Show me your hutches!

[Mini Lop Mama]

Here is my setup…
Starting from the left I have 2 bucks, then weened kits, then my 3 does!!
I have the extra hutch for weened kits.
I keep my food, hay, and everything in the box on the right!! For hot summer days I put a fan in the middle and put it on rotate. I also give them frozen water bottles on days over 98 and ice cube treats!! For winter I place a tarp over the front(the back of the hutch has plywood) and put tin on the sides.
If it is extremely cold I put straw down.
That is all-<3View attachment 30818

Beautiful!

 

[Mini Lop Mama]

This is my cage setup! For the doe hutch. My bucks stay separate.

 

[Cosima]

This is my setup.

I have a other cage in the chicken house right behind the hutches you can see. I’m planning to built two bigger hutches further away from the chicken. The blue tarp is the way I collect the droppings.

 

[Mini Lop Mama]

Tractors all the way, you'll never look back. Except when your dragging them about in the freezing rain!

View attachment 29549

Not sure if you get any snow where you're at? Is that hard to deal with?

 

[Cosima]

No snow. it’s basically summer all year.

 

[hotzcatz]

The three upper doors and the three lower doors are all the same size for each hutch so they're interchangable. They match the removable floor plates so when a floor plate rots out, it can just be removed and either repaired or replaced instead of having to take the whole hutch apart. There's no freeze here, so there's piped in water which saves tons of time over water bottles.


The doe hutch is two levels of one big run, although the floors are still made of multiple floor plates and the doors are still matching door sections. It's the same as the buck hutch except it doesn't have the space dividers.

The nesting hutch has special 'dropped nest' floor plates.


A wooden box sits over the dropped area to protect the nest.


There's slots near the bottom of the box so if a baby gets dragged out or falls out of the nest, it can easily get back in. We've not lost any babies out on the wire since we adopted these dropped nesting areas. It's also not a solid bottomed box, so when the babies are a few weeks old and the nest is usually getting dirty and damp, these stay dry since any liquids drain out.



Next time hutches are built (these big ones were built with the ability to be taken apart and moved, but I may build some new ones anyway), they will probably just be one layer high. Most of the work in these hutches is cleaning the roof area between the two layers so one layer would be less work. These are outdoor hutches so we just let the manure gather under the hutches until we need it for the gardens.

 

[mrscllc]

Just built my first doe hutch! It will be stored under a shed so no solid roof for now, but I left posts high in case I needed to angle it an put a roof later.
It's really basic, one solid side and a solid back, but I think it will work for my purposes.

 

[Mini Lop Mama]

View attachment 30884
The three upper doors and the three lower doors are all the same size for each hutch so they're interchangable. They match the removable floor plates so when a floor plate rots out, it can just be removed and either repaired or replaced instead of having to take the whole hutch apart. There's no freeze here, so there's piped in water which saves tons of time over water bottles.

View attachment 30885
The doe hutch is two levels of one big run, although the floors are still made of multiple floor plates and the doors are still matching door sections. It's the same as the buck hutch except it doesn't have the space dividers.

The nesting hutch has special 'dropped nest' floor plates.
View attachment 30886

A wooden box sits over the dropped area to protect the nest.
View attachment 30887

There's slots near the bottom of the box so if a baby gets dragged out or falls out of the nest, it can easily get back in. We've not lost any babies out on the wire since we adopted these dropped nesting areas. It's also not a solid bottomed box, so when the babies are a few weeks old and the nest is usually getting dirty and damp, these stay dry since any liquids drain out.
View attachment 30888


Next time hutches are built (these big ones were built with the ability to be taken apart and moved, but I may build some new ones anyway), they will probably just be one layer high. Most of the work in these hutches is cleaning the roof area between the two layers so one layer would be less work. These are outdoor hutches so we just let the manure gather under the hutches until we need it for the gardens.

What a neat idea! Do you have multiple does housed together? Or does one do get that entire space??

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

This is the biggest cage we have/are using
It's for our spoiled brat

 

[hotzcatz]

What a neat idea! Do you have multiple does housed together? Or does one do get that entire space??

Up to a dozen does can all live in one big run. It's about ten feet by three feet so it's a pretty big space. Saves a lot of time when opening one door and putting feed in one big dish will feed a dozen at a time.

 

[Mini Lop Mama]

Up to a dozen does can all live in one big run. It's about ten feet by three feet so it's a pretty big space. Saves a lot of time when opening one door and putting feed in one big dish will feed a dozen at a time.

Do you breed all at one time?

 

[user 8990]

Such creative thinking! This is a great thread.
This is going to be part of my setup once I make a few adjustments. I’m short for one! Everything is kind of spread out right now until we put the rest of the walls in the barn up but it’s working. I ended up with more rabbits than I had planned on so some of the hutches are custom made and others were purchased like this one.
I built the first half dozen cages with good 1/2x1” wire for the floors and scrap wire for the walls and tops. Added a few dumor cages from TS that all needed reinforcements of course but I like that they will stack so the plan is to have two stacks of three. Some will be suspended. Also have plans to build a few more similar to this but only two high.

 

[user 8990]

Think the biggest issue is adding hidey holes to the wire cages. Am I better off building them separate and expanding their space or simply adding a hiding place in their existing square footage?

 

[Mini Lop Mama]

My new Bunny set up! I absolutely adore it!
I'd love to see y'all's updated projects, if there are any, or any other members hutches!!!

 

[Cindy in SD]

So sweet! I love it!

 

[Rabbits by Accident]

My new Bunny set up! I absolutely adore it!
I'd love to see y'all's updated projects, if there are any, or any other members hutches!!!

Oh! I love that! That is what I want to do! What are the dimensions? How many rabbits and how large are they?

My summer area for the rabbits is 8'x8'. I have 4 females, ranging from a 7lb 3 month old, 10lb 6 month old and 2 @ 12+ lbs adults. I would love to let the girls room together on the floor. It's been 110+ degrees and the dirt floor would be cooler, I would think. Right now they are all in hanging cages.

How do you keep them from digging out?

Is 8x8 enough room for 4 large rabbits? One is not particularly friendly to other rabbits. I don't know about the others, they have all been in separate cages.

Thanks for any help/suggestions/info!

 

[Mini Lop Mama]

Oh! I love that! That is what I want to do! What are the dimensions? How many rabbits and how large are they?

My summer area for the rabbits is 8'x8'. I have 4 females, ranging from a 7lb 3 month old, 10lb 6 month old and 2 @ 12+ lbs adults. I would love to let the girls room together on the floor. It's been 110+ degrees and the dirt floor would be cooler, I would think. Right now they are all in hanging cages.

How do you keep them from digging out?

Is 8x8 enough room for 4 large rabbits? One is not particularly friendly to other rabbits. I don't know about the others, they have all been in separate cages.

Thanks for any help/suggestions/info!

It is 11 x 9. I have about 14 in there I believe, all around 2-5 pounds.
I chicken wired the whole floor.
8 x 8 should be enough space. It really depends. My rabbits are super tiny compared to what you have, so they have plenty of space.
They have a pecking order, but for the most part they get along well. I have 1 top dog, who just rules the run, but she isn't a jerk about it, and then one super dominant doe who gets beat up by the others because she picks fights. I'm happy with the whole hierarchy, but it took time to establish. And sometimes you just get mega jerks who either have to go, or be put in their place. I find my younger babies who grew up with so many other rabbits do really well when I add another to the herd. I've never had any serious injuries, just some scabbing on the back of that dominant doe who should really just CHILL out-
xD, I'm happy to help, let me know if you have other questions!

 

[Cindy in SD]

Oh! I love that! That is what I want to do! What are the dimensions? How many rabbits and how large are they?

My summer area for the rabbits is 8'x8'. I have 4 females, ranging from a 7lb 3 month old, 10lb 6 month old and 2 @ 12+ lbs adults. I would love to let the girls room together on the floor. It's been 110+ degrees and the dirt floor would be cooler, I would think. Right now they are all in hanging cages.

How do you keep them from digging out?

Is 8x8 enough room for 4 large rabbits? One is not particularly friendly to other rabbits. I don't know about the others, they have all been in separate cages.

Thanks for any help/suggestions/info!

From what I've read, adding stacked pallets (or similar) to provide plenty of hidey-holes, can alleviate problems between aggressive rabbits and calmer ones. Makes sense to me...

 

[eco2pia]

My new Bunny set up! I absolutely adore it!
I'd love to see y'all's updated projects, if there are any, or any other members hutches!!!

It is so pretty!! I have been thinking about tractors for summer lawn mowing (haha) but I am annoyed by the idea of something looking too messy. this inspires me, I just need to make PRETTY tractors!! Hmm...and maybe level the yard, lol.

 

[CedarRidge]

So, we went with the modular idea. A 3 holer on one side and 2 holer on the other. Connected with a removable table that just sets into place locking the 2 sides together. Everything is on wheels. Shields on front and back prevent splash, and the fronts are hinged to allow for sweeping refuse into the wheeled collector with screen that sits between the 2 sides. Sweep all into the container, then pour water from the ends to wash the tin clean. When it got too hot in our shed in June, we took everything down, moved it 200 yards to our house, and put it all back together. All in less than an hour.