Rabbit Hutch Project

[TanksHill]

So this is what my husband and I did this weekend.

I found this rabbit hutch/coop I really liked on an auction site. It cost way to much to ship so we are building one similar. I know it is the Fort Knox of hutches but as you know my yard is not fenced and I wanted bunny to be safe. Some of you may recognize the design. With a small addition to the side wall it turns into a little coop.

This is actually a practice run. I found a couple of people around here in need of little coops. So I suggested my husband build them for a small fee. If they like this one we will just do it again., Kinda a trial run to check cost and see how it turns out.

My question is the wood sealer. We bought some Thompson's water sealer. Is this a problem in the house. Will bunny get sick from it? Would I only seal outside? Please any advice is welcome.

 

[dacjohns]

All my rabbit experience is with metal cages. Rabbits chew so any exposed wood they can chew on will get chewed. I don't know about sealing. Might want to check out some rabbit sites or university sites on raising rabbits.


It does look really nice.

 

[PamsPride]

That is really NICE!! Pretty!

 

[2dream]

Really nice, I love the look -
I will throw this out there for you though. As a rabbit raiser and the one who has to clean the cages is there an easy way to get to that enclosed wood floor.
And yes, rabbits will eventually chew through wood. One of my bucks chewed through some wire. Admitedly it was old rusty wire but he chewed through.
I do love the design though. The only change I would really make would be to make the floor wire completely for ease of cleaning. I do put pieces of plywood on sections of my rabbit cages just to help ease their feet from the wire but they are loose so I can take them out and wash them. Since I raise my rabbits to eat I tend to be more practical and always look for something easy to clean.
As far as the sealant goes I would just do the outside. I don't know what Thompsons Water Seal has in it but I figure it can't be good for a rabbit.
But on another note. If you are selling to people who have never had rabbits - they will love the look and probably pay big bucks (no pun intended) for them.

 

[FarmerChick]

My rabbits chewed the wood cage. I didn't use water seal but I figured pressure treated wood wasn't great for them either..LOL
but they lived like 12 years each...yup, a long time for those 2 suckers.


I put in some tree limbs for them to chew.

One thing I did notice, one bunny had ONE unusually long long tooth in front. Since he wasn't a big chewer, I assume he didn't pare down that front tooth. I know rabbits teeth can grow terribly long and can harm them in the end.

But other than One Long Fang, lol, all the other bunnies I had did chew and it is good for their teeth definitely. Carrots and such are good for them.....they must crunch into the carrot. Lettuce and all is not as good cause it is not a good teeth helper.

And bunnies like to climb. I had a big wooden long cage that I moved around the yard area...I had a small dog house inside with hay....they jumped on top of that all the time...so for entertainment I put in some climbing blocks and they had a blast with them.

now all that is just from my bunnies....I don't know real vet stuff on bunnies at all.

AND EDITED TO SAY----hey you, look at all the projects you have going...you ARE the Energizer Bunny!!!!!!

great pics/very nice!!



hope some of that helps you.

 

[TanksHill]

Thank you so much for the advice. The wood is kiln dried poplar. I think.

2Dream, do they poop in their bedding area. I was told they poop mostly where they eat. I was planning a droppings pit, you know raised wire area with tray underneath. I figured I could put on the other end of the run. With water and food. I plan to use the droppings in my worm farm. Dace referred me to a site where the lady had the poop funnel right in to the worm bucket. The wood floor in the house is kinda removable. At least for now. I could modify the design a bit to keep it that way for cleaning.

I would hate if my hutch got all chewed up. May be I should give the inside a wash of Tabasco. That's what we did so our dog did not chew the fence. It worked lie a charm.

Karen, my house reflects the fact that I spent all day in the garage. No laundry no dishes. Dishwasher is on the fritz. I will be running tomorrow.

 

[Beekissed]

Its beautiful, TH!

I would agree with the wire flooring, though. They will usually poop and pee in one spot most of the time....and no one knows which spot they will choose~it could be in the wooden corner of your cage, which will eventually cause some moisture damage, no matter how much bedding you put in. I've never seen them poop where they eat, though.

I didn't check the door sill, but you might want to put a small lip on it, if you plan to use this part for raising babies~unless the door is big enough to slip a box in there for a nest. If you don't have some kind of lip on your nest box, the babies fall out and get crushed too easily, or get chilled out of the nest. Plus the lip helps hold your bedding in better....makes it a little more difficult to clean out but not by much.

The wood is beautiful!

 

[PamsPride]

Thank you so much for the advice. The wood is kiln dried poplar. I think.

2Dream, do they poop in their bedding area. I was told they poop mostly where they eat. I was planning a droppings pit, you know raised wire area with tray underneath. I figured I could put on the other end of the run. With water and food. I plan to use the droppings in my worm farm. Dace referred me to a site where the lady had the poop funnel right in to the worm bucket. The wood floor in the house is kinda removable. At least for now. I could modify the design a bit to keep it that way for cleaning.

I would hate if my hutch got all chewed up. May be I should give the inside a wash of Tabasco. That's what we did so our dog did not chew the fence. It worked lie a charm.

Karen, my house reflects the fact that I spent all day in the garage. No laundry no dishes. Dishwasher is on the fritz. I will be running tomorrow.

A worm farm?? My mom is now competition for the last rabbit hutch at the place I got mine because she wants to raise them so she can sell night crawlers!! She wants to put quail in a section and rabbits in the other.

 

[TanksHill]

I have two worm farms in my garage. I think my first adventure in gardening. You could ignore them forever but with a bit of food they will come back around. The castings are the greatest thing ever for fertilizer. Straight into the bed.

Thanks Bee. eventually I might need to breed bunnies . I thought if I am ever really SS it would be another source for meat. Right now it will just be a pet and poop producer. I am sure we could modify cage as necessary in the future. Hey when did you get that great Avitar???

We built the hutch in panels and lag bolted them together. The inside wall and floor are separate as well. With just a couple screws to put it together. I guess if the future inhabitant decides it likes to poop in house I will have to make some changes. I do remember reading some where that always on wire was not to good for their feet. Maybe half and half?

 

[dacjohns]

My floor wire was 1/2 by 1 inch welded wire mesh and I never noticed any problems with their feet. Don't use the 1/2 inch hardware cloth, it sags too much.