You will want to know how to build a hutch if you’re either raising rabbits or your kid just wants to keep one as a pet. Either way, you will have to construct a hutch for these little animals if you want to keep them at home. You can spend a good deal of money if you buy one at a pet store. Another alternative is to construct one of your own and save about half the cost of purchasing one.
Needed Tools and Materials
For this project you’ll need a pound of one-inch nails, a pound of three-inch nails, a measuring tape, a straight edge, hammer, screwdriver, wire cutters, and pliers. You’ll also need materials like staples, 1×2 boards that are about six feet long, eight pieces of 2x4s that are about eight feet in length, a couple of sheets of plywood, a latching device, and chicken wire.
How to Build a Hutch
The first step on how to build a hutch is to grab a pen and paper and make a sketch of your hutch. Make sure you write down your intended measurements. You should decide on its dimensions based on how much space you have available. You should also decide on how many rabbits you want it to hold. Once you have all the plans laid out you can begin constructing the frame.
The next step on how to build a hutch is to construct the frame. Use your 2×4 boards to build the frame. Cut four 2×4 boards to a length of 48 inches. Next, cut eight boards to 24” in length. Join these one of each piece to form an ‘L’ shape. The 24-inch board must be located on the inside section of your frame.
Join two pieces of ‘L’ shaped wood to form a ‘U’ like shape. Do the same with the rest of the pieces thus making two ‘U’ shapes. Combine both of these sections of the frame to form a rectangle. Next, grab four 24” inch boards and nail each one to a corresponding corner of the rectangle making posts.
Nail similar pieces of wood on the top of the posts thus making a rectangular box with the ends forming a square. Cut the sheets of plywood to fit each side of the box except for the side you’re going to use as a door. Nail these sheets to make the cage a closed box. Construct a door using the remaining pieces of wood and the chicken wire. You can either nail the chicken wire to the door or staple it on. Attach the latching mechanism/device to let the door open and close.
The finishing touches on how to build a hutch includes adding legs to raise it to the desired height and painting the cage. You can add partitions if you like or just keep the animals together in a large space.
