Quick post for now, the first rabbit hutch is complete! It isn't perfect, and there are a few things I've learned from it for the future ones, but it is done!. I should have the second one done today, and can probably finish 2 more tomorrow. Many thanks to a friend of mine, Charlie for helping me out with the things that are just not one person jobs. Below the cut are pictures of the one that is done, and the two that are in process right now. Hopefully next week I will be able to have a pictoral step by step of the process of building a hutch.
As part of the process today I remembered why I hate hammering at odd angles.
I smashed my thumb fairly nicely at 9:30 this morning as I was really getting going. Didn't let it stop me, but it did slow me down. Stapling with a bruised thumb is no fun!
On the up side, I finished two hutches today. The one on the left was finished as of about 1:30 when I took lunch and a few minutes off to re ice my thumb. I ended up finishing the one on the right around 5:00 after a few challenges popped up with it. I'm going to go into some of the learning that went on with the hutches in a future post. For now I just want to celebrate two complete other than shingles and paint.
This was the first hutch to be completed. Over all doesn't look too shabby though there are a number of imperfections when you look at it closely.
This was the second hutch to be completed, on this one I built the door out of 2x4s instead of a 2x4 frame with a plywood face. It's heavier and you have to close it first instead of being able to open either door first as you can with the top one, but the plywood supply is limited and we have LOTS of 2x4s. Probably not the most efficient way to do things ever but good enough for now.
Figured it would be worth giving a side shot of the hutch. We're not sure if there's enough room for the rabbits to get through into the closed off space, but we will see for now. If it's a bit too small for the adult rabbits we will use this first run as growing out cages for the babies, and modify the future ones. What isn't in yet is the second level that we want to do for the rabbits. Right now getting some hutches finished is priority one. The second level will come later.
For scale, I opened up the first one and put a lawn chair in so you can see exactly how big it is. The left side of the dividing wall is about 3 feet by 3 feet, to the right of the dividing wall is about 1 foot by 3 feet. The hutch itself is 3 feet off the ground, and stands 3 feet tall in the front. I fit the dog in there, and it is bigger than an average dog kennel so I think we're doing alright on space for the rabbits.
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