Outdoor rabbit hutch ideas?

[Gaited4Life]

Looking to put a rabbit hutch outdoors. Would like to place right outside home on cement area. But don't want feces and urine all over cement or wall. The cage i will be using doesn't have a tray. Ideas for what to put under cage to catch droppings? Want easy way to scoop up daily etc.

 

[drowe005]

I don't have any experience doing it myself, but I have heard you can train rabbits to use a litter box. Maybe someone else one here has done that before that could tell you more.

 

[Miss M]

Many of us put a slanted stiff material of some sort under the cage, that empties into a tote or a into a gutter that empties into a bucket.

We just installed Coroplast in our rabbitry. It slants forward to some vinyl gutters. The top level empties into a bucket at the end, and the bottom level empties into a pan in the middle. This replaced corrugated metal chutes with metal gutters. The caustic urine ate it up.

Some use corrugated plastic or fiberglass, one has used flexible shower wall stuff. There is no wrong way. Just keep in mind that you do need to extend out well past the sides of the cage (6-12", the more the better), or they very well could overshoot your chute.

It is probably a good idea to hang a shower curtain between the house and the hutch (maybe attached to the back of the hutch, as long as it does not touch it), in case of spraying.

__________ Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:31 am __________

I don't have any experience doing it myself, but I have heard you can train rabbits to use a litter box. Maybe someone else one here has done that before that could tell you more.

I have had rabbits use a litter box before. Possibly the best way to litter train a rabbit is to mop up some of their urine with a paper towel, and then put the towel into the litter box. Then remove all traces of urine anywhere outside of the box. This may have to be repeated, but they usually pick it up quickly.

You cannot use clay litter (either clumping or non-clumping) in a rabbit litter box. There is a high probability of GI blockage from the rabbit ingesting the clay. Various things can be used, including pine (not cedar) shavings, wood pellets, and compressed paper litter.

I tried all three of those myself. My favorite was the wood pellets. They can be bought as Feline Pine cat litter, but they will be much cheaper to by as Stall-Dri (for horses) or as wood stove pellets (make sure they have no additives).

The wood pellets you just stir at first. The pellets will break down into a coarse powder. As the powder then gets wet, you scoop the wet stuff out, and add some more pellets.

You will still need something below the cage to catch poo balls, since the rabbit will still drop some of those outside the litter box. Or you could sweep them up.

 

[curlysue]

Several of my bunnies are litter trained.

 

[trinityoaks]

If it were me, I would have walkways of cement or paving stones, but I would leave the area under the cages as bare dirt and let the droppings fall to the ground. Dig out several inches under the cages, and spread and cover the droppings once a week with a layer of peat moss. When the area gets full, then you can scoop it out and either sell it to gardeners or use it in your own gardens.

For my next bunny barn, I'm really liking OneAcreFarm's idea:

so-excited-new-barn-in-the-works-t7122.html

I would put latticework around the sides and plant bunny-safe vines to cover the outside (similar to what I'm doing with my current, much-smaller bunny barn). Mine will have water and electricity, along with an area for grooming and another for processing.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

If it were me, I would have walkways of cement or paving stones, but I would leave the area under the cages as bare dirt and let the droppings fall to the ground. Dig out several inches under the cages, and spread and cover the droppings once a week with a layer of peat moss. When the area gets full, then you can scoop it out and either sell it to gardeners or use it in your own gardens.

Just wanted to second that!

 

[Gaited4Life]

Well the cement area is already set so can't change it. But thanks for all the suggestions! Don't think litter training will work for this situation as I would be cleaning up droppings anyway. I may choose a different spot, that is in another area with bricks for flooring, but can pull up bricks as needed in certain areas. Has privacy fence behind and on one side and shed on other. Just want to make sure they get enough air movement in summer.