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In 2020 we moved and were able to expand our rabbitry in the large barn on the property – click here to read more about our current setup. But not everyone has a barn (or wants to keep a large number of rabbits!). The setup below was our first rabbit yard – perfect for 2-3 rabbits in a small backyard. It served us well for 5 years!
Before we brought our bunnies home I combed the internet looking at pictures of other rabbit owners’ enclosures trying to get ideas. I knew I didn’t want to keep them in sad little cages and wanted to include a spacious exercise yard.
The rabbit yard was right off the back of the house, in a corner framed by the sunroom & living room. The area is about 10 feet x 15 feet. Building it off the back of the house made it convenient for us to visit and care for the buns, keeps them safer, and allows the house to block wind & sun.
The yard is enclosed by a 4-foot high picket fence with chicken wire attached to it. On the bottom 2 feet, and buried another 2 feet into the ground we have small gauge hardware cloth wire. Chicken wire can be easily torn, this prevents the rabbits from burrowing under the fence, and keep predators from digging in.
To the left, we have benches for human visitors to hang out with the bunnies. The rabbits also love hopping up on them and hanging out underneath them.
Rabbits love climbing, jumping, and hiding! We have nooks and crannies where they can hide, blocks to climb on, and boxes to jump into. In the planter boxes, I planted some Timothy grass seeds, clovers have sprouted there on their own and I seeded some dandelions for the bunnies to munch on.
I cut the bottoms out of two plant buckets and taped them together to make a tunnel for the buns to explore. Bricks on either side keep it from rolling around.
Our hutch is raised 2 feet off the ground, (click here to read how we built the base) leaving plenty of space to store supplies. Their pellet feed is stored in a rodent-proof metal can.
I keep litter, hay, and cleaning supplies in a large plastic tote. Having the hutch raised off the ground keeps them safer from predators, keeps them drier when it rains, and keeps them well out of snow drifts in the winter. The raised hutch is also easier for human caretakers to clean.
The lower level flooring is inexpensive ceramic tiles. In addition to being easy to clean, the tiles help these fuzzy bunnies to stay cool in the summer. Click here to read my tips for keeping Angoras cool in the summer. AND Click here to see how we winterized our rabbits.
The hutch is plenty big enough for two bunnies to share. Inside the hutch on the lower level, we have their litter box and hay bin to the left. Their feed bin is attached to the lower right-hand door so it can swing out for easy filling. Their water & ramp to the upper “sleeping” level are on the right.
We added an outdoor ramp for the bunnies to get from their hutch to their play yard on their own. It is made from some scrap plywood covered in two Dollar Store mats for traction. The hutch was ordered online and painted to match our chicken coop. Click here to see how we decorated it!
The doors on the upper & lower level both have dual locks
The upper level is the “bedroom”. On the floor, we have a small rug. When I add fresh hay to the hay bin, any old hay that is leftover from the previous day is taken out and put in here for them to nibble on as a midnight snack. The hutch came with two ramps to access the upper level, one on the left and one on the right. I didn’t want to sacrifice floor space on the lower level with two ramps so we removed the left ramp and covered the ramp doorway with wire (as seen above) to encourage airflow up there.
My rabbits saw this post and now I have a long list of improvements to make to the rabbit area on our farm! Seriously, though, this is a very nice setup and I can see you put a lot of time and effort into it.
Now I want rabbits just so I can have a cute rabbit house!
I saw you had two rabbits in the same run. I have not had any success putting any two together. What are your thoughts. I even tried leaving a kit with mom, but when she was mature mom started fighting with her. Are yours spayed or nutured?
Both my rabbits are female and they are not spayed. They are not biological sisters, but we got them from the same breeder and they were born within a week of each other so they have been together since we brought them home at 8 weeks. They get along really well and other than an occasional dominance display I have never seen them fight. Did your rabbits have a large enough space? I have read that can be a major factor in colony raising rabbits (raising multiple rabbits together). If they don’t have a large run it can lead to fighting
Could have been space was too small. They each had their own cage but run area was 4 ft by 12 ft.
The mother and another female I let run back yard (which is 20 ft by 30ft fenced area). They also grappled w/tuff of hair flying. Both are friendly sweet on there own. So that’s where I stopped trying. I just let one out at a time for exercise.
What do you think would happen if I kept 2 females from same litter, I wonder if they would share space? Also when more than one rabbit is in an area they don’t seem to use their litter box. Is that true with your buns?
Where did you get this adorable hutch?
Thanks Allison! We ordered it on Amazon (click here for the Amazon listing: http://amzn.to/2oMMmlF) and then painted it blue to match our chicken coop 🙂
Is the top covered to keep predators out? I would worry about cats.
The top is open on ours, it is something I would love to completely enclose at some point just for peace of mind. But I also have a fenced in yard and live in an area with few predators (and I can’t even remember the last time I saw a stray cat about)
Your setup is so inspiring. Thank you!
Thanks Monique!
I usually don’t agree with rabbits being housed outdoor because of all the risks but you thought of everything! perfect set up 🙂
Thanks Sophia! ❤️
Hi! I know this is an old post, but I’m planning an outdoor area for our 3 rabbits in a corner of our yard. (They have a large house/pen in our garage they are in at night.) I’m trying to decide how to keep them from digging out. My area is surrounded by our house on two sides and the patio on another, so only one side is truly open. Did you put hardware cloth in the ground on the sides near your house or only the open sides? I’m just not sure if I’ll end up with bunnies digging under house! Thanks! I lovebirds your set up!
Thank you! I didn’t bury it fully along the sides of my house – just in about a foot or so so that the corners would be fully covered. Although I am thinking of doing it this year because this spring they decided to start digging right along the side of my sunroom and apparently there is some pink insulation on the outside of the foundation that they keep tearing off! I also make sure to inspect the holes daily and I fill in any that are along or near the open sides. It’s been over 4 years now and I’ve not had anyone escape yet!
Thanks for the info! That’s really helpful!
I really like your setup, thanks for posting. I have my bunnies, two female inside. The hutch was not sturdy, and one other escaped and disappeared. I often think they would love to be outside.
I love your bunny hutch! So cute. =) I’m thinking about eventually getting angoras and this was helpful.
I love your play yard ideas! Thanks for sharing!!
How did you potty train them? We have ours outside and they poop all over the grass. Not sure what to do for winter with this happening.
You can learn about how I litter trained my bunnies here: https://thecapecoop.com/litter-box-training-rabbits/
Hi, I’ve been wanting to build a rabbit yard like this, but I don’t know how I would use the wooden fence, and put a roof over it, do you have any suggestions?
What you would do is make the fence posts 8 or 10 feet tall (instead of the 4 foot ones I have pictured). Then run 2x4s horizontal across the tops of the tall posts. Depending on the size of your rabbit yard & materials you are using for the roof, you will probably need either supporting posts in the middle, or use hefty beams (2x6s or 2x8s) for supporting the roof structure. The roof I built for my first chicken run was made from light plastic roofing panels, they worked really well and didn’t require the substantial structure a traditional plywood/asphalt roof would
Ok, thanks so much. I think I’m going to do a mesh roof, so that the grass will grow☺️
great idea!
Hey great set up!!! Have you ever had any trouble with the hutch?
No, the hutch has been great! We used it outdoors like this for 4 years until we moved to a house that had a barn. The rabbits now live in the barn, and the hutch is still in use for growing out baby chicks. It’s held up well!