A new plan for the garden...UD 22/09/12

The hu-parents have been quite frustrated with the constant rain - it has made it impossible to dig out the top of the garden and make progress towards getting the huge shed they wanted.

So they have had a re-think, and Humum has just ordered two of these.

The plan is to put them on the patio facing each other with a gap between, which will be roofed over. That means the mesh fronts will be weatherproof without having to mess about with individual covers, and there will be shelter for cleaning out and feeding and chatting nonsense to bunnies. The bottom hutch each side will house a pair and have an exit out to runs on the patio, one 6' x 5' and one 7' x 4'. The quad will have two upper stories of one hutch and an exit out to a 6' x 12' run on the lower tier of the garden. Jack and Layla will have the two upper stories of the other hutch and a bridge across the lower tier of the garden to a run on the second tier.

Then Humum has part of the second tier and the whole of the top tier for growing us yummy herbs and things

The big shed Hudad built us last year was intended to house nine rabbits but now only has four living in it, so it is not an efficient way to use the space now and they need more room for runs.

It means a lot less digging out and work, and they can get it all sorted out in between rain showers.

Humum has even been out and bought paint, and now can't wait to get started.

And yes, she'll take plenty of photos of work in progress




You might notice there is no mention of outside housing for me and Gizmo. I noticed that too

Sounds fab!! I wanted to do something similar with runaround tubes, but Dad went mad with me and catagorically said no!

Cant wait to see what they look like

That really confused me, I thought it was a 6ft deep hutch for a minute there!

That sounds quite lovely Sparky! I'm glad that you and the Gizmo will remain indoors. I think you are too delicate for living outside. After all, you are a princess and should be treated as such will all the fenugreek crunchies you can hold.

cant wait to see work in progress,love watching building projects for bunnies

Sounds fab! Can't wait I see what it looks like!

Sparky - I think they may be planning to move out to the shed so you and giz can have the bedroom all to yourselves!

The hutches arrived today

In eight huge boxes

Humum's getting her painting gear on after dinner. And she said she's going to make us massive play tubes out of the cardboard

wow,thats a lot of box's and is that Layla checking the stuff out already,or is she impatient and stamping her feet and i hope we get to see the play tubes too

Some bits have been painted Cuprinol Garden Shades Holly Green

They couldn't do as much as they wanted as it's drizzling and they have run out of space in the garage to stack panels to dry

Layla is just being nosy - she assumes every delivery is for her

oh no,cant wait to see the finished product,the weather man says its going to be like this till next week

It sounds brilliant, can't wait to see the pics

Sparky, get humum to upload some photos for you to post

Instead of the 2-3 inches of rain forecast overnight, it's been a lovely day in Blackburn so the Hu-parents could get on with the big build.

One of the hutches had mostly been painted through the week, bits at a time in the evenings as space for panels to dry was at a premium in a garage full of motorbikes.

They went for two Cuprinol Garden Shades colours:


Holly Green:



and Country Cream:



Originally they were going to do all the main bits in green with cream doors, but Hudad had a better idea:






and they went for alternate levels of green-with-cream and cream-with-green. Humum is really pleased with how it looks



The hutches caused Hudad a little frustration as they weren't made as well as he would like. The backs and floors needed to be trimmed slightly to fit together properly and the roof really needs completely stripping down and putting back together properly. The felt is not stuck down, and the edge trims are all tatty and don't meet in the corners. (The legs on it haven't been painted as Hudad is probably going to put a frame around the bottom and different legs on.)


Here is Hudad making a small adjustment:



They needed to get one of the hutches together to move some buns into, so the chalet and the hutch which stood against the house wall could be broken down and moved out of the way. Hudad needs to re-do the gulley along the back of the house as our steep garden all drains down towards the house and at the moment pools on the bottom of the 'patio'.

The hutch is now out in the drive with some residents:


On the ground floor - Taffy and Reggie:



On the upper two floors - Rosie and Dougal:


Dougal had widdled in it within seconds


The next stage:
Humum will get the other hutch painted ready to go together. Weather permitting, Hudad will do the work on the gulley and patio. There are also run panels to be made - they have the mesh and a cunning plan for how to make them but need to pick up some timber.

They are fantastic!

And hello Hudad

My Dougal would have done exactly the same

Can't wait to see the next installment!

I love that hutch and the great way you have painted it, I've put that company in my favourites list as it's brilliant

Oh dear there is always one that has to widdle in a brand new hutch

Poor Dougal got a little stressed when humum hu-madhandled him

Oh that looks fab, what a palace! I love hudads foot adjustment and Layla inspecting the boxes arrivals.
The colours are gorgeous.

Those are LOVELY! They look cheerful and quite stylish. I'm eager to see the finished project.

Just FAB!

These hutches are lovely. Looking forward to seeing pics of the finished product for your very lucky buns!

How have I missed this?

Has there been any progress? Would love to see the update photos
The colour scheme on the hutches looks fab, they look nice and roomy too.

The other hutch is nearly together... but the floor in Rosie and Dougal's hutch has delaminated so Humum had to get a new sheet of ply (which she is going to try to get refunded by the hutch suppliers) and they've decided the floors need a coat of paint, which has delayed things somewhat.

Also they're not using the (far too steep) ramp, so they need to modify to get a hop-up shelf in instead.

So the plan is to get the other one 100%, then strip this one down and re-do it.

The hu-parents are a bit disappointed overall, if the hutches had just been screwed together and used as they were out of the boxes they wouldn't last all that long.

It's funny that you say they seem roomy, but Humum is so used to the buns having loads of space that she feels even 6' hutches are a bit cramped. By the time there's a couple of litter trays, a water bowl and a few toys inside, there's not masses of floor space left. Obviously it'll be better when they're finished properly and the runs are attached, but now Humum feels even more sorry for buns in little hutches

but now Humum feels even more sorry for buns in little hutches



Oh yes Sparky, I am totally with you on this one.

thats not good from what i remember the hutches wasnt cheap,so would expect them to be good