Hello Kinksters, My AngelBunny is a bit jealous over our Fur Babies upgraded home. A couple years ago my youngest son bought her a rabbit hutch (grey's blue) and she just absolutely loves it. However at the time we were using a Cat Litter box for their potty tray, having to change it out every few days while wasting hay so I made an tray to fit under the hutch and replaced the coated wire with the blue plastic that you see Willy sitting on. Unfortunately it didn't work as well as what we hoped because it was only 4" deep and we had to place hay in the hutch so they would go there to potty. The hay would clog the holes and it didn't make anything easier so I went back to the drawling board.
The new idea was to build a double drawer box under the hutch that would fit a small tote for their potty to fall into and the other side would house the extra food and other items that we have for the rabbits, making things look neater in their room. I also build a 25 degree ramp that would allow them to have access to the small door of the hutch and ended up having to place rubber on the ramp because the wood was too smooth and Willy, who has a bum back leg, couldn't make it up the ramp. Did you know that rabbits are afraid of heights? The ramp was 8" wide, which was plenty of room for them to go up single file but when they would get about half way up the ramp, both Jasmine (Far right corner) and Willy would just stop and hop down. *Pinches the bridge of my nose and sighs* .... Rabbits are so freak'n complicated. 😂 BACK TO THE DRAWLING BOARD!
I got to thinking, if the hay being placed inside the hutch clogs the holes, I needed to come up with a way to feed them without the mess before I go any further so me and my oldest son got our heads together and come up with building a hay shute. So this became a new idea... my son has never used power tools and this was going to become a training session for him and give me time with my son, which we rarely really have. Throughout the process, I would ask him his opinion and let him discover the joy of building something with his own two hands, modifying the idea as we went along. The shute needed to be easy to load, so we angle cut it, added a 5 pen blocker (Reason for the upper holes.. lower holes are uh.. ventilation... NOT that I drilled the wrong section of the bloody box.) 😂 By this time of all the cutting on a table saw, using a Saws All, and using a Bradly nail gun, my son had become comfortable with using power tools and he would be doing one part while I worked on the other, speeding up the process significantly. He learned the hard way, Measure twice, cut once! and it was worth the purchase of more supplies to have that knowledge for future endeavors because like Father, like Son! Once the Shute was built, holes added and the hinge placed we built a top piece, also hinged on the back for a "lid" to hold a five pound weight, fastened to a piece of sheet metal so it helps to push the hay down. We added a long string to pull the weight back up and marked it so we would know when it's time to refill the hay. First line, the shute is half full, the second line is to say "Hey, we're almost out." and a third line that says "Refill me or the rabbits will be getting pissed in the next couple days."
As you can see above, we left a lip so the hay wouldn't make a mess, defeating the purpose of the shute to begin with and I'm happy to report, it works fantastically! For those wondering how that plastic holds the weight of the rabbits, there are four steel rods under it... overkill? Probably but I love my bunnies and would rather over estimate the strength needed for long term use, than have an accident happen.
Now back to the original problem of how to get them safe and "rabbit approved" access to the hutch... my son was like... why don't we make Japanese patio steps up to balcony? Place some rubber squares so they don't slip and some blinder rails so they feel safe even though they can see overtop and Wha-la!
Rabbit Approved, at last! They spend a lot of time in the hutch and under the stairs now, being quite happy with their new living arrangements. The tote idea is a big success also. AngelBunny now only needs to change out their liter once a month, making what was once a small burden into something she can take care at the beginning of each month while adding absorbent mulched cardboard every week to keep the smell away. Everything is biodegradable and waste can be either tossed out with the trash or used for fertilizer for the plants and trees around the house.
Both me and my son were quite proud of ourselves and it was a happy moment when Jasmine and Willy went up, with some food on the steps for incentive, which AngelBunny did.
However... Now I have a new problem. AngelBunny is a bit jealous that their new house looks better than ours! 🤣🤣🤣 Looks like there is going to be some more work ahead now, with the newest idea of putting in a Japanese patio around our fire pit in the back yard and redoing the steps to our front porch with a similar idea of the steps we put on the rabbit hutch. Does the work ever stop?!?
Plus my son is wanting to start building our own rabbit hutches for other that keep indoor/outdoor rabbits. I told him, when he's ready, I'll foot the bill to find out.
What do y'all think about the build? I'm considering making a shelf to fill the space beside the hay shute and a couple more additions to the current hutch, by adding a platform for the rabbits auto-feeder and water supply, though I'm not sure there's enough room. Anyways, I thought I would share seeing as I haven't posted anything for a bit. Y'all have a wonderful day!
Max