# Let's keep the focus on undersized hutches



## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

How is everyone doing with their New Year resolutions?! A few weeks ago we suggested some resolutions that could help improve rabbit welfare, and we'd love to hear if you have managed to do any of them. If not, it's not too late, how about starting off by finding a retailer on-line that you think is selling hutches that are too small for rabbits, and politely e-mailing them and telling them. Remember that a rabbit should be able to take 3 hops in its hutch and rear up fully (so that they do not develop painful spinal deformities) - for an average sized rabbit (remember of course they should be kept in pairs so this should be a minimum) this will be 6ft long and 2ft high.

Watch the link below. It will only take you a few minutes to send an e-mail, and could really help to make a difference.

How Many Hops? - YouTube


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## wacky (Jan 23, 2011)

dont get me wrong im all for the bigger the better mine have 6ft hutches but do you think wild bunnies can stand on back legs in there warren i dont think they can and they live quite happy


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## Nonnie (Apr 15, 2009)

wacky said:


> dont get me wrong im all for the bigger the better mine have 6ft hutches but do you think wild bunnies can stand on back legs in there warren i dont think they can and they live quite happy


Ummm...they don't live permanently under the earth do they? Rabbits periscope in order to spot danger, a natural behaviour, and wild rabbits have no need to do this underground in relative safety. If you observe them when out feeding, they do it it constantly. Plus warrens contain chambers, many big enough in order to allow them to do this.

A domestic rabbit spend its entire life in a enclosed area, therefore its basic needs must be met in all areas of its housing. To prevent them the ability to do so, is cruel. Afterall, we don't house rabbits in anything remotely live a natural environment.

Ive never understood comparing wild and domestic animals and their needs; its like comparing apples and oranges.


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## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

Like Nonnie says wild rabits can come and go as they please above ground so can run, stretch, jump, etc as much as they want. Can a domestic rabbit stuck in a hutch do all those natural behaviours?

I hate hutches completely, don't own one and never will. No matter what size the hutch is it is never going to be big enough. I keep my outdoor group in a shed where they have a huge run attached to it with daytime access. During the day they come and go between shed and run but at night when shut in the shed for safety they can still run, jump and stretch as much as they like. They'd never get that chance in any size hutch.


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

That's right, Nonnie. These are only average figures, because it varies between males and females, but a wild rabbit will regularly cover an area equalling between 20 and 30 tennis courts in a 24 hr period. They'll be with companions all the time, and will constantly keep a watch for predators - stretching up to look -and will also eat from overhanging branches, again stretching up.

Observing my own rabbits, especially the younger one, Betty, she spends a lot of her time stretching to her full height, looking at things above her. If I put out a small folding table, she wants to sniff the underside of it and then will stretch to look on the top. She's easily 2ft tall when she does this, probably a bit more. She couldn't do any of that confined to a hutch.

The rabbit in the video took 6ft for its 3 hops...but it started and ended those hops in an open space, a Runaround tunnel. Even with a 6ft hutch it would be hard for a rabbit to replicate that as it would bash its nose at the end of the last hop. So 6ft really is an absolute minimum for smaller breeds of rabbits, and with a (minimum 8ft x 4ft) run constantly attached to the hutch. 

As mentioned above, wild rabbits live in community groups and don't spend time alone. As prey species, they need that for safety, but also they are highly social animals and studies have found that rabbits value company of their own kind as much as they value food. With that in mind, they should never be kept alone, but should live in neutered, bonded pairs or groups. The 6ft hutch/8ft run would be for a pair of small rabbits.


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

I was shocked and dismayed walking my dog today, I passed some houses & one of them has some wooden coops etc outside for sale, there was a hutch & it could not have been more than 2ft long, I might pluck up the courage to knock on their door & inform them it's really not suitable


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## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

simplysardonic said:


> I was shocked and dismayed walking my dog today, I passed some houses & one of them has some wooden coops etc outside for sale, there was a hutch & it could not have been more than 2ft long, I might pluck up the courage to knock on their door & inform them it's really not suitable


You should see what "hutches" a local pet shop here are selling then. You've probably heard of the chain, Petsville International, they've had protestors and all sorts outside, even burnt down twice. Yet they're still there selling puppies, kittens, tortoises etc despites rumours of haing their license stopped. The hutches they have I couldn't even fit a rabbit in, smaller than a cat carry box, but they are labelled up as rabbit hutch costing £40. I refuse to go in this shop but they piles these horrible little prisons up outside they shop, it absolutely stinks when I walk past.


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

Kammie said:


> You should see what "hutches" a local pet shop here are selling then. You've probably heard of the chain, Petsville International, they've had protestors and all sorts outside, even burnt down twice. Yet they're still there selling puppies, kittens, tortoises etc despites rumours of haing their license stopped. The hutches they have I couldn't even fit a rabbit in, smaller than a cat carry box, but they are labelled up as rabbit hutch costing £40. I refuse to go in this shop but they piles these horrible little prisons up outside they shop, it absolutely stinks when I walk past.


No, I haven't heard of that one, although we have a pet shop in a nearby town that keeps their rabbits with guinea pigs in Zoozone type cages
It's disgusting


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

No I haven't heard of that company, but will certainly check it out and add it to our RWAF committee forum


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## Nonnie (Apr 15, 2009)

Kammie said:


> I hate hutches completely, don't own one and never will. .


Snap.

I'd like to meet the person who decided a small wooden box was a suitable enclosure for a highly active, social animal; and bitch slap them into next week.

But as they are here to stay, its up to the general public to educate the ignorant, and ensure only the best and most suitable hutches are used and purchased. If an animal can not exhibit a natural behaviour, then its being housed incorrectly.

It would also be nice if all owners and propective owners, went out and observed rabbits in their natural enviroment, so they can see just how social and energetic they are; that hasn't been lost through the domestication process. I fear many, many pet buns just shut down and do very little during their lives due to boredom and lack of space.


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## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

Have a look at this facebook group about them. Lots of accounts from people who have bought animals there only to find they're pregnant or very ill and die.
https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=23359929613

Also when working at the vets anyone who had registered a pet having been bought from this shop had a massive warning on the file basically saying to expect serious health problems.


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

Nonnie said:


> It would also be nice if all owners and propective owners, went out and observed rabbits in their natural enviroment, so they can see just how social and energetic they are; that hasn't been lost through the domestication process. I fear many, many pet buns just shut down and do very little during their lives due to boredom and lack of space.


Hear hear!

I do own a hutch. It stands in my back lobby with its door permanently wide open and the Roylz can go into it if they want to, which they do from time to time though they prefer to get beneath it and lie on the cool ceramic tiles. Nutmeg spent one Sunday afternoon some years ago finishing the DIY project Rosie started, converting it from a two room apartment into an open plan studio flat


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## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

Nonnie said:


> Snap.
> 
> I'd like to meet the person who decided a small wooden box was a suitable enclosure for a highly active, social animal; and bitch slap them into next week.
> 
> ...


The hutch design comes from victorian time when rabbits were kept only for meat and not thought of as a pet. These victorian principles should have died long ago.


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

Mine have a hutch it's 6.5x2.5x2.5 as I was recommended this size
But it is open 24/7 & sits in a 2.5x2.5 metre run (sorry, don't know how to convert to feet) that my husband built


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

All petshops have to be licensed by their local authority, and the license varies according to what they are allowed to sell.

If animals are sick, the local authority needs to be informed and asked to inspect. If feedstuffs are mouldy/dirty/dangerous, then Trading Standards can be brought in too.

There are national guidelines about what shops have to do to conform for licensing - I have to stress that they are guidelines only - and they are currently being reviewed, but they do offer some benchmarks for the licensing authority to measure against to decide whether or not the licence should be revoked - in which case the shop would have to cease trading.

As well as complaining to the shop, it's advisable to complain to the LA too. Phone council offices to find out which dept to complain to as it varies from one authority to another.

I have posted information on our RWAF committee forum.


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## wacky (Jan 23, 2011)

Nonnie said:


> Ummm...they don't live permanently under the earth do they? Rabbits periscope in order to spot danger, a natural behaviour, and wild rabbits have no need to do this underground in relative safety. If you observe them when out feeding, they do it it constantly. Plus warrens contain chambers, many big enough in order to allow them to do this.
> 
> A domestic rabbit spend its entire life in a enclosed area, therefore its basic needs must be met in all areas of its housing. To prevent them the ability to do so, is cruel. Afterall, we don't house rabbits in anything remotely live a natural environment.
> 
> Ive never understood comparing wild and domestic animals and their needs; its like comparing apples and oranges.


ok i nwas only courius as to what minght be said and i was right you must have been down a warren then ok i beleave you


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

Please do keep on asking, Wacky. The more understanding there is of what is 'normal' for rabbits the better, and if people don't know, then it's fine to ask. We should all remember that once upon a time, we didn't know either.


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## Nonnie (Apr 15, 2009)

wacky said:


> ok i nwas only courius as to what minght be said and i was right you must have been down a warren then ok i beleave you


Ive excavated a warren, and also spent time studying the animals that i choose to own, in order to make sure i provide for their needs, as opposed to my own.

Do your hutches allow your rabbits to periscope?


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## wacky (Jan 23, 2011)

Nonnie said:


> Ive excavated a warren, and also spent time studying the animals that i choose to own, in order to make sure i provide for their needs, as opposed to my own.
> 
> Do your hutches allow your rabbits to periscope?


yes they do 6ft by 4ft by 4ft for my dwalfs and lops and kennels for my conties oh and i was only curius of what minght be said not that i didnt know myself


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

simplysardonic said:


> I was shocked and dismayed walking my dog today, I passed some houses & one of them has some wooden coops etc outside for sale, there was a hutch & it could not have been more than 2ft long, I might pluck up the courage to knock on their door & inform them it's really not suitable


I made a new friend last week doing precisely this sort of thing. Somebody from another forum had written to me about a rabbit living near both of us in not the best conditions. We met up and went to talk to the owner together (I was acting as a private person, not as a RWAF representative). The lady who owned her believed she was doing a good job, but really she wasn't. We were as tactful and positive as we could manage to be, and the lady said she wanted to rehome the bun.

A local rescue was contacted and asked whether they'd be able to fit her in, which, finding out the circumstances, they agreed to and so the next day, my new friend and her husband went round, collected bunny, (horrible) hutch, hay, food, etc (so that the lady wouldn't be tempted to get another rabbit) and took them home with her until the rescue had space to fit her in. She sent me photos over the weekend of one very, VERY happy and contented bun finally having the chance to come out of her undersized hutch, safely. (Because she was so used to it, my new friend had set it up alongside her own bigger one inside the aviary it occupies). Over the next couple of days, bunny moved into the garage with access to a secure aviary outdoors and settled down very quickly.

I've just texted to find out whether she's yet been able to move on to the rescue. A most satisfying episode, a very much happier bunny soon, we hope, to have her spay, vaccinations and a new home with a partner, and a new friend into the bargain.

So, at the end of all that, yes, do find the courage to approach them. They may never have considered that what they are offering is undersized or cruel. Why not give them a copy of the A Hutch Is Not Enough leaflet? You can download it here http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/HutchisnotenoughLft.pdf


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

simplysardonic said:


> Mine have a hutch it's 6.5x2.5x2.5 as I was recommended this size
> But it is open 24/7 & sits in a 2.5x2.5 metre run (sorry, don't know how to convert to feet) that my husband built


2.5metres is about 8ft 3 inches so that's nice and spacious.

IMO there's nothing at all wrong with hutches as long as they are used properly, which is only as a shelter.

Sheds/Wendy houses are, of course, brilliant and IMO even better than hutches with all the extra space. One of my longstanding friends has a big garden shed divided into two - half each per pair of buns - with the whole half downstairs for each pair to play in and home-made staircases (sides for safety on the higher steps) that lead to the upstairs sleeping quarters. Sleeping quarters are each half the shed's width, probably about 4ft each, 3ft high,2ft deep. Each pair can go from there into secure runs and as long as a family member is there to supervise safety, into the garden for a bigger play area. (Garden divided into two)

My two love to go and visit. Friend only has one pair of buns of her own now so while there are no visitors, her pair have the whole lot to play in for themselves. Mine love to 'go camping at Auntie's' and take to it all like ducks to water. She also has her son's buns to stay at Christmas and other times of the year when the family visits. They live at the opposite end of the country


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

RWAF said:


> i
> 
> I've just texted to find out whether she's yet been able to move on to the rescue. A most satisfying episode, a very much happier bunny soon, we hope, to have her spay, vaccinations and a new home with a partner, and a new friend into the bargain.


Well now, here's a surprise...(not!)...new friend is asking the rescue to let her keep the bunny. Brilliant news!

She has already had her VHD jab and is about to be booked in for her spay


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## Minion (Jan 11, 2012)

I'm not a fan of flimsy hutches. My rabbits back home have a hutch that was handmade by a local pet shop. Lovely man and makes a warm hutch. The wood is like 3 inches thick and the one we have opens at the top so there is no draft. Also makes it fox proof. To be fair though, they only sleep in it as they spend the whole day in the garden where they have a kennel and lots of space. 

As I moved out and they are the family rabbits they've stayed with Mum and Dad. My rabbit here is an indoor rabbit. His cage is used for him to sleep in because he'd end up hurting himself or I would have no house left to wake up to, although he sometimes goes in there in the day as it's next to a radiator and he will only use his litter tray if it's in his cage.


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## kate_7590 (Feb 28, 2009)

My lot aren't housed in a hutch, they have a 8ft shed with a triple tier 6ft hutch on the back wall, which is always opened, I find my 3 girls love to run up and down the hutch.
Their shed is opened at about 8 am and shut about 7pm in the winter..later in the summer.
They have free access to 'their' garden, which is fenced off at the bottom of our garden.

I couldn't just keep animals in hutches, it doesn't seem natural


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## rabbitapril (Jan 22, 2012)

RWAF said:


> Well now, here's a surprise...(not!)...new friend is asking the rescue to let her keep the bunny. Brilliant news!
> 
> She has already had her VHD jab and is about to be booked in for her spay


Hi everyone
I have just joined this forum.
I am the person who now cares for this bunny
She is now called Angel. She is a lovely friendly bunny and I cannot understand why the previous owner did not want to keep her.
I think its because she was kept in a hutch(45inches long) the owners were unable to interact with her and like wise.
She has been learning to binky in my garden and when i sit on the floor with her in her indoor home she sits next to me and loves to be petted.
Maybe if her last owners had botherd to create a place for this bunny to live outside of her small plywood box they would have found out hat a delightful bunny they had.
But she is mine now and I have all of the pleasure
Ps Angel wil lnever be confned in a hutch again whatever size


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

I have done exactly what you have asked and emailed online suppliers in the past, I got a very odd reply from ZooPlus, and I suspect the person on the other end of the internet was not english either way they couldnt care, at the time they did not sell a single hutch or hutch and run combo that met the RWAF or RSPCA standards. I got a great response from PetPlanet saying they were finding it very hard to source good quality large hutches. I boycot ZooPlus at all costs now. 

I see quite a few rabbits in piddly hutches as part of my job surveying social housing, I would love some leaflets that I could just casually post.


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

Please contact our headquarters. [email protected] or phone 0844 324 6090 and ask Anne for A Hutch is Not Enough leaflets. This is precisely the sort of reason why we have them printed.


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## crofty (May 2, 2008)

wacky said:


> yes they do 6ft by 4ft by 4ft for my dwalfs and lops and kennels for my conties oh and i was only curius of what minght be said not that i didnt know myself


Thats great but you do confuse me with your conflicting posts wacky!!


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

rabbitapril said:


> Hi everyone
> I have just joined this forum.
> I am the person who now cares for this bunny
> She is now called Angel. She is a lovely friendly bunny and I cannot understand why the previous owner did not want to keep her.












Hi April

Angel is such a lucky bun that you saw her plight and were able to offer her such a great home


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## crofty (May 2, 2008)

Mine are in a 8x6 shed with 24/7 access to a 8x6x6 covered avairy, then they get free range time in the garden when i'm out there. Although today when i let them out so i could clean them out they spend most of their time getting in the way by trying to push all my piles i've swept up back in out  my frenchie is the worst he hates me cleaning it out... my brush has the scars from the constant attacks from him!  The more space the better is my moto!!


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## Louiseandfriends (Aug 21, 2011)

I've seen rabbit 'hutches' (boxes) only 1ft long for £80!  I was not happy. No mesh or anything, just wood! 

My rabbits share a lazy lones double decker with an attached double run.


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## wacky (Jan 23, 2011)

crofty said:


> Thats great but you do confuse me with your conflicting posts wacky!!


oh sorry to confuse you


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