Rabbit Hutch

[Jake]

That's a good price for what sounds like good quality ply. My local timber yards want more, for pretty ordinary stuff.

Here are some 'proper' BS1088 marine plys - http://www.robbins.co.uk/Pdf%20Files/pl ... oods_1.pdf

 

[Timmo]

Thanks for all these helpful posts...Grinding one...I wasn't 100% clear of what you meant about the floor of the hutch..do you mean that the back half is solid and the front half has holes in for the droppings to drop through? Are the rabbits OK walking on the bit with holes in..sorry it probably makes complete sense to you but it is hard for me to visualise it.. Would it be possible to use some sort of acrylic or perspex or something?
Wow, thats a big difference in the prices of "marine ply" looks like the pukka stuff is dead expensive and over kill but a decent quality ply for £27 seems like a very good price...
Thanks again
Timmo

 

[Grinding One]

Thanks for all these helpful posts...Grinding one...I wasn't 100% clear of what you meant about the floor of the hutch..do you mean that the back half is solid and the front half has holes in for the droppings to drop through? Are the rabbits OK walking on the bit with holes in..sorry it probably makes complete sense to you but it is hard for me to visualise it.. Would it be possible to use some sort of acrylic or perspex or something?
Wow, thats a big difference in the prices of "marine ply" looks like the pukka stuff is dead expensive and over kill but a decent quality ply for £27 seems like a very good price...
Thanks again
Timmo

Yes the back half is wood ,rabbits tend to poo in the same spot ,but if you slant the bottom forward a bit the pee and poo runs off into the tray.Rabbits tend to live in burrowsI make them a box to jump into low in front and high on sides and back.They like the feeling of being safe and warm So a box in a box is best.

 

[bob_c]

Ive made cages for my wife who has around 100.Through they are built in blocks from plywood and i coated the insides with a special white high solids epoxy finish that was in two parts and came in a 40 litre drum.The cages all have removable fronts and slide in kickboards which stop all the bedding getting threw out the front.The epoxy coating has been on around 10 years and is still going strong,it is bite and scratch resistant.
I assume your making cages for pet rabbits?? Most breeders use block cages and keep them in a shed. My wifes shed is bigger than my workshop
If you look up Avondale rabbit hutches on google you,ll see what i mean.
Just noticed they have gone out of business and these are the ones alot of breeders were buying.
http://www.avondaleanimalhousing.co.uk/
I think they were charging around £600 for a block of 12 compartments.

 

[Benchwayze]

That's a good price for what sounds like good quality ply. My local timber yards want more, for pretty ordinary stuff.

Here are some 'proper' BS1088 marine plys - http://www.robbins.co.uk/Pdf%20Files/pl ... oods_1.pdf

I find the ply I get, ideal for utility cabimets. One day I'll get round to making some for myself!

As to your price list there Jake, now I know the reason why boat builders say, 'If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it!'
Lovely to work with though eh Jake?

Regards
John

 

[davegw]

Thanks again John....So do I need to get marine ply from a proper timber yard then as I guess they don't sell that in Wickes / B&Q etc?
Thanks
Tim

B&Q definitely don't sell Marine Ply, although I built the hutch for SWMBO's Rabbit (not a rolls royce hutch, the Rabbit is 5 years old) this summer out of 9mm WBP ply and painted it with pet safe wood preserve.

Good Luck with whatever you do going forward

 

[Jake]

now I know the reason why boat builders say, 'If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it!'
Lovely to work with though eh Jake?

I dunno (but you'd hope so!) one look at those prices (which aren't much out of line with anywhere else), and an ordinary old WBP exterior ply always seems like a splendid idea.

 

[johnnyb]

i have built a lovely hutch with an attached run and i have three buns admitedly one is in the house! anyway i used the cheap cls timber from b and q for the frame and the main door. the floor is 18mm osb as is the roof with felt on top. rabbits are really easy to litter train and corner litter trays are pretty common and make daily cleaning easy. weekly clean is just a sweep out and fresh bedding. their is a pine ramp to the run with cleats screwed to it. generally the construction is half lap joints(plus glue and screws) with matchboarding on the ends nailed to square ledges screwed to the cls (a rebate would be more elegant!) it sit about 8 - 10 inches off the ground. the back is ply as is the partition between sleeping quarters and main. (9mm i think). my best advice is simple but sturdy construction as rabbits can be terrible chewers. to lessen chewing they should have a 90% hay diet, to many pellets and they get full to soon and get bored. my method of run construction is simple but very effective. make up pocketholed frames usually five plus the lid. staple netting to inside and cut it using an angle grinder. screw together in the edges. a good angle on the roof helps shed water. some foil insulation out of reach in the roof goes a long way to keeping them cool/warm but blankets are essential in winter. a perspex panel(over the netting) on the door helps keep out drafts and driving rain( with a hole for the bottle) it should be sized for the breed really. sturdiness is the key i beleive as they get battered from inside and out. brass hinges and locks to.

 

[TheTiddles]

Right, this is a bit of an area of expetise for me and I have made a couple of hutches, I will make another one soon as I'm never happy with them...

You need to make the hutch fit where it is going to go, if it's free-standing in the middle of a field you will need excellent weather protection to stop the rain blowing in, or glass doors which might not look too good. Acess is really important as is a reduction of dirt traps.

You can use B&Q pine and their value T&G interior cladding if you paint it well, I have used Cuprinol Garden Shades which is easy to apply and they haven't chewed it, that said, they have plenty else to chew on normally.

The idea flooring material is something that you can change easily without needing them to go to a hotel for the weekend, I am going to build one like this soon and for the flooring I will use grow-bag trays, the large plastic trays you can get from a garden centre for about a fiver each, then you can fill a new one with paper and sawdust outside the cage and just swap them out. Rabbits always go in the same place (mostly) so you can put in a separate litter tray which you change every few days, the droppings and wood chips are like speed for a compost heap, the day after adding them it starts steaming!

One thing not to neglect is height, even a small rabbit needs a good 15" floor to ceiling, this reverses for the bed area, there small is good, if you put a box in that is over half the height of the hutch they will probably spend more time on top of if than in it. Sections of drain pipe are usefull play items as well as bedding locations.

Maybe I'll post some WIP when I start on that job

Aidan

 

[Timmo]

Thanks again for all the ideas and suggestions...It is certainly helping me get some good ideas in my head....I especially like the idea of the grow bag tray for a quick change..Any idea how big they are?
I find it hard to believe how small the hutches are that they sell in the pet shops and how much they charge for them...
I am getting some really good ideas so thanks a lot...now I just need to come up with the design and start building...
Many thanks again
Timmo

 

[Shultzy]

Our rabbits hutch is 48x24x24 and made from softwood and ply panelled construction, the roof is held on with KD fittings to allow the felt to be replaced but it never has.

Its painted on the inside with 4 coats of Ronseal polyurethane varnish; and on the outside with shed preservative. The bed area partition is removable to make cleaning out easier. The hutch is over 10 years old, and so is the rabbit, and I've only painted it once (that's the hutch :lol.

The garden is all enclosed so she(he!) is out all day and only spends the night in there. The door has a 25mm square metal grid which is covered with fine netting (an old underskirt) to keep the flies out.