Good morning everyone
I mentioned on my bunny rescue thread that my boyfriend and I are in the process of making a 8ftx10ft walk in run to attach to the new hutch. When we knew we were taking on Ham and Beatrice we wanted to find an affordable solution that would mean they had plenty of space to run around in and that we would be able to access too, so we can sit with them and get to know them better. We've just moved to a new house with a very large garden which is fantastic.
So our solution to an affordable and aesthetically pleasing walk in rabbit run is converting a second hand greenhouse. We bought this 'Alton' 8x10 greenhouse off of eBay for only £10:
s-l1600 by Rachel Brown, on Flickr
I know it looks a bit beaten up in the pictures, but they retail at over £4000 and the timber is actually in very sound condition, it just needs re-treating! So we've removed all of the glass and are in the process of sanding the timber at the minute to be freshly painted (with Cuprinol Garden Shades, which is recommended as bunny safe). We're then going to dig a concrete foundation which will support a couple of layers of bricks for the frame to sit on.
As you can see, some of the glass panels are missing, which is ideal - it would be way too hot for them if it was all glass and wouldn't be breathable. So we're going to do a patchwork, keeping the roof glass for shelter but having mostly galvanised wire on the sides so they get fresh air and can look out around the garden. The run will have new turf laid down, and before that goes down we'll be putting 16 gauge wire securely across the floor so that they can't dig our and nothing else can dig in.
The hutch will be on the outside of the run with 24 hour access to it. We're either going to have the hutch facing in with the door always open or cut a hole in the back and have a tube entering the run so they can travel to it that way. We'll see which is the most practical and best for the bunnies once it's up.
Any suggestions appreciated and I'll post photo updates of the construction here
I mentioned on my bunny rescue thread that my boyfriend and I are in the process of making a 8ftx10ft walk in run to attach to the new hutch. When we knew we were taking on Ham and Beatrice we wanted to find an affordable solution that would mean they had plenty of space to run around in and that we would be able to access too, so we can sit with them and get to know them better. We've just moved to a new house with a very large garden which is fantastic.
So our solution to an affordable and aesthetically pleasing walk in rabbit run is converting a second hand greenhouse. We bought this 'Alton' 8x10 greenhouse off of eBay for only £10:
s-l1600 by Rachel Brown, on Flickr
I know it looks a bit beaten up in the pictures, but they retail at over £4000 and the timber is actually in very sound condition, it just needs re-treating! So we've removed all of the glass and are in the process of sanding the timber at the minute to be freshly painted (with Cuprinol Garden Shades, which is recommended as bunny safe). We're then going to dig a concrete foundation which will support a couple of layers of bricks for the frame to sit on.
As you can see, some of the glass panels are missing, which is ideal - it would be way too hot for them if it was all glass and wouldn't be breathable. So we're going to do a patchwork, keeping the roof glass for shelter but having mostly galvanised wire on the sides so they get fresh air and can look out around the garden. The run will have new turf laid down, and before that goes down we'll be putting 16 gauge wire securely across the floor so that they can't dig our and nothing else can dig in.
The hutch will be on the outside of the run with 24 hour access to it. We're either going to have the hutch facing in with the door always open or cut a hole in the back and have a tube entering the run so they can travel to it that way. We'll see which is the most practical and best for the bunnies once it's up.
Any suggestions appreciated and I'll post photo updates of the construction here