Keep your Bunnies in Good Health by Providing a Superior Rabbit Hutch

Before commencing with construction on your rabbit hutch you should first learn a few facts about rabbits. Understanding a few essential facts about these creatures will guide you in putting together fully functional rabbit pens. Rabbits enjoy chewing on things that are wooden, so when constructing a hutch lumber must only be used as framework where it will be out of their reach. Rabbits urinate a great deal and so they should be given hutches built from metal instead of lumber. Wood will become saturated with urine, which can cause unpleasant smells and potential physical health issues. If you decide to use lumber where the bunnies can chew on it be sure that the only lumber you use is untreated lumber. Treated lumber can injure your animals.

A rabbit hutch is a comparatively simple object to construct and will give your bunnies safety from its surroundings and excellent air circulation. You can of course buy a hutch, but building one yourself can save you some cash. Metal pens are generally better than lumber since they are a lot less of a problem to keep clean, last a long time, and don't preserve unpleasant smells as much. They are easier to clean thoroughly which can help your rabbits remain in good health.

Wood can be used in the manufacturing of your hutch, but it's best to use it in locations where they cannot chew or urinate on it. It is best if used for the frame and roof only. Since metal is usually more difficult to work with it's often best to create your cage from a mixture of metal and lumber.

Using hardware cloth as an alternative to woven wire or poultry wire for the floor is highly recommended. 16-gauge galvanized wire is usually used for the floor while 14-gauge is stapled in all additional locations where wire is required. Wire flooring as opposed to a lumber floor will turn your hutch into a self-cleaning one. The rabbit droppings will fall through the floor instead of building up in the interior. The droppings can then be easily transferred to your garden plot in the form of high quality fertilizer.

It's helpful to construct the roof with a slope to prevent water from building up. This is particularly essential with a roof made of lumber since it will sooner or later become damaged and appear unsightly. Bunny hutches generally have 4 legs that put them around three feet off the ground. Building a solid wall or two is usually a fine plan since it can keep the rabbits dry during wet climate conditions and sheltered from gusty winds.

Each wire cage will generally measure two and a half by three feet. This is sizeable enough to accommodate a female and a typical litter and will continue being sizeable enough until the bunnies are fryer size. Newborn rabbits are exceptionally small so be sure there are no cracks in the floor where a baby can fall through.

Many individuals can't decide if they ought to place their bunny hutch inside or outdoors. If you're growing rabbits for meat you can put their hutch either outside or in the garage. Much meat can be grown in a small garage. Rabbits don't need a lot of room so they can be kept virtually anywhere. Also, if you are putting together a hutch for a pet it can either be placed inside or outdoors. Pet rabbits do extremely well outside. After all, that is where they live in the wild.

Rabbits are very happy living in a small area as they like the sense of safety. Conversely, just because they enjoy small areas does not indicate they are fond of being by themselves. Offering toys that can keep them entertained can help them remain contented.

Joshua Harding has been a rabbit fanatic for 4 decades. He has gained a huge quantity of knowledge on the subject matter and loves to share it with other rabbit fanciers. He keeps an informative web site where you will find lots of facts about rabbits along with guidelines for putting together rabbit hutches and growing rabbits profitably.