A hutch is not enough...

[Kimmikins]

I don't have bunnies, but both of my neighbours do. One has their 3 bunnies in a 2 storey hutch (until recently the lone boy was on his own, and his 2 sisters in the bottom hutch) outside in the garden with no run, the other has one bunny (they did have 2, then one died so they got the baby, then the other original bunny died) in a larger 2 storey hutch that's kept in the garage and has a large fenced off part of the garage as the run. I know which bunny I'd rather be!

Thought I'd share this campaign by Rabbit Welfare and Fund www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/ahutchisnotenough.htm which talks about the space that bunnies need for their living space.

[Adrianne]

I went to a client today ..she has 3 dogs, all lovely, only went in to give her some help with puppy training...she bought out a massive rabbit at the end of the session..i thought the dogs were going to kill it! it bounced around the floor much to the delight of the puppy boxer, and the others didn't bat an eyelid.
.its a first for me, I have often worked wih dogs living with cats, but not rabbits!

[Kimmikins]

These neighbours both have cats too, and they all live in relative harmony. Except that one of the kittens likes to tap bunny's bottom when he thinks nobody's looking

[sarahhound]

Katy loves her bunnies too Lucy loves bunnies in the wrong sense, she's killed 2 now. One wild one (it wasn't well, so she did it a favour) and a pet one of mine too

[Adrianne]

..I read a great book where the researchers were looking into canine communication..
they set up 'flashcard' type pictures for the dogs to indicate their thoughts through...
shown a picture of fields, for example, they would indicate the card with the picture of a lead on it..
there was a card for play, one for food etc...one dog that apparently was living alongside a rabbit in the home, when shown pictures of the rabbit always indicated food , never play!

I think the book was 'The Genius of Dogs' Brian o' hare

[kimthecat]

More people seem to have house rabbits nowadays . I feel so sorry for the solitary rabbit left at the end of the garden in a tiny hutch
 What a miserable life.

I used to foster  rabbits for the RSPCA but ended up keeping most of them!

 ETA that a good link , I will pass it around.

 Alison

[sarahhound]

My bunnies have an 18ft x 8ft shed I don't agree with hutches.

[PetGoodsOnlineltd]

dog-walk__zpsa8a83c4eWe sell hutches in our store but we always tell people that they should view a rabbit hutch like a dog kennel it is somewhere for your rabbit to stay to keep dry and safe at night (from foxes etc) but they should have an area to exercise in the day, we offer play pens for small animals these are huge pens with roofs on and a sun shade a lot of people have these for chickens etc too. I was told by an animal welfare expert that in general rabbits are the most ignored or neglected of all pets as people believe that they can just put them in a hutch or indoor cage and leave it at that but in fact rabbits need a lot of freedom and exercise. Perception is a funny thing as in the UK we would never think about having a cat live in a hutch/cage but in Asia it is common that cats have big cages like a giant rat cage type of thing. I learnt this recently on a visit to china and to be honest i was totally shocked but they view it in the same way we view rabbits in the UK i couldn't really argue with the guys logic.

[Adrianne]

is it true that rabbits have similar intelligence levels to dogs and can be trained quite well?

[PetGoodsOnlineltd]

Adrianne now your asking lol. I know that rabbits can be easily trained to use litter boxes etc and learn tricks ive been told :-)

[sarahhound]

Nov 29, 2013 20:46:38 GMT PetGoodsOnlineltd said:

dog-walk__zpsa8a83c4eWe sell hutches in our store but we always tell people that they should view a rabbit hutch like a dog kennel it is somewhere for your rabbit to stay to keep dry and safe at night (from foxes etc) but they should have an area to exercise in the day, we offer play pens for small animals these are huge pens with roofs on and a sun shade a lot of people have these for chickens etc too. I was told by an animal welfare expert that in general rabbits are the most ignored or neglected of all pets as people believe that they can just put them in a hutch or indoor cage and leave it at that but in fact rabbits need a lot of freedom and exercise. Perception is a funny thing as in the UK we would never think about having a cat live in a hutch/cage but in Asia it is common that cats have big cages like a giant rat cage type of thing. I learnt this recently on a visit to china and to be honest i was totally shocked but they view it in the same way we view rabbits in the UK i couldn't really argue with the guys logic.

Not wishing to nitpick, but as rabbits are most active at dusk and dawn, they really shouldn't be in a hutch at night either. 

[PetGoodsOnlineltd]

Nov 30, 2013 9:47:34 GMT sarahhound said:

Nov 29, 2013 20:46:38 GMT PetGoodsOnlineltd said:

dog-walk__zpsa8a83c4eWe sell hutches in our store but we always tell people that they should view a rabbit hutch like a dog kennel it is somewhere for your rabbit to stay to keep dry and safe at night (from foxes etc) but they should have an area to exercise in the day, we offer play pens for small animals these are huge pens with roofs on and a sun shade a lot of people have these for chickens etc too. I was told by an animal welfare expert that in general rabbits are the most ignored or neglected of all pets as people believe that they can just put them in a hutch or indoor cage and leave it at that but in fact rabbits need a lot of freedom and exercise. Perception is a funny thing as in the UK we would never think about having a cat live in a hutch/cage but in Asia it is common that cats have big cages like a giant rat cage type of thing. I learnt this recently on a visit to china and to be honest i was totally shocked but they view it in the same way we view rabbits in the UK i couldn't really argue with the guys logic.

Not wishing to nitpick, but as rabbits are most active at dusk and dawn, they really shouldn't be in a hutch at night either. 

I totally understand where your coming from. Rabbits are busy at dusk and dawn due to predators in there natural habitats and it offers them less risk. However its not always possible for everyone to let rabbits have larger areas to play/graze etc at night due to predators and safety. 

[Kimmikins]

Is that true? That they're most active at dusk and dawn? I didn't know that.

We're looking after one set of kittens and bunnies today. So we went over this morning to sort them out with food and hay. The bunnies are still outside in the hutch...with the temperatures being as they are, is it too cold for them to be outside at this time of year? The doors have wire mesh in them, so there's no protection from the elements

[kimthecat]

What does the owner usually do?
When I had rabbits outside in winter I would cover the hutch and made sure they had plenty of bedding.

I hate the concept of "starter " cages! I think pets at home might have stopped selling them now .

[Kimmikins]

They only got them about 2 months ago, and I'm not sure they've ever had "pet" bunnies in their own house before - one of them had them when they were younger, but I'm not sure how they were kept or if they were house bunnies. The hutch was uncovered when we went to feed them this morning, and I don't think they've got a cover for it if the temperature drops.

There's about half an inch of stuff on the floor, not hay , but look s a bit like it, a bit woodchippy in size. They've got some bedding, and a windbreaker I guess you'd call it fencing off one corner. And they've got a little room section off to one side that is completeley covered, but with an entry hole in it to the main section and I don't know what kind of bedding is in there.

I guess I'm probably just being nosey and over-cautious, I know they'd never do anything intentionally to allow them to come to harm. I just worry with how cold it is...and the fact that our other neighbours, who are long-time bunny parents, have theirs in the garage and are also concerned with the apparent lack of protection for them