Product Design Student planning to make a new type of hutch

[xnimmyx]

Hello, I'm currently in my final year as a Product Design student and I'm planning to design a hutch that will be able to fit any size of bunny with extra extensions that can be purchased to add to the hutch. However, ill need some research so was asking whether anyone could help me by answering some questions that would be able to help me with this design. These are the questions that i wanted to ask:

How many Rabbits do you currently own?

How long have you owned your rabbit/rabbits for?

Do you own a Hutch for your rabbit/s? If yes, what kind of Hutch and what is the estimated size?

Have you ever faced any problems with the you own or previously owned? (such as Rabbits escaping, chewing the hutch, etc)

Have you ever had the need to buy a new hutch? If yes, why?

Do you own a run for your rabbit? If yes, did you build it yourself or did you buy it?

Have you faced any problems when you are trying to clean your rabbits hutch?

While owning your rabbit, have you had to make any adjustments to the current hutch to meet their needs? (such as adjusting the sizes of parts of the hutch)

Do you face any problems when trying to feed your pets?

Are there any other animals in your area that are dangerous to your rabbits? if yes, what are they?


Thank you very much for answering these questions. They will help me immensely for designing my product. Any other information that you can provide me will also be greatly appreciated.

 

[shazza]

i don't use hutches anymore except for my growouts, but i'll answer these with my experience using hutches in mind! maybe it'll be useful.

How many Rabbits do you currently own? 14 or 15, i lost count

How long have you owned your rabbit/rabbits for? 2 years

Do you own a Hutch for your rabbit/s? If yes, what kind of Hutch and what is the estimated size? as i said, i don't use hutches anymore, but when i did they were handmade wood/wire hutches measuring about 2'x4'. i have another one that i did not make that is 2'x6' and made of wood and wire. my current growout pen is a 4'x6' (or something along those lines - it's huge) wood and wire pen with no nest area.

Have you ever faced any problems with the you own or previously owned? originally my handmade ones included a solid-floored area that was very difficult to keep clean, and my rabbits became soiled as a result. we sawed the bottom out and replaced it with wire and it worked much better. the wire on the one i did NOT make was of inappropriate gauge and spacing and caused injury to a couple of my rabbits' feet and had to be covered with vinyl lattice to protect them. the rabbits chewed the wood as well, despite me adding many toys and other things to chew on to their hutches. this was solved by wrapping wire around the posts, but it would be designed with the posts on the outside as well. a current issue i have with my growout hutch is along the edges where the wooden supports make corners, the rabbits really like to poop there, which eventually requires me to use a hose to clean all the packed down poop out so they don't get dirty or sick. it's a mild annoyance, but one nonetheless.

Have you ever had the need to buy a new hutch? If yes, why? no, i switched to all-wire cages fairly quickly when i realized i wanted more rabbits, and the hutches took up too much space.

Do you own a run for your rabbit? If yes, did you build it yourself or did you buy it? yes, i had a handmade rabbit tractor for several years until hurricane harvey destroyed it for me. it was made of scrap wood and wire.

Have you faced any problems when you are trying to clean your rabbits hutch? yes, when i was using hutches that had a solid-bottomed nest area, that area was of course where they chose to poop the most, and it was extremely difficult to keep clean, even with tons of bedding. my rabbits ended up getting very matted and gross, and we promptly sawed the bottoms out of the hutches and replaced it with wire. there was also a minor element of back strain from leaning over to do anything in the hutches, but i have a bad back in particular.

While owning your rabbit, have you had to make any adjustments to the current hutch to meet their needs? no, we generally knew the size of the rabbits we were getting when we made the hutches, so they were of appropriate size. the hutch i did not make had inappropriate wire on the floor, which caused sore hocks in an older rabbit, so vinyl lattice was placed in the hutch an the problem went away.

Do you face any problems when trying to feed your pets? j-feeders worked great, but for my growout pen they wouldn't hold enough feed for the amount of rabbits inside. we used a chicken feeder for a while, but they chewed it apart, so we made a trough out of some PVC piping cut in half and outside of them sitting in it and pooping, it works great.

Are there any other animals in your area that are dangerous to your rabbits? if yes, what are they? yes. we have raccoons, coyotes, skunks, rats, cats, and dogs in my part of the country. since i live somewhat more towards town i don't have much issue with anything but the rats and dogs. the rats and kept at bay by removing their nesting areas and access to food. the dogs are more of a problem, not a huge problem, but one nonetheless. people keep being lax on containing their animals so every now and then one wanders into my yard. usually i can chase them off but a couple times they've come back and tried to get at my rabbits.

 

[SableSteel]

How many Rabbits do you currently own?
About 20

How long have you owned your rabbit/rabbits for?
10 or so years

Do you own a Hutch for your rabbit/s? If yes, what kind of Hutch and what is the estimated size?
All wire cages; sizes are 16x24, 24x24, 48x24 and 32x24 floor (in inches) with 18" tall and 2 in pans. 1x2" side wire, 1x1/2" floor wire; urine guard all around it instead of baby saver wire. Can't remember the door size
(16x24 are for rabbits <2 lbs: britannia petites and grow outs; 24x24 are for full grown himalayans & standard chinchillas; 32x24 are for nursing himalayans and nursing britannia petites, and 48x24 are for nursing himalayans) Edit: I have quite a few more cages than rabbits, I cut down on my # of rabbits when I moved

Have you ever faced any problems with the you own or previously owned? (such as Rabbits escaping, chewing the hutch, etc)
The metal pans rust too easily; but I plan on replacing them with plastic pans once I have space & money. They are a bit too tall for me; and when combined with J feeders dont fit quite through the door (have to take feeders off to move it)

Have you ever had the need to buy a new hutch? If yes, why?
Yes, for new rabbits. I had to replace one where the wires that held up the floor fell, so the cage was resting on the cleaning trays and made the cleaning trays difficult to get out.

Do you own a run for your rabbit? If yes, did you build it yourself or did you buy it?
I used to have one that I built myself; a converted covered dog run.

Have you faced any problems when you are trying to clean your rabbits hutch?
Yes; sometimes the gaps for the trays are the exact same height as the tray which makes them hard to take out. Cages with 1/4"-1" gaps between the cage floor and trays are easier.

While owning your rabbit, have you had to make any adjustments to the current hutch to meet their needs? (such as adjusting the sizes of parts of the hutch)
Yes; I have moved dividers to change cage sizes, and I have cut holes in the wire to add in J feeders.

Do you face any problems when trying to feed your pets?
Feeding; no. But watering is a pain because often the water dishes get attached to the swinging doors.

Are there any other animals in your area that are dangerous to your rabbits? if yes, what are they?
My rabbits live in an enclosed barn that's very secure, so no. Mice, snakes, only things that can fit under the door are problems.

 

[Ozarkansas]

How many Rabbits do you currently own?

30 adults and 15 babies with their mothers.

How long have you owned your rabbit/rabbits for?

I have had at least one rabbit for 12 years.

Do you own a Hutch for your rabbit/s? If yes, what kind of Hutch and what is the estimated size?

I currently do not own any hutchs,
I build all wire cages for my rabbits. I have them on cinder blocks with a plastic tarp covering the top, back, and one side. My large rabbits 10-12 lbs are in 24" × 48". My small rabbits 3-5 lbs are in 24" × 36 .
And I have 3 72" × 24" cages for grow outs or large does with large litters. When I only had pet rabbits I had wood and wire hutchs, I don't remember the size.

Have you ever faced any problems with the you own or previously owned? (such as Rabbits escaping, chewing the hutch, etc)

Rabbits will chew any wood they can reach! I only had rabbits escape out of some used wire cages or when I simply forget to close the door.

Have you ever had the need to buy a new hutch? If yes, why?

When my wooden hutchs fell apart I bought supplies to build all wire cages. I have not had to replace any of my wire cages. But I do build more when I run out of room

Do you own a run for your rabbit? If yes, did you build it yourself or did you buy it?

Because of the high amount of parisites where I live, I never put my rabbits on the ground except for short amounts of time to take pictures of them.

Have you faced any problems when you are trying to clean your rabbits hutch?

With pans definitely go for plastic!
Metal rusts and get nasty. I do have to spray the corners of my cages with the hose, because of build up on the cinder blocks.

While owning your rabbit, have you had to make any adjustments to the current hutch to meet their needs? (such as adjusting the sizes of parts of the hutch)

For the most part no, I did go through and make built in hay mangers out of my scrap wire recently though.

Do you face any problems when trying to feed your pets?

I use cage cups to feed my rabbits, so I do have to open the door to feed each one. But that is better anyway because a lot of them like to be petted on the head.

Are there any other animals in your area that are dangerous to your rabbits? if yes, what are they?

We do have a lot of wild animals in our area, but thanks to our protective (and nice to rabbits) dogs they haven't been a problem.

 

[MaggieJ]

Hello xnimmyx, and welcome to RabbitTalk. :hi:

Please add your country (state or province if USA or Canada) to your profile. So many rabbit questions are influenced by location that the replies you receive may not reflect the conditions/regulations where you are located.

In the matter of cage specifications, you will find that in North America the vast majority of rabbit owners use wire bottom cages. They are hygenic and not as hard on rabbits' feet as some people think. Many owners add a resting mat so the rabbit can get off the wire when not hopping around.

I know in Europe, the rabbit world has many regulations and that wire bottom cages are considered inhumane by some and in places there are regulations about them.

You will need to take these things into consideration when planning your hutch. Which brings me to the next question: Are you designing this hutch solely as a college project or do you hope to manufacture and sell them in future? Since cages are expensive to ship, it makes sense to design your cages to fit the standards of where you live so that you have a viable product.

Climate also plays a big role if these hutches are meant for outdoor use as well as indoors.

I don't have rabbits myself anymore because of mobility problems, so I won't be answering your questions, but I hope this post is of some value to you as you plan your project.

:good-luck:

 

[Marinea]

I believe you will find that most if not all of the breeders here use some kind of wire cages. I feel that your hutch will most likely appeal to pet rabbit owners.

There are going to be big differences between indoor and outdoor hutches. There will also be differences in outdoor hutches depending on location (weather). Maybe some more details from you on what you are planning would help us give you some better, more specific advice.

 

[Winterwolf]

How many Rabbits do you currently own?
Nine, not counting the growouts and litters.

How long have you owned your rabbit/rabbits for?
Raised them for three years, then took a long break. Got back into them two years ago.

Do you own a Hutch for your rabbit/s? If yes, what kind of Hutch and what is the estimated size?
Yes. For most, I use this one: https://www.orschelnfarmhome.com/view/product/si-large-rabbit-hutch/si5879534
I also have these for the growouts: https://www.hayneedle.com/product/advantekduplexrabbithutch.cfm?ltype=child&tid=AVK025-1

Have you ever faced any problems with the you own or previously owned? (such as Rabbits escaping, chewing the hutch, etc)
No.

Have you ever had the need to buy a new hutch? If yes, why?
One of my rabbits started in a wire cage. I recently bought a hutch to replace it. The wire cage wasn't working very well.

Do you own a run for your rabbit? If yes, did you build it yourself or did you buy it?
Yes. I bought two of these and hooked them together to make a larger play area: https://www.target.com/p/north-stat...fxPf1Et19uJhL_Kp8eIaAoVGEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Have you faced any problems when you are trying to clean your rabbits hutch?
I need to give the wood parts of the hutches a good scrubbing at the beginning of each month. Other than that, the dropping pans make clean up pretty easy.

While owning your rabbit, have you had to make any adjustments to the current hutch to meet their needs? (such as adjusting the sizes of parts of the hutch)
Needed to remove the wood dividers in the angoras' hutches to give them more room (the openings weren't big enough for them), but the mini lops and satins never had any problems with them.

Do you face any problems when trying to feed your pets?
No.

Are there any other animals in your area that are dangerous to your rabbits? if yes, what are they?
Yes, coyotes are everywhere around here. After losing my first mini satin to coyotes, I now use a privacy fence around the rabbit area.

 

[MeadowView]

How many Rabbits do you currently own?

Currently three. In the past, max capacity was 30, but we only ever reached that number twice.

How long have you owned your rabbit/rabbits for?

My current three, about six months. I have a combined total of seven years raising rabbits, though.

Do you own a Hutch for your rabbit/s? If yes, what kind of Hutch and what is the estimated size?

I use all wire stacker cages from KW, plus assorted wire cages that have been given to me over the years. Right now, I'm using a six hole with 18 x 24 compartments for my Himalayans. For litters, I have a three stack 36x24, and a few additional cages of the same size. I used to raise Champagnes in these, as well of a few of the other large-ish breeds I've kept over the years. None have baby saver wire, and instead have urine guards.

Have you ever faced any problems with the you own or previously owned? (such as Rabbits escaping, chewing the hutch, etc)

I may just have particularly crafty rabbits, but I've always had a problem with rabbits escaping. An old buck of ours got out on multiple occasions. Normally I could solve this by bending the wire latch so it was a little more secure. He outsmarted us, of course, so he was our only rabbit with a lock on his cage.

Luckily, he came when he was called. :lol:

Have you ever had the need to buy a new hutch? If yes, why?

Yes, mostly for expansion purposes. I haven't had a problem with cages rusting or wearing out. Knock on wood.

Do you own a run for your rabbit? If yes, did you build it yourself or did you buy it?

Yes - just a small round pen from KW cages. Originally bought it to let rabbits stretch their legs at shows and for selling babies. Now, if we're home, there's almost always a rabbit in it.

Have you faced any problems when you are trying to clean your rabbits hutch?

I hate metal pans and would greatly prefer literally anything else. They're awkward and clumsy and rust ridiculously easily, plus I never feel like I'm getting them completely clean. I have also had some really gross bucks over the years who make little 'hay beds' in the corner and then poop all over them, which I have to clean out every couple of days, or it becomes a rock like poop mountain.

I don't know why - there's always at least one buck in my rabbitry that does this.

While owning your rabbit, have you had to make any adjustments to the current hutch to meet their needs? (such as adjusting the sizes of parts of the hutch)

Nope.

Do you face any problems when trying to feed your pets?

Nope. We have all attachable crocks and attach them to the door so they swing out and we don't have to reach in. Some rabbits do like to stand in them an go for a little ride, though, which is cute, if not mildly annoying.

Are there any other animals in your area that are dangerous to your rabbits? if yes, what are they?

My rabbits are indoors. If they were outdoors, we would need to worry about dogs, bears, coyotes, rodents, mountain lions, wolves, and, uh, more. I live about fifty feet from the national forest line, so we get a lot of wildlife. When we had them outside we kept a bb gun by the back door and did use it to scare away dogs on occasion. Luckily, they were never bothered by anything else.

 

[Preitler]

How many Rabbits do you currently own?

Right now, winter's coming, it's 8, 3 pairs of breeding does, one buck and one growout that is waiting to be picked up.
In summer it can be between 20-30.

How long have you owned your rabbit/rabbits for?
5 years

Do you own a Hutch for your rabbit/s? If yes, what kind of Hutch and what is the estimated size?
My breeding duos live in wood hutches, size minimum 7x2 1/2x 3ft, with several levels, resting boards, hidy houses.
Buck lives in my house and garden, has free run of everything.

Have you ever faced any problems with the you own or previously owned? (such as Rabbits escaping, chewing the hutch, etc)

I'm building my 3rd generation hutch, no solid floor anymore, better floor plan, nest boxes, hay/forage racks

Have you ever had the need to buy a new hutch? If yes, why?
I do not buy.

Do you own a run for your rabbit? If yes, did you build it yourself or did you buy it?
Uhm, I have a symbolic fence, inside they can roam on about 200m², but about 1/3 of the growouts discover the symbolic nature of my fence and graze outside, about 2000m² range, as far as I know. I can't find some of them during the day, but they are back in the evening.

Have you faced any problems when you are trying to clean your rabbits hutch?

Yes, solid floor hutches are a PITA. It's the traditional kind of hutches here, and what I started with. I now use wooden grates with about 1" slats and 1/2" slots, with pans underneath (with all that forage etc. at least about 4" high)
Also my nestboxes are drained now.

While owning your rabbit, have you had to make any adjustments to the current hutch to meet their needs? (such as adjusting the sizes of parts of the hutch)

Sure. My hutches got rapidly bigger once I saw and learned what rabbits need. Also rather big hidy houses with 2 entrances got a standard feature. I'm working to include a "racetrack", simply a way where a doe can run when chased without getting cornered (remember, my does live in duos- not every day is sunshine).
Also ramps to let them in and out that are easier to handle.
Oh, and the door locks. Big thing for comfort and safty - my last version is so that I only have to push the door closed and it locks automaticly with an audible "bang".
And, solid, dog proof wire at the doors. Next breeder down the road keeps losing rabbits because he keeps patching up his hutch doors with chicken wire.

Do you face any problems when trying to feed your pets?

Not with my pet, the buck. He has his own corner with feeding station and litter box, works great.
The lifestock is a different matter:

Waste. I feed mostly forage, and they tend to dig for the most yummy parts and discard and spoil the rest. Some horizontal bars in the hay rack help a lot to reduce that.

Are there any other animals in your area that are dangerous to your rabbits? if yes, what are they?[/i]

Marten, fox and rats. Never had a problem with marten, fox once attacked at noon with me only meters away, and ripped one huth open in the night, all in all 5 rabbits gone. I had to kill this mange-ridden fox when I caught him in one of my hutches, and an additional 2m fence around the hutches keeps healthy foxes off.
Rats are a nuisance, but easily scared away by my mediocre attempts to catch them. :? Also, the snakes sure get some of them.

Although I'm writing this for anyone who's interested, it would be nice to get some feedback from you, xnimmyx

 

[alforddm]

I've been meaning to ask you, Preitler, how are your wood slat floors working out? Are they fairly easy to keep clean?

 

[SarniaTricia]

How many Rabbits do you currently own?
18-25 breeding animals

How long have you owned your rabbit/rabbits for? 2.5 years

Do you own a Hutch for your rabbit/s? If yes, what kind of Hutch and what is the estimated size?
Commercially built all wire cages, stacked with trays.
13 - 24x24
1-18x24
21 - 30x24
18- 12x24


Have you ever faced any problems with the you own or previously owned? (such as Rabbits escaping, chewing the hutch, etc) - only because some of the used cages I purchased had holes cut for equipment and I didn't notice.

Have you ever had the need to buy a new hutch? If yes, why?
Yes, because I had space to fit another cage

Do you own a run for your rabbit? If yes, did you build it yourself or did you buy it? NO

Have you faced any problems when you are trying to clean your rabbits hutch? - NO
Stacked Wire cages with trays - weekly cleaning the trays is usually sufficient - sometimes nee to use a wire brush on the corners as my does tend to potty in the same corner and create a pile.
Annually - pull all the cages and power-wash... torch the metal and scrub the trays with a bathroom toilet cleaner.

While owning your rabbit, have you had to make any adjustments to the current hutch to meet their needs? (such as adjusting the sizes of parts of the hutch) - no

Do you face any problems when trying to feed your pets? no

Are there any other animals in your area that are dangerous to your rabbits? if yes, what are they? - dogs on the farm - rabbit cages are contained in a secure horse stall with blocker at the bottom of the stall door to prevent dogs from crawling under.

 

[Preitler]

I've been meaning to ask you, Preitler, how are your wood slat floors working out? Are they fairly easy to keep clean?

Well, at least they drain all liquids. Since I feed forage and hay, and much of that gets wasted, it doesn't take long that there is a thick layer of hay and wilted greens, but that isn't too bad since it's quite dry. I think wire wouldn't be much of a difference.

Also, since the slots are uninterrupted and open to the front the stuff is easily removed. Now and then I take the grates out and hang them into the creek for rinsing. It's definitly much better than solid floor.

 

[MissVelveteen]

How many Rabbits do you currently own?
5

How long have you owned your rabbit/rabbits for?
For about 3 years, a little less I think.

Do you own a Hutch for your rabbit/s? If yes, what kind of Hutch and what is the estimated size?
I own one custom built wooden "hutch" for my three pet rabbits.
It has two 2x4 ft levels and one 1x2 ledge. 18 sq ft - Solid floor
I also own a stack of 36x30 wire cages for Velveteens (separately housed). 7.5 sq ft - Wire floor


Have you ever faced any problems with the you own or previously owned? (such as Rabbits escaping, chewing the hutch, etc)

My rabbits have only escaped when I forgot to close/lock the hutch/cage. On my wooden hutch, the rabbits have chewed the edges of the doors and such, but stopped after a few months and haven't chewed them much since.
In my wooden hutch, my rabbits are mostly litter trained, but poop still gets everywhere. In my wire cages, poop often gets stuck between the resting mat slots. And all of my rabbits get stained paws to a degree, I'd like to just eliminate the problem. I have had 1 sore hocks case with wire and 1 sore hocks case on the solid floor.
Last summer, I would give my rabbits frozen liters of water, and they would leak and form a puddle in the wooden hutch, which was a pain to deal with.

Have you ever had the need to buy a new hutch? If yes, why?
Yes, But I have only bought new cages and built a new hutch for size purposes. I prefer as much space as possible!

Do you own a run for your rabbit? If yes, did you build it yourself or did you buy it?
I use a dog kennel and horse stalls for my rabbits to run around in. I don't like most commercial runs because they end up not being that much bigger than the cages, and defeat the purpose of having a run.

Have you faced any problems when you are trying to clean your rabbits hutch?
The wooden stair case in my wood hutch has gotten soaked with urine before, and is hard to clean. It would be better to have a plastic or wire stair case.

While owning your rabbit, have you had to make any adjustments to the current hutch to meet their needs? (such as adjusting the sizes of parts of the hutch)
Well I built a whole new hutch, much larger than my previous one, for my small herd of pet rabbits (4 at the time). My wire cages need resting mats to prevent sore hocks.

Do you face any problems when trying to feed your pets?
Cage-related? Not really. I have a non-clip in bowl, which gets flipped over a lot. But I could solve this by getting a new bowl.

Are there any other animals in your area that are dangerous to your rabbits? if yes, what are they?
Snakes & Rats.

 

[Ozarkansas]

I have to admit being a newish member to RT this thread interests me quite a bit. I like to see the different ways everybunny does things

 

[hotzcatz]

Hello, I'm currently in my final year as a Product Design student and I'm planning to design a hutch that will be able to fit any size of bunny with extra extensions that can be purchased to add to the hutch. However, ill need some research so was asking whether anyone could help me by answering some questions that would be able to help me with this design. These are the questions that i wanted to ask:

How many Rabbits do you currently own?

Currently around twenty. Usually anywhere from sixteen to thirty six, although once we were up to fifty five. English angoras which are a five to seven pound rabbit, more or less. With LOTS of hair on them.

How long have you owned your rabbit/rabbits for?

Since 2009

Do you own a Hutch for your rabbit/s? If yes, what kind of Hutch and what is the estimated size?

Wood and wire modular hutch built so the doors and floor plates are removable for easy cleaning and repair. There's also an automatic watering system so no water bottles and big feeders that can be filled from the outside that feeds two hutch spaces. There's two of these big hutches (10' long by 3' deep and two layers high) along with a pair of smaller wood and wire two hole hutches someone gave me. I'll be building another of the big modular hutches pretty soon.

Have you ever faced any problems with the you own or previously owned? (such as Rabbits escaping, chewing the hutch, etc)

The big feeders aren't working too well since our climate (Hawaii) is too moist and the feed mildews. It'd also be nice to get a different door opening system. At the moment it's just a nail dropped through a hole in the door frame that goes down into the hutch frame. Might be nicer to put a knob on them or something that will latch by gravity when the door is shut.

Have you ever had the need to buy a new hutch? If yes, why?

When you breed rabbits, you'll need all kinds of rabbit housing. This is hutches #7 and #8 not counting any smaller temporary hutches. Most likely your hutches will be bought by folks keeping just one or two bunnies as pets. You may also want to look into some sort of inside the house hutches since a lot of folks like to keep their bunnies in the house.

Do you own a run for your rabbit? If yes, did you build it yourself or did you buy it?

Nope, there are movable partitions which can come out if the buns need more run space. Without any partitions, it's ten feet long by three feet wide. Next hutch will possibly have easier to install space dividers.

Have you faced any problems when you are trying to clean your rabbits hutch?

That's why the whole thing can be taken apart. The doors come right off with turning two latches, then the floor plates lift out. That leaves the sides, back and roof, but when the floor and doors are out, those are easy to reach. A pressure sprayer for the basic cleaning and a blow torch to get the hair off the wire is efficient.

While owning your rabbit, have you had to make any adjustments to the current hutch to meet their needs? (such as adjusting the sizes of parts of the hutch)

The modular hutch is adjustable by moving the partition walls. It also has special floor plates with dropped nest boxes for the nesting does. Keeps baby bunnies from being dragged out of the nest and not able to get back in. With a dropped nest, they wiggle around and fall back into the nest.

Do you face any problems when trying to feed your pets?

The feed mildews if too much is put into the big feeders, which kinda makes the whole idea of a big feeder not work so well. Had the feeders functioned as planned, it would have been possible to leave the bunnies for several days without requiring any additional food or water should we want to go somewhere for a long weekend without finding someone to feed bunnies. Next hutch will have a different setup but I'm not sure what that will be yet.

Are there any other animals in your area that are dangerous to your rabbits? if yes, what are they?

The neighbor's dogs are about it and our dogs keep their dogs away. Hawaii doesn't have a lot of the land based predators that are like the ones on the mainland.

Thank you very much for answering these questions. They will help me immensely for designing my product. Any other information that you can provide me will also be greatly appreciated.

I'm working on putting a 'Hutches' page on the bunnies' website, although it's only gotten up to the first several of them and not up to the big modular hutches, yet. Kinda the evolution of the hutches we've had here. These hutches have been for angora rabbits, though, folks who raise meat bunnies or just have one or two bunnies for a pet will probably want a different arrangement. Also, folks have different climates, so that needs to be taken into consideration as well.

Hillside Farm Hawaii bunny hutch evolution: http://hillsidefarmhawaii.com/pages/hutches/hutch.html.