during the heat of the day, and just come out at dawn and dusk when it's cooler. I'm imagining that it's hotter in summer where you live than it is in the UK, but I'm pretty ignorant about Aus

:lol: Looks a lot like my hutch...



The run is detachable and the lid is hinged in the middle and at one end so that it can be fully opened up if needed (like when Molly is being evasive). :lol:

The run can be moved to other points in the garden to give them plenty of grass to munch on, we just add another wall to it.

Gee how nice of you to build me a model lol.

Elve- You are the oracle of all bunny knowledge there is to know of course you can be a hutch critigue. I get what you mean about shade now at first I just thought you ment to protect buns from the sun.

Hi
I have something similar to your first sketch and to be honest I find it too small for my two. It was originally built for one, but then we got Dillon a girlfriend. I'll be moving mine into a shed later this year.

Although, you hadn't put measurements, so maybe yours is bigger than mine. If you have the room, a shed option is always great.



Lian x