“Our Pallet Rabbit Hutch #2: How We Built it”

We are back at it again, this time a bit different! I mentioned in my last Rabbit Hutch post (linked) we would be doing a 4 sided hutch next. This time, however, we have decided to make it a 3 sided hutch, instead. Two sides being for our 2 breeder bucks, and one longer side for 1 of our breeder does. We have full walls to divide them for their own fully, separated spaces. We also personally use rabbit runs so that our Rabbits have more room to roam in the yard! This hutch design is still enough room for our breed of Standard Rex Rabbits, and even more roomy if you have a type of mini Rabbit breed! The smaller sides could be used to separate the baby doe/buck Rabbits, an still be close to the mother doe who is right next door, but we personally just use the two smaller sides for our bucks right now!

This hutch is the same general idea from last time, just a little simpler and smaller by a few inches. Same basic material list from before, just with a couple things changed, or taken off. My husband says this one is a much simpler design than the previous, although still similar, due to less brackets on the frame work part of things.

Here is our step-by-step guide, hope you can use it for your hutches! Also, this one cost about the same as last time, maybe even a little less because we already had leftover materials from other projects. So, it was around $200 total cost.

Materials:

• 5-6 pallets. (We just used what leftovers we had from the other hutch build and also some scrap pieces of plywood and siding that we had around.)
• 8 door hinges
• 3 Door handles
• 1 x 1/2″in wire mesh flooring *(know the size mesh flooring needed for the size of Rabbit breed you have. We have Standard Rex, but if you have a smaller breed, maybe look into a smaller mesh flooring, and/or maybe putting a flat lid in there for their feet to rest on. occasionally).
• You can use the same mesh for the doors as well, but we used different smaller mesh wiring for that.
• 4 locks of any kind (we used a 2 1/2″ inch barrel bolt lock for main doors and a 1″ or .5″ smaller for the small side door).
• 3″ inch mending plates, 4 for each door (we also had extras from last time, so you may see two different ones in the pictures).
• vinyl roofing ( 3 sheets of 8′ roofing)
• box of 1 1/2″ in nails
• box of 4″in screws
• box of staples (to staple wire flooring down)
• box of 2″ Wood tight screws.
• Optional: paint, and primer.

Step 1:

For the beginning obviously its to start the frame, the height for this Frame was about 2′ off the ground and roughly 2′ for inside height. Attach the legs to the sides of the bottom/floor frame. Place a beam in the middle for stability, and a beam on top, in the front that will later be used in regards to the roofing. Then place those two side beams on top, (both sides) for the roofing as well.

As always, please remember not to paint the inside of hutch. Rabbits will chew on the wood and would be at risk of ingesting the paint, so try to be careful when painting the  outside! Also make sure no staples, or pointed wiring is going to poke them or be loose enough to be found and eaten. Rabbits *can* eat anything, even if it isn’t good for them!

Step 2:

Next it is painting the frame, and placing divider walls. This one was just custom fit with a couple trimmings done, so that it was a tight fit. Those measurements were; Height: 1.5′ and in length about 4′ this is rough estimate. That little wall divider was about 19″ x 23″in. Before putting those wall dividers up, staple down that wire flooring! Also, we now have cut and placed the 3 pieces of plywood across the top for the roofing. Roughly, the sizes were, 5.5″ x 3′.

Step 3:

Now we place the outside walls. Sizes for back wall, were a little over 2′ x 3.5 ft. Sizes for front wall was 2′ x 21″ and side wall that’s boarded has about 28″in boards. Notice, we are still using that temporary bottom board to keep the walls looking straight.

Step 4:

This step is solely for painting, paint all of the outside, next after this will be making and painting doors before being put on hutch as well as attaching the roofing.

Step 5:

Now for the doors, there will be three, the two side doors are both, 23″ x 20″ and the front smaller door, is about 14.5 x 22″. Hammer the plates on each corner from and back, paint them and hinge them to the hutch, with their handles. Attach the roof. We cut our roofing to about 66″ long overhanging about 3-3.5″ inches. Once we applied the roof, there is a gap in the front between that and the door frame. attach a piece of wood to cover that gap or you could even put smaller wire across it, if you wanted. We put a board. Now, once doors are done and painted staple some wire (mesh, or you need something sturdier than chicken wire) onto the doors and if needed, cut out the holes for water bottle and/or pellet feeder.

The next and almost final step is the side door for the breeder side of this hutch, the sizing for that is 10″ x 12″ in door. No pictures for that yet, because we aren’t breeding our other doe quite yet. But, it is the exact same style and size as the other hutch’s side doors, if you need pictures and for that! (that one is linked in the top of this post). Mark where you want it cut it out and screw on 2 pieces of wood on the back to hold those boards together, and attach hinges and lock. If you used plywood for this side wall, the back stabilizer boards are really not needed, since it’s all one piece. *You may have to touch up the paint a bit on small side door, due to cutting it out, it may scratch the paint, a tad.

Step 6: Finishing Hutch!

Now we are finished with this 3 sided Rabbit hutch! Like stated with the last couple pictures, we are waiting to remove the temporary leveling boards under the legs, until we deconstruct our straw bale garden beds. We will use that dirt and straw to level out the ground underneath these hutches, this new one is on part of the most sloped area of our yard, so once we deconstruct our beds, the temporary boards will be gone! Now that it is September, we will be doing that very soon!

This hutch is really sturdy. Whether you paint it, or just use a clear coat to protect the wood, it looks so fresh! I’m thinking both of these hutches will last us a good long while, before we have to build new ones or even fix them up! I’ll give an update in a few years!

Next up for our DIY projects, is a chicken coop! That one will be fun, because it will be with a shipping container my husband got from his work’s scrap pile. Anyways, that will come soon, so keep an eye out for that post as well! Can’t wait to have our own chickens again, and grab eggs from our backyard!