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Shed or Hutch???

Phill

Wise Old Thumper
Ok you may have seen my post ealier in the week about the shed Ali has said i can buy.

I was going to get a 20ft x 10ft shed costing £1200, i can get all of the buns bar two pairs in this size shed and all will have good sized runs in it, im wondering though weather £1200 might be better spent on hutches with runs or enclosures??

Louise pionted me in the direction of Aveiry panels, which are 6ft by 3ft and pre done, all i would have to do is attach them together however i wanted, i could also put slabs down the bun side of the garden, so i would basically have one long enclosure split into pens with Hutches inside the pens, i havn't added up what this would cost me though, but the average 6ft x 3ft aveiry panel is £12, i would need to cover a space, 30ft x 10ft allowing pens for all the rabbits, if i had them 6ft high so i could enter, were talking 10 panels for each long side and 3 for each short side so 26 panels at a cost of £312, then i would have the hutches of which the smallest could be 5ft x2ft x2ft i havn't looked at prices for those, and then i would need the slabs, i can order those of the internet at £1 for a 1ft x 1ft slab this would cost me £300, so it's £600 for the panels and the slabs.
add in the huitches i would need which is at least 10, this option would cost me more money but would mean the rabbits still had outside space.

The shed as i said before would cost me £1200 and i could fit 17 out of the 21 rabbits we have here in it, they would all have pens with raised hutches and they would be dry all year round but wouldn't have any outside space???

Im not sure which one to do???? Obviously the shed is the very easy option, plus i would be dry all year round as would the buns, i could get that erected and sorted in a couple of days, the enclosure idea would take about a week of solid work on mine and hubbys part. My landlord would agree to either option so he's not a problem. Im just really uncertain of which route to go down.

For the enclosure idea i would of course have fllod lights iin the garden which i don't have at he moment, but it will still mean going out and getting very very cold and very very wet in winter (which i don't mind one bit!) but because the area would be slabbed and not grass it makes it much easier to clean and i wouldn't destroy the lawn???

HELP!!!
 
how hot would the shed be in the summer do you think?

My summer house gets unbearably hot and I really worried about my fosters last summer. It is brick with a felted roof.
 
mandy said:
how hot would the shed be in the summer do you think?

My summer house gets unbearably hot and I really worried about my fosters last summer. It is brick with a felted roof.

Well tahts another worry Mandy, althoug hthe shed will have opening windows and double doors my Gareden is south facing so gets the sun from sun up to sun down, the only prob with the enclosure would be moving it when we moved, it would dismantle easily but the rabbits would be confined to hutches until it was re-erected, the same would be true of the shed, but it would take less time to get the shed back up. hmmmmm
 
I guess theres pros and cons either side isnt there :?

The shed sounds like the best long term option and I dont think they would mind not being outside - but if you did want to give them a bit of time out, maybe you could have one run outside which you can rotate their use of so they get a run out once a week maybe?

In the summer, I got a big thermometer mounted on the wall so I could keep a check on the temperature, and put weld mesh up at the windows so I could leave them open and when it was really hot I left a fan on and iced water bottles. (Also, you'd need a lot of it, but you can get reflective sheeting apparently.)

In the shed, are you buying all new hutches? It may save you money just to use something like these to partition it all
http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/donate/rabbitrun.asp

And then just a cosy box to sleep in? Just a thought.

I bet they'll love it!
 
I have a shed for my own bunnies but is is half brick built and very shady

the rescue buns are in another shed..and some outside in hutches..
as Mandy says the shed does get very hot in summer and we have a fan on all the time..door open..but shaded..window open and shaded,..white boards on roof to reflect sun.. and still worry it's too hot..
also unless well ventilated will get damp in the winter.with lots of animals in it :?
but then you have the other side of argument..it is secure and easier to have put up. :?
 
Hi Mandy, yes the rabbits will have hutches within the shed but it will be partitioned so they have pens with no hight limit.

As both you jill and mandy have said the shed will get very hot in the summer esp with the garden being south facing :?

http://www.shedstore.co.uk/itemdetl.php/itemprcd/cou2010wor

thats the shed i am looking at, with 2 opening windows the price comes to
just over the £1200 mark and i would take out a couple of the windows and replace with mesh and adapted shutters on the outside for winter.
 
mandy said:
That looks fab!

Hmm i know! And i would make the garden look 100% tidier and much more secure that the enclosure idea, but im not totoally posative about either idea yet!
 
Hi Phill :wave: how you doing?

Just an idea to consider, if you got a shed, you could still give them access to outside through catflaps or little doors? You could use the runs etc that you have already but they'd have a nice warm shed to retreat back to too?

I normally move my buns out of the shed in summer cos its too hot, but I might try some greenhouse shading this year see if that helps?? You could also site the shed so the windows are on the shaded side - so you don't get a greenhouse effect??

Sure it'll be fab whatever you decide to do! Good luck!
 
Hiya Kerry! Im good you??? Good ideas there but the piont of getting the shed is to keep the buns off the lawn as much as possible so that next winter it doesn't turn into the mud patch it has this year. The shed i would like to get has windows on both sides so i could get one side in the shade but the other would get full sun all day. I think the shed it might be just with as many modifications as i can make so that it is kept cool, although i really like the idea of the enclosures as i can then sit and watch the buns from the patio! Ooohhhh i dunno!
 
I'm good thanks - being kept busy by bunny proofing the house for Maddie (and litter training!).

Taking that all into consideration - it seems the enclosures could be your best option there! You could maybe build a "carport" type roof over the area to shelter them from the worst of the weather maybe - I always struggle keeping covers on in the windy weather!
 
Might be a good idea just to have one big run that during the hot summer months take it in turns to use maybe? I like the idea of a shed as then they would be double protected at night from preying animals :D plus i know what your talking about when it comes to the grass turning into mud :roll: i had the same problem and just built a patio which cost only around £200 to make O/H put it down and straighten out the ground as it turned into a slope. My buns are not the most tidest of things at the best of times :roll:

Oh just a thought why not add electric to the shed then have fans in there for the hot summers :D
 
Thanks Kerry and Hayley, you see there are pros and cons to both ideas! It's just so hard to decide! :roll:
 
We're getting rid of our shed and moving Pippa and MJ outside - my shed's on the sunny side of the garden and gets too hot in summer and it's too old a shed to be worth wiring it up for electricity. Also, our shed has been a winter home for mice and we're hoping hutch/run will give less 'breeding' space as I'll be able to see if any are around. I also want them to have more outside time rather than now I put them out and as they're not used to it they're not that happy being out :roll: I'm going to get wetter and colder but tbh with the mouse problem this year I've not wanted to hang around in the shed either :(
 
I am getting outside runs attached to mine :) I think it needs access outside for the hotter months or windows and fan
 
hi, i have a shed with run, i only have 6 buns (soon to be 7) and they love it. They all live together though. The run is paved, i was lucky when I bought the house it had a patio that I was able to use for the shed and run. I am growing grape vines up the outside of my shed as they give good shade and the buns can eat the leaves. Plus I use a reflective space blacnket which I put on the roof as this seems to transfer the most heat.
pic for you....
DSCN0480.jpg

good luck with what you choose!x Jess
 
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