New house for our little girls

[Cinnabun14]

We've decided to go ahead and build our girls a new hutch. We've got a shed so far (4.3x2.3x3.7), and I hope to put a shelf in there to make the most of that vertical space but we'll see. We've planned a run with hardware cloth too, just got to get that. It'll be a walk in hutch too (yay!) Honestly, I feel like I'm getting rabbits for the first time again. There's so much conflicting information, so much stuff left unsaid! I've got the outdoor housing tips and examples thread pinned, and I've been looking through everything, but I still feel a little lost! Here are the million and one questions I have:

How much run space do your rabbits have?
Do you keep your hay inside the shed/hutch or outside?
Do you put a rack over the litter box or just pile it in?

Any tips on outdoor housing greatly appreciated!!! I'll see if I can't draw up a plan and post it in later.

 

[tulsi]

I keep my hay inside the shed. It is insulated with a kind of dark looking polystyrene and boarded over with plywood.

Moondust has a permanently open five foot hutch on the floor in there with a thick layer of straw and lots of hay. I give her a stone hot water bottle wrapped in fleece every night.

She also has a hay rack and 2 32 litre underbed storage boxes. She only ever wees and poos in the storage boxes. The hutch is spotless.

The guinea pigs also live in there but high up in a cage on a stand. They have a snugglesafe each at night.

The new rabbit will live in the area under the guinea pig stand when he first arrives.

The shed is huge. 12 foot by 10 foot although it looks kind of small with the large 5 foot hutch and the 160 x 80cm guinea pig cage.

The run (which, once bonded they will have 24/7 access to) is 7 foot by 5 foot.

 

[Omi]

How exciting that you are planning a new home for your girlies

Our bunnies have an 8'x6' shed which is attached via a cat-flap to a 4'x6' run, which then leads into two longish runs. There is a shelf across the far end of the shed and we keep the hay up on there (out of the way of bunnies). We feed the hay in the litter box inside the shed. There are two additional litter boxes with hay in the runs as well. No hay rack. But our hay arrives in very large strong cardboard boxes and OH has made a two storey house with them, with steps up to holes in the sides of the boxes. The bunnies like to spend a lot of time in there and it is stuffed with hay.

When you say 'hardware cloth', is this weldmesh? This links to some good advice for rabbit runs https://www.therabbithouse.com/outdoor/rabbit-mesh.asp

I would recommend a cat-flap to allow access from shed to run. They very quickly learn how to use it and it is safe.

 

[SarahP]

Will the outside section have any cover? If so, I think litter trays stuffed with hay both inside and outside, with no hay rack. When I had bunnies outside they used to spend virtually their whole time outside, whatever the weather, but it's good to have hay in various places for them.

 

[Cinnabun14]

Thank you guys for your inputs! I've got the plans drawn up down below. Nothing is finalized yet. All I know is the shed will be inside the run, that's the only permanent thing so far. It's hard coming up with ideas. They have to be good for the rabbits, but at the same time something a nonrabbit person can wrap their head around (because that's who's helping me build it!). Thank you guys for the measurements, that was really helpful!

@tulsi what kind of stone hot water bottle do you use? I've been using a Snugglesafe (which I didn't want to give up because it worked great for me!), but in the morning it's as cold as an icepack, so I'm wondering if it's helpful.

@Omi, it's very exciting! It'll be so much nicer, for both bunnies and us. Cleaning will be easier when I can actually get inside and stand up! Yes, weldmesh is hardware cloth, it turns out chicken wire is pretty much useless! Thank you for the link, I will study it and see what I can come up with!

@SarahP, I'm not sure if the outside section will have a cover yet. We might do a tarp on the top, but my dad might not agree with this because it'll make it look a little ramshackled .


Here are the plans so far:

 

[Omi]

We didn't use tarpaulin as my OH is also sensitive as to what it looks like. We have instead used a sheet of Corolux, placed on at a very slight gradient so that any rain just runs off. It's not fixed but held in place at each end with heavy pieces of wood. We are usually able to remove the roof in the summer.

https://www.roofgiant.com/corolux

 

[Cinnabun14]

That's a really good idea, Omi, thank you!

 

[William]

Like Omi, I also use that corrugated plastic sheeting stuff (for duck aviaries) and have it at a slight gradient. It works amazing. I've been caught outside, cleaning the aviary when it'll start pouring all the sudden and it keeps me and the ducks dry

The roof is hardware cloth, boards in strategic places for the integrity of the roof, and the plastic sheets fixed down. Partly because where I live that's necessary to keep them blowing away during storms, but also partly because I feel like it's an extra layer of protection against predators (although, they shouldn't be able to get past the hardware cloth, but animals like raccoons, bobcats, etc, are very strong and find weaknesses...)

 

[Shimmer]

I use the corrugated bitumen version of these roofing sheets. It comes in green, which it blends in well with the garden. Some of it is fastened down with proper fastenings into the wooden frame, and some just has hay bale string wrapped around the shorter lengths in the 'down' bits of the corrugations and the weldmesh it rests on. The roof has to be out of reach of bunny teeth for that, as they chew through the string otherwise.

It does need to be gently sloping to stop water and snow pooling on it and distorting the roof under the extra weight.

 

[Cinnabun14]

William, what do they call the sheeting in america? I've been trying to find it based on the link Omi put, but I can't seem to figure out what it's really called

 

[William]

William, what do they call the sheeting in america? I've been trying to find it based on the link Omi put, but I can't seem to figure out what it's really called

It seems to go by different names e.g. polycarbonate panels, corrugated plastic sheets, corrugated polycarbonate. They sell it at places like Lowe's, ACE Hardware, Tractor Supply, etc.

 

[Cinnabun14]

Thank you, I'm horrible at finding hardware stuff!