How to Build Outdoor Rabbit Cages

Rabbits can make wonderful family pets, but most of the hutches available for commercial sale are too small for your pets to run around in, and tend to be overpriced. Building your own hutch is a cost-effective way to give your rabbit a large, safe enclosure to live in. If you live in a warm environment, outdoor hutches will help eliminate rabbit odor in your home, and give you the freedom to make the hutch as big as you want.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Measuring tape
• Pencil
• Six 6-foot 2-by-2 pine frame boards
• One 8-foot 2-by-2 pine frame boards
• Drill
• Two-inch screws
• Four-by-8 pine plywood
• Roll of 1-by-1 square mesh wire welded fencing
• Staple gun
• Staples
• One-inch screws
• Two hinges
• Two hook-and-eye latches

Building a Frame

1. Measure and mark all the 6-foot 2-by-2 planks at the 4-foot mark.

2. Saw the 6-foot 2-by-2 boards so that you now have six 4-foot pieces and six 2-foot pieces.

3. Mark the 8-foot 2-by-2 plank at 2-foot intervals.

4. Saw the 8-foot 2x2 plank so that you have four 2-foot pieces.

5. Lay out four of the 2-foot pieces in a flat square shape, and use the drill and 2-inch screws to secure the pieces together. Repeat for the other four 2-foot pieces so that you have two squares.

6. Visualize a rectangle with the squares you created as the two ends, and use the drill and 2-inch screws to attach four of the 4-foot 2-by-2 planks at the corners of the squares to make a rectangular frame for the hutch.

7. Lay out the remaining 4-foot 2-by-2 pieces and 2-foot 2-by-2 pieces to make a flat rectangle shape.

8. Screw the pieces together using the 2-inch screws so that you have a stand-alone rectangle.

Enclose the Hutch

9. Measure and cut the 4-by-8 plywood into four equal 2-by-4 pieces.

10. Use the drill and 2-inch screws to attach two of the 2-by-4 pieces of plywood to two of the long sides of the frame to create a solid wall and roof.

11. Measure and cut one of the 2-by-4 pieces of plywood at the 2-foot mark so that you have two 2-by-2 pieces.

12. Use the 2-inch screws to attach the two 2-by-2 square pieces of plywood to the ends of the rectangular frame.

13. Cut two 2-by-4 sections of the 1-by-1 mesh wire fencing.

14. Use the staple gun and staples to staple one of the 2-by-4 sections of mesh wire to the bottom of the hutch.

15. Use the staple gun and staples to staple the other 2-by-4 mesh wire section to the stand-alone rectangle door frame.

16. Use the 1-inch screws and drill to attach the hinges to the corners of one of the long sides of the door frame.

17. On the bottom two outside edges, twist in the hook latches.

18. Use the finishing nails to attach the hinges to the hutch.

19. Twist in the eye halves of the hook and eye latches to the frame of the hutch, in line with the hooks. Test them to make sure they reach properly.

Tips & Warnings

• Rabbits like to have a place to hide, so you may want to put cardboard boxes in the hutch for your bunny to hide in. These dimensions are guidelines for one or two rabbits, but you might want to consider creating a bigger enclosure if you have more than two.
• Measure your wood properly and consider using a level to make sure the boards are straight before securing them in place, to make sure your hutch is sturdy. Rabbits go to the bathroom a lot, so if you don't want to clean the hutch constantly consider raising the hutch off the ground so that the rabbit pellets fall to the ground.