Build a Rabbit Hutch From Plans   by tom woodcock

in Family    (submitted 2010-03-10)

For those of you who have always dreamed of providing your pet rabbit with custom quarters built by your own loving hands, you have two options available to you. You can design and build your own; or you can build your Rabbit Hutch from a set of plans designed by someone else.

If you have basic woodworking skills and tools as well as the ability to study a picture of a structure and determine how it was constructed, you can design and build your own Rabbit Hutch. What proud rabbit owner would not want to stand back and point to his creation, exclaiming "I built that totally on my own." Besides the obvious pride benefit you would get from building your own, there are a variety of functional benefits to be gained as well.

You can tailor the size of the hutch and the number of separate compartments it contains to the number and size of the rabbits you own. Perhaps the most significant functional benefit to be gained is safety. Generic Rabbit Hutch plans are generally "one size fits all" in order to be attractive to as many potential users in the market as possible. Designers of these plans are totally unaware of your unique situation when it comes to the type of predators your Rabbit may encounter in your outdoor environment.

If you have to worry about large dogs, your design can include reinforced post foundations to eliminate the possibility of the hutch being tipped over. For environments where cats and raccoons may come snooping around, you can use hardware cloth enclosures around the base, instead of the larger open welded wire recommended in most Rabbit Hutch plans.

If you feel you are not up to the task of designing and building your own Rabbit Hutch you can turn to the Internet as a source of building plans. Some are free, and others you will have to pay for. Some are for wood hutches, others are for wire hutches. You may be aware that many experts feel wire hutches are superior to those constructed of wood. Without debating that point, you should know that building your own wire hutch from plans is far more difficult and requires more specialized tools than a wooden hutch. Why?

Wood is easy to cut and join together, while wire is not. For a wire hutch you'll need special pliers to bend the wire to the dimensions you need and special joining hardware and additional pliers to join and secure the hutch enclosure. Wood can be cut with any saw and joined with screws, staples, or non-toxic glue. Regardless of whether you opt for a plan for a wooden hutch or a wire hutch, there are things you need to look for in a good building plan.

If you've already searched the Internet you know there are plans out there that are little more than a series of written steps, with no illustrations or diagrams. Do not try to build a hutch from a plan unless the plan has clearly illustrated step by step instructions. As a check, build the hutch in your mind as you read through the steps in the plan. If you find logical inconsistencies or discover materials you might need that do not appear on the plan's materials needed list, exit the site and go look for another plan. Good luck with your hutch!

About the Author

Tom Woodcock is a Pet Lover, pet product expert and builder of rabbit hutches. To learn more about Rabbit Hutches and Rabbit Runs visit him online.