How To Choose the Best Outdoor Rabbit Hutch
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Outdoor rabbit hutches are popular among some rabbit owners. Keeping rabbits outdoors eliminates the need to rabbit-proof the interior of the house, keeps the home free from soiling by rabbits, and allows the rabbit to enjoy the sounds and smells of the natural environment. You can be successful in raising happy, healthy rabbits outdoors, but doing so requires consideration of some special factors.
Most obviously, you will have to account for the effects of the sun and weather on an outdoor hutch. Cheaply-made outdoor hutches will warp from prolonged sunlight, rot from moisture, or tip over in strong winds. At best, you'll spend valuable time or money repairing or replacing it. Worse, it may collapse or break in a way that will injure your rabbits. Inspect a prospective outdoor rabbit cage to make sure that it is sufficiently durable to withstand the elements. This means it should have a tiled or asphalted roof, as rabbits are very sensitive to heat and will require shade at all times.
Treated wood will resist degradation, as well as being less prone to absorbing rabbit waste, but be absolutely sure that any stain or treatment used is completely non-toxic. Rabbits love to chew, and ingesting toxic wood could cause severe medical problems.
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Rabbits need not only respite from heat and cold, but plentiful ventilation. An outdoor rabbit cage with insufficient airflow will quickly become an unhygienic environment, as well as the risk of overheating. Conversely, rabbits in an outdoor hutch should have access to shelter from winds and inclement conditions. An outdoor hutch should have open wire mesh on one or two sides, as well as a fully enclosed nesting area inside as a place of refuge from the elements.
With regards to temperature, rabbits are fairly hardy, but are much more sensitive to overheating than freezing. Provided that they have plentiful bedding material to snuggle into, even freezing temperatures will not likely be dangerous. If temperatures do dip below freezing, remember that this means their water will also be frozen- you'll either need to find a way to warm the water, or change it out periodically. If the ambient temperature is likely to rise over 85 degrees, freeze a bottle of water and place it inside the nesting area, covered by a cloth. The rabbit will happily snuggle against it to cool off.
Another concern that is at a high priority in an outdoor cage setup is security. In the wild, rabbits are prey animals, and their survival depends on powerful flight instincts to escape predators. These instinctual fear responses are so strong that a rabbit can actually die simply from the stress of seeing or hearing a predator, even when protected by a rabbit cage. In addition to using an outdoor hutch that will bar clever predators like raccoons from entering or toppling the hutch, you should make sure it includes a hiding space. If that space has more than one exit, so much the better. These measures will give promote a greater sense of security in rabbits housed in an outdoor hutch- a matter of life and death for these delicate creatures. Even rabbits allowed to roam free during the day must be secured inside their outdoor hutch every night to prevent them from falling prey to feral cats, coyotes, owls, or any of the many small predators found in urban and rural environments.
When all of these necessities have been accounted for, you can begin considering your own convenience. Outdoor hutches with wire floors allow waste to simply fall through, which will help to keep the rabbit cage clean. If you go this route, make sure that a third or so of the floorspace is covered with a solid surface, so that the rabbits have some space to get off of the wire. Standing and walking on wire mesh at all times may irritate their feet and lead to infection. Also, consider accessibility. Multiple points of entry afford more convenient access to rabbits and their accessories, and make outdoor hutches easier to clean.
By following these guidelines, as well as observing all other requirements that attendant to housing a rabbit, you will no ensure that your rabbits remain happy and healthy in an outdoor hutch. We wish you great success and enjoyment in your outdoor rabbit cage project.
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