Outdoor Rabbit Hutch Walls
Try to avoid buying a rabbit hutch with thin plywood walls, these might be cost less to buy, but will need replacing much sooner than a strongly built tongue and groove raabbit hutch.
Check the walls regularly for water stains and wear. The protective stain or varnish will need maintenance approximately every two years. This will help to stop damp and rain from entering the hutch as well as protecting the wood from rotting.
If you are treating the inside of the hutch take great care to use a stain or varnish that is safe for rabbits.
Outdoor Rabbit Hutch Floor
An Outdoor rabbit hutch should have a solid floor, although it might reduce the amount of cleaning required, wire mesh is bad for rabbits’ feet.
To make floors easier to clean you could firmly glue a vinyl floor covering to the base of the hutch.
Fix wooden batons around the edge of the vinyl, this will help to stop the rabbits chewing it.
Litter Trays
Put a litter tray in a corner your rabbits hutch. Rabbits do tend to leave their droppings in the same place, with a little training your rabbit can be taught to use a litter tray, much like a cat.
Wire Mesh
Welded Mesh is better than chicken wire or netting, it is much stronger, making it less likely to stretch or bow, but it is more expensive. Remember that the wire mesh on your rabbit's cage may be the only thing between your per rabbit and a fox or cat!
Outdoor Rabbit Hutch Doors
Large mesh doors can be partially covered with clear Perspex, allowing your rabbit to see out and the sun to come in but preventing wind and rain. Ventilation is still very important though, so leave a several centimetre gap for this.
Entrances should face away from the wind. If it is not possible to turn the outdoor rabbit hutch around then put something just in front to block direct wind and rain.
Next: Outdoor Rabbit Hutch in Winter