Best growout hutch?

[Harbisgirl]

Hey all. I'll be getting my trio of meat rabbits in a month or so, but I'm thinking ahead I really like the growout pen from Teal Stone Homestead but since I don't have any experience yet, I can't spot any potential issues. What are you guys using?
https://www.tealstonehomestead.com/blog/the-best-rabbit-growout-hutch-plans

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

I wouldn't do the shelf. Unnecessary extra wire and they'll just pee on whoever is under them.

 

[Alaska Satin]

Hey all. I'll be getting my trio of meat rabbits in a month or so, but I'm thinking ahead I really like the growout pen from Teal Stone Homestead but since I don't have any experience yet, I can't spot any potential issues. What are you guys using?
https://www.tealstonehomestead.com/blog/the-best-rabbit-growout-hutch-plans

I wouldn't do the shelf. Unnecessary extra wire and they'll just pee on whoever is under them.

Yeah, I agree. And the wood ledge holding up the wire will collect nastiness, and the screws will too.

Another thought is that the rabbits are vulnerable from underneath the cage. As a teenager, I kept rabbits in hutches very much like these, and I gave up on rabbits in despair when a pair of dogs came through our (fenced) yard and tore up the rabbits through the bottom wire. It was hideous. So I'd encourage enclosing the bottom area, to keep dogs and other large predators out. Maybe you could hinge one of the enclosure panels, so it wouldn't be so difficult to clean out underneath the cage when that is necessary.

From what I can see in the materials list, it's all being built with 2 x 4s. You might think about sealing at least the bottom half of the legs to prevent rot, which you'll get eventually due to wet ground and constant soaking in pee. I'm not a big fan of treated wood and you don't want it anywhere the rabbits can chew it (and they will chew the wood even if it's on the outside of the wire), but it really does do a good job at delaying rot on legs. I like to build things for the long run - like, 10-20 years - rather than have to be patching/fixing/re-building every few. Also, it's not necessarily a design flaw, but those support struts on the legs will probably catch a lot of ick in the angled lower connection points.

I don't usually add any separate enclosed areas, because the whole hutch should keep them "out of the weather." In this case it reduces the available movement area (one of the appeals of this hutch is the long length - bunnies love to run) and adds plywood that will get chewed and wet/dirty. Maybe that separate area would allow some bunnies to get away from others if they're not getting along. I suppose it could also help in catching bunnies that did not want to be caught, if you blocked the hole, but I just use a box for that when needed.

If I did have a separated area, I'd also add another feeder and waterer inside. Rabbits maintain a dominance hierarchy which includes resource guarding, so you could find that some of the smaller/more timid bunnies hide in the enclosed area and may have less access to food and water than ideal, if those are only available outside that area.

One thing I do like about this design is that you could fairly easily divide it into two or three separate pens temporarily, just by cutting plywood dividers and screwing them to the sides and upper supports.

It's great that there is no wood under the floor wire, but that won't entirely prevent buildup of waste in the corners. Even all-wire cages get that, and as long as you have those wooden edges and corners, they'll soak up urine and collect hair and waste, which can be pretty hard to get out from between the wood and the wire. On the plus side, the 2x4s along the lower edges of the cage would function like a baby-saver if you plan on having the doe kindle in the pen.

I like the roof design (I use that on chicken tractors), but I would add some sort of latching mechanism to prevent it from being blown up and open, or being blown a little bit up and slamming back down.

If you have any small predators at all in your area, the 1x1 wire mesh might not keep them out; ermine, many rats, and snakes can all get through that. If you think small predators might be a problem, it's more expensive, but it might be worth investing in wire mesh with smaller openings. 1" x 1/2" like you use for the floor would be better, and 1/2" x 1/2" would be my preference if there were snakes around (thanks goodness that's one problem we don't have in AK!).

One question I have is - what is providing the support for a 7' long expanse of wire? If there are no solid supports underneath, it seems to me that you'd soon have a some serious sag going after a big doe with a few litters of porky meat bunnies have bounced up and down for a while. I can't tell from the photos, but maybe the wire is stapled or screwed to the solid partition? That still leaves 56" unsupported, and attaching wire to the edge of 1/4" plywood has never been very effective for me. Maybe that's addressed in the plans...?

I've spent the last 20-some years developing opinions on rabbit housing...can you tell?

 

[mcrvdeb]

I have built, and I am currently using the Tealstone Homestead growout hutches, and I really like them. Everything Alaska Satan pointed out above is true, and worthy of consideration.

I did have to enclose the bottom of the pen, not due to predators, but because my chickens were pecking at bunny feet and spreading the manure gold all over the chicken yard. I have the chickens and rabbit pens inside an electric fence due to coyotes, etc. so they are safe that way.

I really, really like being able to open the top to reach in to feed, water and handle kits (and mom for that matter). As in all wire cages, one of the corners and a side has had some waste accumulation but it is easy to reach in to clean the wire. I wish I had painted the wood framing around the outside (rabbits can't get to it to chew) so there would be less absorption into the wood.

The roof is heavy enough that it does not lift in the wind from the closed position. I am pretty careful about paying attention to winds when I have it supported in the open position because I guess it could potentially lift just enough to take it off the brace and if the brace drops, the roof would slam down.
This has not been an issue yet on days when we have had 25-50mph winds recently.

I used lathe screws (a lot) to attach the 1/2 x 1" 14g wire floor and there is a 2x2 cross piece under the partition wall that the floor wire is also attached to, along with the sides and ends. There is little flex in the floor so far, but my 9 kits are only about 2.5lbs each at this point, so I may have a different opinion when they get closer to processing age. The floor wire was expensive, but I would not skimp on that. Get the heavier gauge wire.

I did build the shelf, and bunnies love hanging out on it. I didn't really think about the waste issue, but at least up to this point, no one appears to have been the unlucky recipient of a shower. Will be easy enough to remove if this becomes an issue.

After reading Alaska Satan's comments, I went down and took a good look at the pens from his/her perspective. There is one leg and support strut that is definitely collecting waste so I will be fashioning a hard plastic shroud of sorts to address that. My legs are all sitting on small landscape bricks so the wood is not touching the ground or manure that has dropped.

I don't have a barn I can put growout pens in, so this design suits my needs at this point. I have made removeable heavy clear vinyl coverings for the back and end of the hutch for cold weather and can easily cover part of the front during heavy snow if necessary.

 

[Phrick]

Mine is made of wire shelving. The dimensions are 96” x 32” x 16”

The frame is 1.5” PVC, painted to protect from sun damage. Slightly too tall for me - I can't reach the buns in the back at this height, so once this batch of grow-outs are gone I’ll cut several inches out of each leg & glue in couplers. The PVC plans came from here (I bought the book, but I think they have free links to some things): https://www.raising-rabbits.com/rabbit-cage.html

The sides are 16 inch wide standard regular closet or garage shelf wire like from Home Depot. The bottom is 2 panels of 16” “close mesh” pantry wire, the only place I’ve ever found it in stock is Lowes, however, my husband found all of the shelf pieces on Facebook marketplace!

I used rebar ties to get it all held together then went back and used chain link hog ties to make it really secure. I also used them to make the hinges for the lid.

Normal J feeders fit perfect in the end in the narrow section of wire and the only reason I opted for multiple feeders is I already had them all on hand, otherwise I'd probably go for one or two looooong feeders instead of 3 short ones.

The shelf that the water bucket sits on is a leftover shelf from one of those plastic home depot shelving units I drilled holes in the ends to be able to run 1/2 inch EMT electrical conduit through to hold it on the frame. Eventually it too will fall apart from the sun and I'll replace it with a wire shelf piece also from a home depot set, but for now it's fine. The cage itself is also suspended from the frame with lengths of EMT conduit run through the shelving wire holes.

I went with the steel bucket for water because everything plastic in Arizona that's exposed to our sun winds up falling apart in short order. I had to modify it to add the fill and dispense spigots, and I found out Beherens buckets are not water tight so I went over all the seams with silicone caulk. It works well.

I put a divider in so I can separate boys from girls - it's a length of 12" wire shelf that I had handy with cage wire topper I also already had, to make the remainder of the 16" height (as you can see). I found the buns could get over (or maybe under) when I had it in there without the top part and situated about an inch off the floor. It is easily removable so i only put it in when I'm planning to sell kits and need to know my boys from my girls.

The portable dog fencing is around the bottom bc otherwise both of my dogs enjoy the tasty cocoa puffs and I'm tired of cleaning up the digestive distress that creates!

 

[maisaksson]

I suppose it could also help in catching bunnies that did not want to be caught, if you blocked the hole, but I just use a box for that when needed.

what do you do with the box?

 

[Bekah-n-Tennessee]

Hey all. I'll be getting my trio of meat rabbits in a month or so, but I'm thinking ahead I really like the growout pen from Teal Stone Homestead but since I don't have any experience yet, I can't spot any potential issues. What are you guys using?
https://www.tealstonehomestead.com/blog/the-best-rabbit-growout-hutch-plans

My better half built me two of Teal Stone's growout hutches and I do have the shelves in them. So far I haven't run into any significant issues and have been happy with them but full disclosure, i haven't used them often as I prefer to keep my growouts in my small barn in my stackers IF I have the cage space available (for my own convenience/comfort and the rabbits as it is moderately climate controlled). Some mods we did make...ours are on shorter legs to fit appropriately within an enclosed chicken run with some predator proofing (hardware cloth apron burried and up the sides as well as covered), added a couple of extra hinges on each and made wood inserts that go on the outside and fit in the framework of the front wired wall of the den for winter to block it off to help retain heat, pop them back out when the weather is nicer for better airflow.

A couple of recommendations, if you didn't see where she called out she put her roofing on in the wrong direction, make sure you do it opposite of the pictures in the plans for rain/snow run off and rather than splitting 2x4s to create 2x2s, just buy 2x2s...the money saved is so minimal that it's not worth the extra time and effort to do it yourself.

 

[maisaksson]

What are you guys using?

My cages are all wire cubes designed to be placed on a structure. This allows for 1. flexibility of placement (some cages are square, some rectangular, some smaller some larger) and mostly 2. for the complete cleanout. I can take the cage down, put it in the yard away from the rabbitry, and power wash the heck out of it.

I built the cages myself using 1x2x24 wire from MFA or the hardware store for the sides and top, and 1/2x1 galvanized-after 14 gauge for the floors. I ordered the flooring from Klubertanz and picked it up at a show. I learned how much better gal-after wire is by watching my first floors rust and in some cases disintegrate in spots.

One structure that the cages sit on consists of 5/8" rebar supports suspended from the rafters of a shed. This shed is open on three sides with an insulated roof. The rebar is supported by chains every three feet or thirty inches, and my modular cages fit in between the chain supports. As the rabbitry has grown I have added wooden hutch structures on two of the open sides, effectively closing those sides to the weather.

The hutch structures are made of 2x4 pine lumber with insulated metal roofs and removable metal side panels. I did the side panels to protect the rabbits from the wind and weather in winter and would remove them to allow for more circulation in summer. However in practice I rarely change them, either leave them up or off. The cages sit on rebar that fits into the 2x4 frame. So the cages are sitting on rebar away from the wood frame. I’ve got two of these hutches under a big oak tree, in addition to the three closing in the shed.

This has all evolved over the years, and as the number of rabbits increased and decreased, I’ve combined some cages to make double-decker cages, or made a pass-through cage from two smaller cages. I rarely use my smaller cages any more. Mostly my American rabbits ( @ 10 - 12 lbs.) live in cages that are 36x36x24, or 72x36x24 for growouts. I like the big cages as it lets them move and stretch, and the two double decker cages let them move around and exercise even more. We used to have 50 foot “runs” where the rabbits could run and dig and eat fresh grass and weeds and be less like prisoners but we’ve gotten older and lazier and mostly keep them in their cages, like a virtual warren (or prison). Last year we put two groups in the [fallow] upper garden to let them live more to their nature. What a difference in condition! And so interesting to observe.

 

[Alaska Satin]

what do you do with the box?

When I had growouts in a tractor (which I haven't for several years since it's been so wet for the last few summers), I just put a box on its side in front of them at whichever end of the tractor they've gathered, then kind of calmly scootch them in. My bunnies really aren't hard to catch, in fact they usually hop up to us, so I haven't had to do that too often. In fact the only time I remember having to use a box was when I was raising a friend's growouts (they were not friendly).

What are you guys using?

I don't usually use growout cages. If I can, I use tractors on the ground, but when I can't - which is most of the year and sometimes all year - I usually just leave the bunnies in with their dams till weaning at about 8-10 weeks. At that point most or all of them are butcher weight, and any that I'm considering keeping get their own cage. That's one of the advantages I see in the Tealstone hutches - the doe can kindle there, and then the bunnies can spend their whole lives in one place.

I don't really like moving the bunnies because they go through a readjustment period of stress and dominance behaviors that are unpleasant to watch (group mounting, etc. ). At the very least they hit a temporary plateau in growth while they sort it out. A tractor has so many benefits in terms of growth, activity, nutrition and savings (they only eat about half the pellets of my caged growouts) that it's worth it to me, but otherwise I'd rather just leave them.

My cages are all-wire and in a barn - I'm so blessed! - but I used to have a set-up that looked quite a bit like @maisaksson's free-standing structure. That became a larger shed (courtesy of my husband's generosity with his time and his building skills), which made it a lot nicer for me, since I had a roof over my head and not just the rabbits'. Because I had two levels of cages, we used round metal pipes to support the cages. This was better than other materials because it is very stout, and it's round, so a lot of nastiness rolled off it, but stuff did collect on it eventually. Our final design is my dream barn, in which the cages are hung, so NO solid parts underneath to collect waste, using a clever system (my husband again) to distribute the weight to prevent deformation of the cages from the weight of the rabbits. There are photos and an explanation here:
https://rabbittalk.com/threads/anyone-use-oil-drip-pans.36644/#post-355111

Like @maisaksson, most of my cages are cubes so it's easy to pull one that has cleaning or repair needs (most of them are >10 years old so that's a constant concern) and put them in the yard for power washing or refab. I still have a few bank (multi-hole) cages but am slowly replacing them.

I know it's not feasible for everyone, but figuring out how to get the cages into a shelter of some sort was a huge boost to my enjoyment of the rabbits. None of my structures have been heated, but it's so nice to go hang out in a shed or barn out of the wind, rain, snow, etc. I also highly recommend lights! Even if you just have a shop light on an extension cord, it really increases the time you can spend with the bunnies (even if you don't have 3-hour winter day-length like we do here!).

 

[ruhoppy]

Mine is made of wire shelving. The dimensions are 96” x 32” x 16”

The frame is 1.5” PVC, painted to protect from sun damage. Slightly too tall for me - I can't reach the buns in the back at this height, so once this batch of grow-outs are gone I’ll cut several inches out of each leg & glue in couplers. The PVC plans came from here (I bought the book, but I think they have free links to some things): https://www.raising-rabbits.com/rabbit-cage.html

The sides are 16 inch wide standard regular closet or garage shelf wire like from Home Depot. The bottom is 2 panels of 16” “close mesh” pantry wire, the only place I’ve ever found it in stock is Lowes, however, my husband found all of the shelf pieces on Facebook marketplace!

I used rebar ties to get it all held together then went back and used chain link hog ties to make it really secure. I also used them to make the hinges for the lid.

Normal J feeders fit perfect in the end in the narrow section of wire and the only reason I opted for multiple feeders is I already had them all on hand, otherwise I'd probably go for one or two looooong feeders instead of 3 short ones.

The shelf that the water bucket sits on is a leftover shelf from one of those plastic home depot shelving units I drilled holes in the ends to be able to run 1/2 inch EMT electrical conduit through to hold it on the frame. Eventually it too will fall apart from the sun and I'll replace it with a wire shelf piece also from a home depot set, but for now it's fine. The cage itself is also suspended from the frame with lengths of EMT conduit run through the shelving wire holes.

I went with the steel bucket for water because everything plastic in Arizona that's exposed to our sun winds up falling apart in short order. I had to modify it to add the fill and dispense spigots, and I found out Beherens buckets are not water tight so I went over all the seams with silicone caulk. It works well.

I put a divider in so I can separate boys from girls - it's a length of 12" wire shelf that I had handy with cage wire topper I also already had, to make the remainder of the 16" height (as you can see). I found the buns could get over (or maybe under) when I had it in there without the top part and situated about an inch off the floor. It is easily removable so i only put it in when I'm planning to sell kits and need to know my boys from my girls.

The portable dog fencing is around the bottom bc otherwise both of my dogs enjoy the tasty cocoa puffs and I'm tired of cleaning up the digestive distress that creates!

Do you find that the rabbits chew on the coated wire shelving?

 

[Phrick]

Do you find that the rabbits chew on the coated wire shelving?

They do a little but not very much. I’ve had 3 rounds of growouts go through it it so far and there is only a small bit of chewed part, like each set tasted it and decided “ew that is NOT worth it.” It might help too that i put pine cones, sticks, and half a leaf of bermuda hay in pretty frequently so they have plenty of more interesting, more tasty things to chew on instead of the wire.