cage height from ground

[Her Farmstead Rabbitry]

I have a hutch that I am thinking about adding a lower level of cages. The current hutch is 35in off the ground and it has no fence or any other protection other than the hutch itself. It is located on the edge of the woods. With an angled board with a 5in angle for poop, and an 18in tall cage, I can have the bottom cage 1ft off the ground. Is this high enough for them to be safe from predators? I haven't had any problems with predators with my current hutch.

 

[CedarRidge]

Remember, raccoons are good climbers and love to use their tiny little fingers to grad and pull toes and other parts through wire.

 

[eco2pia]

Any predator that can bother a rabbit in a cage 1 foot off the ground can bother a rabbit in a cage 3 feet off the ground. So if your rabbits are doing ok now, then you have either been lucky or they are safe. To thwart dogs and raccoons have some solid sided area that ALL the rabbits in the cage can retreat to. And consider hardware cloth sides if you have curious kits in the cage that can be lured up to the wire by a clever raccoon. Having the dropping board saves you from dogs who will bite off toes from under the hutch. Make it sturdy and heavy enough that a large dog cannot knock it over.

That said, I would try not to get so low to the ground that you make a protected space for rats to nest. Be sure a nice rat trap will fit under anything lol.

 

[Preitler]

My reason for elevating the hutches to almost hip level is ease of maintanance, no crawling around on the floor or working bent over. Also, the floors are higher than my wheelbarrow which makes cleaning the hutches out way more easy. And there is the very slight possibility of floods,

Predator wise, I reckon this is more of an issue in the US than here. Hight might not make that much difference, but it's still easier for them low to the ground.
I once shot a fox inside the top hutch though, and marten and rats climb everywhere too. A fence really helped to keep foxes away, not 100% though (also, a neighbours pet buck managed to break in twice), I still watch for tracks and put up the wildlife camera, but they are cautious and don't go in the first day, it worked that if I noticed one getting too interested to put up a contraption (motion detector, power tools) to scare them off.
Good, working traps sure make life easier too.