Rabbit Hutches for Homesteading
A Premium Rabbit Hutch Delivers Safety and Comfort with Aesthetic Appeal
Safety and comfort are the two most important words for any bunny, and a premium rabbit hutch provides both. Hutches have come a long way since the early 1900s when they were made of a lot of chicken wire and whatever old boards could be scrounged up.
What’s the big deal about a premium rabbit hutch over what hutches used to be from hundreds of years ago? When you buy a premium hutch, you get a bonus that makes a difference to the rabbit and to you as well. Your rabbit will be able to have a great place to eat and sleep while you’ll get the peace of mind of knowing that you’ve provided the very best home for your pet.
Related – 7 Reasons Why Raising Rabbits is Great for Survival Preppers
Some hutches tout safety appeal but aren’t that safe at all. They’re poorly constructed and collapse at the first test of bad weather or someone pushing on them. Or they don’t keep the bunny safely inside the hutch, and you come home to a trail of droppings and chewed-up legs on the furniture.
Still, other hutches claim to be safe and usually do stand up to that claim. But when they arrive, and you put them together, they’re such an eyesore, you feel like you have to keep it covered because it’s so hideous! You might have seen a few of them, and they were so ugly that you wondered what the designer was thinking.
There is a solution. You don’t have to trade looks for safety. A premium rabbit hutch can be safe and appealing – you don’t have to settle for one over the other. The good news about this hutch is that you can use it outdoors because it’s sturdy and offers protection from outside elements and attackers, but it’s pretty enough to use inside as well. You wouldn’t be embarrassed to have your friends or family see it sitting inside your home.
Some really cute hutches resemble coffee tables. They’re made with top-quality lumber, and if not for the door letting the rabbit in and out, it’s hard to recognize as a rabbit hutch. Then some look like decorative little barns that can keep your bunny happy for as long as he lives.
59" Wooden Large Rabbit Cage with a Run. Weatherproof Roof, Removable Tray, and Ramp.
FREE Prime delivery December 8 - 12.
- Space-Saving: This rabbit house is easy to fit in small backyards while large enough to provide a friendly hopping distance. Two levels allow a more spacious interior.
- Materials: The paint is made from healthier components than standard paint, ensuring climate safety and anti-pollution effects, protecting you and your animals.
- Weather-Friendly & Protection: The asphalt roof and the paint on the fir wood are made to outlast weather patterns. Designed for the outdoors, this large rabbit hutch stays strong against showers.
- Easy to Clean: Cleaning up after pets isn't fun. That's why we made it easy. This hutch comes with a removable tray in the main room and an open hinged roof so you can reach in easily.
- Bunny Hutch Information: Overall Dimensions: 59" L x 20.75" W x 26.75" H. Main House Dimensions: 28.25" L x 17.25" W x 16.75" H.
You can settle for a hutch that won’t meet the lasting requirements you want it to meet. You can settle for a hutch that won’t be very attractive either. Or you can let both needs meet in one rabbit hutch. A premium hutch does the job it was designed to do but looks good, too.
Beware of Cheap Rabbit Hutches That Leave Your Pet Vulnerable
Cheap rabbit hutches save you money, but only at the beginning of your investment. Ultimately, they cost you more because you’ll have to replace it – and your rabbit. Your bunny can be vulnerable to various factors – from insufficient space to being caged in the wrong environment to being an easy target to a wily predator.
A hutch for the rabbit isn’t just a house for him. It’s what will save his life when the animals higher up on the food chain come calling. All you have to do to see how many hutches are available for sale is to do a quick search.
One browser brought up over half a million search results. You can bet that many of those results contain homes unsuitable for any pet, much less a rabbit. As a pet owner who wants to look out for your pet’s safety, you want to provide him with the best quality home you can afford.
What is meant by cheap rabbit hutches? Any hutch that’s meant to be temporary housing for a baby bunny is considered to be cheap. It wasn’t built to last. The materials aren’t sturdy enough for a full-grown rabbit, and the space isn’t large enough for an adult rabbit.
These kinds of hutches usually don’t consider the bunny’s health needs. This is how rabbits end up with sore hocks and other painful areas on their body. So the first clue you’ll get if a hutch is cheap will be if it’s too small for a full-grown bunny rabbit.
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Don’t think that buying a hutch means you have to shell out a ton of money to get one that suits your rabbit and keeps him safe. Many safe choices are reasonably priced.
Indoor Outdoor Rabbit, Guinea Pig Cage with 2 Deep No Leak Tray
About this item:
- Four stronger metal wheels to easily move the rabbit hutch quickly. 2 are brakes to fix well and keep it safe.
- A rabbit/guinea cage with 2 DEEPER NO-LEAK TRAYS makes cleaning easy. Quality plastic trays will never leak or rust.
- The stairs and platform allow the bunny to enter the upper and lower cages quickly.
- The central window adds four lockable front doors, providing an unlimited view of the bunny's activity.
- Safeguard lock and rain-resistant open roof with a more robust metal hinge for extended usage. Keep the rabbit/guinea pig safe and away from predators.
Look up some background information on the housing you’re thinking of getting. Check out the manufacturer of the rabbit hutch. Do they have a money-back guarantee? Will they stand behind their product and offer any safety updates or changes if necessary? Are other buyers happy with the product?
Cheap rabbit hutches can masquerade as decent hutchs by having a lot of showy pieces to them, but don’t be fooled. Look for quality wood, workmanship, and parts that make up the hutch. Also, see if the hutch has one area for sleeping for the rabbit and one for a litterbox.
A decent hutch will offer these spaces apart from one another. To make buying a home for your bunny easier, have a list of the features you want in a hutch and features that your pet rabbit needs before you go shopping.
Buy a Rabbit Hutch and Run Together to Save Money
Your pet bunny will need a rabbit hutch and a run for the comfort and the exercise he needs. If you buy both together, you’ll save money in the long run.
Even though many hutches are pretty large, for their physical and emotional, rabbits need to be able to move freely about. They need to have that freedom at the same time because they are small animals that can be targets for other animals, such as cats or foxes, so they must be protected. They also need that fresh air and sunshine.
Letting a bunny alone in a yard is never a good idea. Don’t think you can take your pet out of a hutch and turn him loose in a fenced-in backyard, and he’d be fine.
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Predators can get over or under a fence to get to a rabbit. The purpose of a rabbit run is to keep him safe from harm. The run is usually made of wire mesh or chain link fence material. The spaces between the wire are made so that the rabbit can’t get a foot caught up in the wire.
When you get a rabbit hutch and run, check with the manufacturer details on the kind of lumber or other materials that were used to make the run. Know what’s safe for your bunny to be around and what’s not since some wood is toxic to a rabbit.
A good wood to use in a run is fir wood that’s not been treated with any kind of sealant with a toxic fume. You’ll want the run you purchase to have an access door for you to be able to get to the bunny easily, but you’ll want that door to be sturdy enough so that if he pushes against it, the latch won’t spring open.
A run that’s too small defeats the purpose. A good rule of thumb to follow when considering what size run to get is to ensure it’s at least twice the size of a medium hutch, which would be about 36 inches wide.
Some runs come with flooring, but most do not, which allows the owner to move the hutch to a new area in the yard if the ground becomes muddy or is no longer suitable for the pet.
Having flooring on a run is a matter of personal preference, but being able to nibble on untreated grass and be in a natural setting is more of a treat for the bunny than using synthetic means.
Your pet needs both a rabbit hutch and run already in place before you bring him home. He’ll want to familiarize himself with his surroundings, and the sooner he learns he’s home, the more secure he’ll feel. Buying a hutch and run that you can assemble can give you that convenience factor and save you money.
Buy a Rabbit Hutch for Sale Online and Get Free Shipping!
You can get a rabbit hutch for sale on many sites online but have you checked out the cost of shipping it to your house? Talk about expensive! Some of the shipping costs are almost as much as the price of the hutch. With the economy going the way it’s been lately, who wants (or needs) to hand over money just for shipping and handling?
Some companies online appreciate your business so much that if your order exceeds spending, they’ll eat the cost of shipping the product to you. Now, that’s what you can call smart business sense.
They want your business badly enough to want to get the product to you! Some things you can order online, you don’t really think about the shipping because the item is small and it’s only a few bucks at the most, and who doesn’t have a dollar or two to hand over for a wanted item?
But take a rabbit hutch for sale online, and that’s a different story. First, the hutch’s materials can make them a little heavier than the normal side. That’s not a problem if you live right next door to the place selling the hutch.
You can zip over in your car or truck and pick it up. It’s a problem when you order one online and then go to checkout, and the shipping is so costly it makes you not want to buy the item. But you need it so you feel like you’re kind of over a barrel.
Perhaps you’ve always done business with the same gardening or pet shop online, and you know them, and they know you. But they’ll still charge you to get their product. Sometimes, there’s no loyalty or discounts when making a profit at any expense.
If that’s the case, forget loyalty to the company that won’t look out for you, you need to do a little shopping around. You can go to a company online that will pay to ship you the product and will even pay for shipping back to them if you don’t like the item!
Now, you can find some companies with a rabbit hutch for sale, and they’ll offer you free shipping up to a certain amount. For example, you see a hutch that you’d like to buy. The hutch costs about $140. You see that they offer free shipping.
But when you read the fine print, you see that it reads, ‘up to x amount of dollars’ or ‘up to x amount of weight’, and of course, that x is usually for something costlier and heavier than what you bought. Go with a company that will give you free shipping and a great price. You and your pet bunny will both be happier.
The Best Large Rabbit Hutch You Can Buy
When buying a large rabbit hutch, you want the best for your lovable pet. Some hutches manufactured to be big enough to have the space the bunny needs tend to be unwieldy and unsightly in appearance.
They’re awkward to get into because they tend to be longer than regular-sized hutches. A few have been made with materials that can be hazardous to small pets. Regular-size hutches don’t offer as much legroom for rabbits.
Plus, in regular-sized hutches, rabbit poop tends to build up in mounds where it can be seen. In larger hutches, there’s a deeper bottom to the cage, and the mess is out of sight, which is a bonus since this kind of hutch can be used indoors and outdoors.
You can get larger hutches with wire surrounding the enclosure that’s safe for your bunny rabbits. That’s something you want to check out on any hutch you buy. You don’t want a product treated with a coating that can make your bunny sick with the fumes or if he chews on it.
A good thing about a large rabbit hutch is that it can be put together quickly, and some of the better ones on the market will have a raised area or shelf where your pet can sit and view his home. Cages that are this big are built with easy access to the pet and usually have more than one way to reach the pet – whether through a side opening or a top entrance.
Some, not all, of the bigger hutches built for rabbits can cost much more than the smaller, not as well-built cages, but you can find many that are well-priced and durable. You might see some advertisements on popular sites selling used hutches at a steep discount, but you want to beware of second-hand homes when looking for housing for your pet.
This is because used hutches can still carry germs or bacteria from the previous rabbit, and you don’t want to put your bunny into a cage where the first thing he’ll do is become sick.
With a large rabbit hutch, you can let the rabbit be an indoor or an outdoor pet. But consider that if you plan to use a hutch outdoors, it has to have a protective covering over the top of it, so that would be an added accessory you’d need to purchase before you can put the rabbit out.
Include a Rabbit Hutch Cover to Shield Your Pet from the Elements and Attackers
You need to have some essentials when you own bunnies, and a rabbit hutch cover is one of those essentials. It’s not simply an accessory to go over the hutch and make it look good.
It’s made to give your pet a shield of protection from the biting wind in the wintertime, along with the lower temperatures. With fur all over their small bodies, you’d think they’d be well-equipped to withstand the colder months, but rabbits go underground and find shelter from the elements that way. Kept in a hutch, they don’t have the option of burrowing, so it’s up to the owner to provide a way out of the wind.
The cover covers the hutch on all four sides like an insulator to keep out the cold. It also acts like an umbrella to shelter the rabbit from the driving rain. Not only will it keep your pet warm and dry, but it also keeps the bedding and the food supply from getting wet – this is important to keep your pet healthy since moisture can cause fungus and bacteria to grow and spread.
A rabbit hutch cover should be easily removable. You don’t want a cover that stays on 24/7 because the rabbit won’t get enough fresh air inside the hutch. That means an odor can build up, which won’t be pleasant for you or your pet.
You can find many portable covers that slip right on and off the hutch with minimal effort. You’ll want to cover the bunny hutch when you hear reports that bad weather is coming. If it gets too hot outside, you do not want to cover the hutch because you can make the temperature get too high for the bunny.
But you also want to use a cover to keep attackers out, especially after the sun goes down. It’s not only because what attackers can’t see, they can’t get to, but most predators that like to swoop down on rabbits can’t get past the cover. Predators that run along the ground to hunt for rabbits can’t lift the cover to get to the rabbit either.
In the evening, when you put a rabbit hutch cover over your bunny’s home, he feels secure and protected. If a rabbit spots an enemy and can’t flee from that enemy, his heart rate can increase to a dangerous level, and he can have a heart attack – this is where the term ‘scared to death’ comes from when talking about rabbits. Under the cover, however, he can’t see the enemy or be seen, enabling him to sleep in peace.
Make Sure You Have These Rabbit Hutch Supplies Before Buying Your Bunny
Getting a rabbit can be exciting, but you have to consider his comfort and get the correct rabbit hutch supplies before you bring him home. Since you already know that all animals must have food and water to drink, start by choosing the tools to meet that need.
Rabbits are rambunctious pets and enjoy hopping around the cage. Because of their energy, it’s best not to put food in the kind of dish that can be easily toppled. Plastic bowls can seem like a tasty treat or a toy to chew on for a bunny, so avoid getting any of those. Metal bowls can tip over too easily and startle the rabbit with the loud noise it’ll make. The top choice for a food dish is to get a ceramic bowl.
While rabbits can drink water from a bowl, it’s not the best idea to put their water in a bowl because those can be tipped and make a soggy mess in the cage and dip their ears in the water.
If water is always spilling out, his housing environment can get moist, leading to the growth of bacteria or skin problems with the pet. Water for a bunny is best served through a drip-style water bottle.
The bottle simply attaches to the side of the hutch, and he can drink whenever he’s thirsty. No matter how much or how much water he drinks, change the water daily.
Other rabbit hutch supplies include bedding for the four-legged bundle. Some owners provide a plain grass mat for the bunny to lie on. While that will work, it’s not the softest material for the pet.
You can find some bedding for bunnies that look like those little beds you can buy for small cats or dogs. Those are plush and warm; rabbits like to cuddle up and sleep.
Because rabbits like to chew and need to chew to help their teeth, chew toys are not an optional buy. Rabbits not provided with the supplies that meet their need to chew will chew on furniture or other objects outside their cages.
Rabbits need to have hay in their diet, and a hayrack is one way you can supply that need. You can make a hayrack on your own, but it’s easier and cheaper to buy one when you get or order the other supplies.
Whether or not rabbits can be litter-trained is a topic of much discussion among owners. Some rabbits have learned to use litter boxes, and you can find these online. The best thing about using one is that it eliminates messy trays in the hutch.
You can buy many other rabbit hutch supplies to keep your bunny healthy and happy – such as rabbit treats, specialty foods, and more. A rabbit carrier is one important asset that doesn’t necessarily go into the cage that some owners forget about until they need it. This is a needed item for well-check visits to the veterinarian.
I’m the daughter of 2 original survivalists who moved from the north to sunny Florida. My mother, along with her parents, bought 30 mostly uncleared acres in 1938. The first home was made of pecky-cypress and built by a house-raising. My mother raised 10,000 chickens.
My divorced mother met and married my father in 1948. From pine trees on our property, he hand-built a log cabin. He also built a tarpaper-lined 65’x45′ pool with duck pond overflow. We had an artesian well for our water and powering our hand-built waterwheel for the pool. He built a substantial cantilevered roof workshop with a car pit in the massive cement floor.
Since my early teens, I have read a ton of books about survival, prepping, the bomb, an apocalypse, homestead living, and SHTF situations. As an adult, I continue to read sci-fi, survival prepping, and science. I practice a prepper lifestyle albeit a bit modified, read a lot, buy a lot, pack/store a lot of anything survival related.
Read my About Me post for more details on our self-sufficient living. I lived there until I went to college in 1968.
My SurvivalPrepperSupply.com blog strives to educate individuals on coping with natural and human-caused disasters using article posts about preparing for emergencies.
