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

Sorry to hear your Hu-parents are dissapointed with the hutches Sparky.

Funnily enough, they've been taken off the website so I wonder if they've had other complaints about the quality.

They'll be fine in the end, they're just taking a lot of work to get to that point.

It's a blessing your Hu-dad can do that sort of thing to make them good and strong for the buns. The colors are quite nice and cheery.

The second hutch got a bit closer to being finished this weekend. It needed to be in a fit state for the quad to move into, as Hudad has a few days off and wanted to spend them taking their shed down and prepping the ground for the new hutches.

Lessons learned from the first hutch and put right:

1) The edges of all the floors have been carefully painted so they don't delaminate.

2) The stupid ramps have come out, the hole has been enlarged and Hudad has put hop-up shelves in instead.

3) One floor has had lino put on it (the other has been painted until they can get more lino).

4) Humum is not going to bother touching in the chewed paintwork on the outside yet again until they have blocked off the bits they can get to


The quad's hutch in its temporary location up against the garage: (excuse the odd bit of board temporarily blocking off the bottom)




They have use of the lower two floors for now:




They were thrilled about moving in:




Graham: "I say, do close the door and leave us in peace, if you would be so kind."
Smudge, under breath: "Bog off hoomins."





Hudad got the 'old' shed down in no time, having spent a good couple of weeks building it. It's a shame as it has been up for less than a year and would have been perfect if only they'd been happy to live together in a group of nine

Here he is having a rest (ignore the far-too-small hutch he accidentally won on eBay and which will probably go into one of the runs as a shelter:




Lesson learned from this hutch: Bigger hop-up levels, as there is always somebun sitting on it when somebunny else wants to get downstairs

Hudad wanted to do some concreting today but it's been too wet, so he has built the base for the hutches which can be levelled up on our very sloped patio, and an individual base for each hutch to replace the legs (they sag in the middle with just a leg at each corner for 'support' )


The quad did stop sulking after a couple of hours and some nana chips - we'll pop some video up in Photoshoots as these guys don't get nearly enough exposure on here

[quote="Sparky"]

The quad did stop sulking after a couple of hours and some nana chips - we'll pop some video up in Photoshoots as these guys don't get nearly enough exposure on here [/quote

Here here!

I agree more more !

Ooh piccies, don't mind if we do!

Lovely work, can I ask is the fenced off bit high enough or is it just me rosie that loves doing the high jump. She jumped over mesh that was same hight, and jumps in bellas hut if top door isnt closed on latch properly. Its wee bit lower than the fencing but she does it with no effort at all. Spring legs.

Hudad made the run panels 3ft square so they are all modular

Wow! What a lovely home they all have. I love the paintwork

3' is high enough for everyone except Gizmo

When they are in their final positions they will be properly roofed anyway - part solid for outdoor shelter and part mesh.

I'll get Humum to ask the quad if they would not mind posing for more piccies for you all....

Three photos don't really do justice to the amount of effort Hudad has put in but he was very busy and Humum was at work and I struggle with the camera with my little paws:

The base is built and levelled up due to the massive slope on the patio. The frames for the hutches to sit on, instead of their puny legs, have been made and screwed onto the base (all the exposed woodwork will be painted and the floor finished with something nicer once the rest of the hutch-shed has been built up. And once bunnies can't get to any of it to nibble.):





The wall and window at the end are to close that end of the shed off - the top bit which currently has nothing in it will be mesh with a shutter which can be put in place to keep rain out, or removed completely for ventilation. Humum was most impressed that the window even has a windowsill

The quad's hutch in place:



They currently have the bottom two floors, but will be moving into the upper two floors so Rosie and Dougal can have the ground floor. But some runs need to be sorted out now before any more buns can be moved. The quad will have a tunnel across to a 12' x 6' or so run on the middle level of the garden, and Roo and Dougal will have one onto the patio. Then the other hutch can go on and the end wall and roof can be built up.

Progress is being made, vibes for dry weekends welcomed

Have you been borrowing the crazy gang's Daisy to plot this out?

cheryl'n'bruce'flo wrote:

Have you been borrowing the crazy gang's Daisy to plot this out?

Why? Is he an architect?

It's frightening how much of it they are making up as they go along, although it seems to be working out ok so far. Humum is a bit worried about getting the end and having a pair of buns left over

This photo I had Rosie take shows how much hudad had to compensate for the sloping patio He had to add 7 1/2" of timber

Sparky wrote:

cheryl'n'bruce'flo wrote:

Have you been borrowing the crazy gang's Daisy to plot this out?

Why? Is he an architect?

It's frightening how much of it they are making up as they go along, although it seems to be working out ok so far. Humum is a bit worried about getting the end and having a pair of buns left over

He is certainly an architect of mayhem and general scheming. You can't trust these guinea pigs you know.

I'm enjoying watching this come together. I always check here first to see the progress

Its going to be fantastic when its all finished

It's all very exciting and it's going to be Bunningham Palace by the time it's finished

all I can say is WOW!

It really looks amazing, your hudad has done a very good job Sparky

I think the hu-parents do deserve a medal for this Sparky. They're doing a great job

Progress!

Although they were hoping to sort the runs out properly before moving the second hutch, the rain was driving into both so they decided that the second hutch needed to be moved so the whole thing could be roofed and weatherproof.

Hudad played Bunny Chess , moving them around so he could break the hutch down and move it. He put it on the base and popped some polycarb flat on the roof for the night:


At the end he has meshed the top part of the window then put a clear plastic shutter over it, so the shutter can be fully open for ventilation or closed completely in yucky weather:


On the left side, Roo and Dougal live on the bottom, with a run out at the front. The foster family are in the middle floor, and our single foster, Cindy, is on the top floor:


On the right side, Taffy and Reggie live downstairs with a run out next to the hutch-shed, and the quad have the upper two floors with a tunnel out the back wall into a run on the lower tier of the garden (currently mud covered in hay):


Roo and Dougal's temporary run - far from ideal but at least it gives them some outside space:


Reggie and Taffy's temporary run - ditto:



Hudad has been out in the garage until a little while ago, building their proper apex roof and he has popped it on but it is too dark for photos of that tonight. At least the buns (and Humum while feeding and cleaning out) will be far better protected from the weather. Humum was half expecting some complaints from buns being able to see each other across the passage, but they have all been fine

Hudad needs to attach the roof properly and close in the last gap on the back wall, and then the shed part is done apart from some paint here and there and they just need to sort the run set-ups out a bit better.

It looks fab! I wish my Dad would do cool stuff like this for me He hasnt worked out yet that if he made more effort, i wouldnt keep bringing the bunnies indoors when it gets too cold for me out there!

I wouldnt mind living at Sparky Towers! I worried about Marley and Dolly being able to see Hughie too, but it hasnt been a problem.