Show me your rabbit pens/hutches

[Julie_in_PA]

I'm gonna be building my own custom rabbit pen/hutch soon ... and I would like some ideas. I'll be housing two Flemish Giants. So I know that I need a large size pen.

I would really like to build a rabbit "house" with a small run ... and put it inside of my large fenced in pen ... and whenever it gets bigger and/or I go to "play" with it ... I can let it out of the rabbit run - into the big fenced area. Confused yet ? LOL !

Anyway, any ideas ? Any pictures of large bunny pens/hutches ? I don't have an exact plan yet ... just a few ideas I'm playing with, so I would love to see lots of pics of your pens and hutches ! Dimensions for living quarters for a flemish giant would be helpful as well.

 

[BlueGiants]

My Flemish Giant cages are 36" deep x 48" wide x 24" tall. Make sure you make a doorway big enough to handle a large rabbit (my door openings are 18" wide x 20" tall). They get run time in the puppy pens I have set up (4' x 8' long). My puppy pens are portable so I can move them around to fresh grassy areas and keep them in the shade.

Make sure thatwhatever you build, you can reach every part of the cage from the door. You want to make sure you can reach the rabbit no matter where it is laying, incase something happens and you need to get them out quickly. I prefer to put the door on the long side, it gives me better access to the rabbit and for cleaning.

What kind of floor will you be using? If the floor will be solid wood, hinge one side to swing away so it can be cleaned and scraped frequently. (Bigger bunnies, bigger poops, more cleaning.) If you are using wire for the floor, you will have to provide boards for them to rest on. (In my 3' x4' cages, they have a 4' x 2.5' board to lay on. The back is open wire for the pee and poop to go through. The boards are either plywood or sheetrock-wallboard. I do not have problems with sore hocks.)

Make sure they have a solid roof over therun area. The sun is deadly to rabbits. They can overheat very quickly if laying in the direct sun. (A roof means they can use the run area even in bad weather.) Also protects them from Hawks and other birds of prey.

 

[Elf Mommy]

Here's a link to our photo file of cages: Cages

There are tons of ways to build with NIC cubes. I am sure they need extra reinforcement for Flemmies.

 

[pinksalamander]

I wish my setup was more interesting! If i had room, i would have an aviary. We don't have any room at all in our garden. Mine is just a bogstandard hutch, with a run in the garden.

The run:

Thistle Hall (bad pic!):

Rose Cottage:

For a large outdoor flemmy you might find it easier to get a dog kennel. You can get kennels with big runs attached to the front, or an aviary. I don't know if that would work for you.

I swear, i dream about living in a house with a huge garden that i could put a fantastic aviary in to keep Lottie in... corr, that would be fantastic... *daydreams*.

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

 

[Becca]

Here is Dippy AND Fluffballs

 

[maisy126]

pinksalamander wrote:

I wish my setup was more interesting! If i had room, i would have an aviary. We don't have any room at all in our garden. Mine is just a bogstandard hutch, with a run in the garden.

The run:

Thistle Hall (bad pic!):

Rose Cottage:

For a large outdoor flemmy you might find it easier to get a dog kennel. You can get kennels with big runs attached to the front, or an aviary. I don't know if that would work for you.

I swear, i dream about living in a house with a huge garden that i could put a fantastic aviary in to keep Lottie in... corr, that would be fantastic... *daydreams*.

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

wow, very pretty...I wish I could have that with Batty but I'm more worried about people than animals getting to him (I have a lock on his cage and I'm glad)

 

[pinksalamander]

What do you mean people and animals getting him? We have foxes who live in the garden that backs onto us, i've never had a problem because they don't come down and we put fox repellent at the top of the steps. As for people getting to him, no one can see from the street the rabbit hutches and we have a big gate so no one could see even if they came to the front door (we have our door on the side of the house and the back gate is just along from it). I just WISH we had more space. I'm a very outdoor person, i love being outdoors but our garden is completley crap and tiny

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

 

[NZminilops]

Wow Fran, I really like Rose Cottage, that's so cute ! I'd love one of those runs like what you have too but I haven't seen them here.

I'll go and get some pictures when the sun comes up of my outdoor pen. It's roughly 7 metres square, and I have hutches within it.

 

[pinksalamander]

I do like Rose Cottage but i don't think its really big enough to keep a bunny in constantly. I'm considering once we get the old flowerbed dug out that i will build a run that goes out the front and round the side, (confusing, but basicaly it will be a sort of L shape round the side of the hutch) for a bit more room. Its only about 2ftx2ft on each floor.

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

 

[NZminilops]

Ahh ok, I see what you mean now, that does sound a little bit small. It's cute though, my old rabbit hutches are absolute messes, the buns just use them as play things now.

Please forgive the messiness, it's winter here and everything is cold and soggy and muddy, but this is the pen the buns play in (supervised) on nice days. It has a tunnel, an old hutch to run into in case they get spooked, a tent thing which I don't think you can see here, a big plywood box to play in, and some things to nudge around like an old coke bottle.

There are apple trees in here, the other trees that can be seen are on the neighbours side of the fence so they can't be eaten.

And a couple of the girls playing outside together:

 

[pinksalamander]

Wow... NZ... i have serious jealousy pangs...

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

 

[NZminilops]

If you'd like to swap, I'd be glad to , I HATE cleaning that area out, yuck. The girls have so much fun digging these little hidden holes in the grass, and of course I always step in them and fall over and get covered in scrummy wet dirt . Sakura loves to do all her toileting in one corner and she does a lot, then it rains and the poo all gets plumped up, then that attracts flies, icky :grumpy:. So I have to scoop it all out and bury it in the garden.

All it is is some cheap bamboo stakes, and two rolls of big-holed wire mesh/netting. All up was NZ$37, which is about 15 pounds.

 

[pinksalamander]

The money isn't the problem.. its the space My garden is the same size as my bedroom, my bedroom is the same size of my bathroom.... if that makes any sense.

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

 

[PepnFluff]

Nice setups everyone, i'd love to be able to set up a big pen likethat but ourlawnsin tiers and is all hilly and lumpy:grumpy:I'll post some pics when the buns new hutch is done i'm gona knock out the rotting wood shed today:biggrin2:I know what you mean Michelle about the horrible gummy, wet, muddiness lawns when i run the buns it has to be in the afternoon when the lawns veguelly dried otherwise Pep goes like brown and wet underneath!

 

[Alexah]

I'm incredibly jealous of all your spaces. I live in the city and we just don't have the room for an outdoor hutch or run. We literally live on a postage stamp-sized lot. It's not very conducive for outdoor activities of any kind. And besides that, I'd be very concerned about stray dogs and cats getting to the buns...not to mention the people. So indoor we stay and I try my best to give them the most room possible when not allowed to free roam.

It's definitely always interesting to see how other buns live and what kind of set-ups their offered. Thanks to everyone who shared .

 

[tamsin]

For Flemish giants I would look at a converted wooden child's playhouse or small shed, hutches big enough for a pair of giants are expensive and you get more space for your money with a playhouse/shed. You can pick up a 6'x4' shed for around the £100 mark and a playhouse for about £150. Though you can get both second hand a lot cheaper.

You can put shelves in both to create more space and they have the benefit of you being able to walk in and interact - particularly good for big bunnies so you can sit on the floor withe them.

If you already have a fenced in pen I'm not sure why you'd want a second run inside? It would be better just to give them access to whole area - unless it's not secure?

 

[NZminilops]

Ohhh Fran, that sucks! I hate where we live but at least the yard is pretty big. I hate mowing it though.

PepnFluff so ours! Must be an NZ thing lol . That part of the lawn is the only flat bit, then there is this lumpy/wavy/slope below it that goes towards the house. It's all uneven :grumpy:.

 

[Julie_in_PA]

Cool ... thanks for the pics ! btw - I love "Rose Cottage" ... very cute !

I was looking through my poultry magazine, and I saw some really cute designs of Chicken Coops ... and since I'm custom building my own thing, I can take ideas from anything I like. And I'm thinking of doing my Rabbit "house" like this ...

http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/acatalog/Cottage_Henhouse_1.html

(the one with the long run)

Being custom built and just going "by eye" from these pictures - I can do it in whatever dimensions, etc. that I want to. So I'll be sure to make it a good size for my Flemish Giant/s. And I'm gonna make sure I have easy access to every part of the house/pen. I also think that I'll paint it and put a cute sign on it, and plus I'm planning on putting Lattice along the sides of the pens, and planting climbing roses, or climatises for shade and looks. I also am thinking of making a partial roof over some of the run ... so the bunnies can be outside in the run, but still shaded well from the sun.

I went last night and bought some bunny stuff ... two feeders (with little holes in to sift the "dust" from the feed), I got two ADORABLE bunny halters with leashes, and I got a large 64oz water bottle. I'm getting really excited ! Soon I'll be starting my "construction" on the pen. We're planting large shrubs around where the bunny pen will be - for extra shade, and plus just to make our yard, etc. more attractive. I have a butterfly bush to plant near the pen, and am planning on getting a rhodedendrin and a lilac bush to plant near it as well. Those are flowering shrubs that get large - so they should give the bunnies nice shade, and a nice "smell" ... hahaha.

ANyway, tell me what you's think of the "cottage" that I plan to build for them. Any additional ideas to help make it even nicer and more convenient ? Do I have "everything covered?" How about the flowers- will it be ok to plan a climbing rose or climatis at the bunny pen ? Are there any flowers that are poisenous to bunnies ?

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Here's my pen! Paid all of $30 for it. It's just rabbit fencing that you can use to keep wild buns out of your garden, with posts to stabilize it. I love it! It's about 40 square ft.

 

[Luv-bunniz]

lol AngelnSnuffy the buns face is like "this pen goes for eber, and eber"