A few pictures of the run I've managed to cobble together ..

Following on from this thread:

https://happyhoppers.forumotion.co.uk/t18317-aviary-panels

I proudly present:







The panels were all 5ft but as the 3 to make up the roof made up 66 inches (22" each) I extended the sides a little with pieces of wood (planed softwood 4" x 1"). I also put 4" high wood at the bottom to give it the extra height. Luckily I'd just bought the run on the right so I used that for some of my inspiration for how to get it to fold up neatly.

The "grass time" happens at my parents' house (next door) as I don't have any lawned areas. So I needed the runs to be able to be folded up and carried back home. I don't even have a lot of cleared suitable garden to put the runs on but that's going to change. Having seen how much the outdoor bunnies are enjoying grass time I will hopefully be sowing a patch of grass as well. My rabbits have never had grass time before I just didn't realise how much they were missing out on

I tried Erin and Elijah outdoors but they were very wary. Erin has been a housebun for at least 3.5 years and Elijah since about 10 months old - so 2 years ish.

That look's brilliant wish our's looked like that but Mike put's them together quickly as we need them so badly and don't have time to paint them
or anything. We desperately need more runs but at the moment they are on hold as a lot of things are .

Tuckerbunnies wrote:That look's brilliant wish our's looked like that but Mike put's them together quickly as we need them so badly and don't have time to paint them
or anything. We desperately need more runs but at the moment they are on hold as a lot of things are .

Thanks.
The wood that's painted was untreated so I really needed to to protect my investment and I don't have anywhere under cover to store them. I'm really cursing that I didn't do this last year for Binky and Shadow - If I'd known Shadow wouldn't be with us this summer I'd have done it I've been spurred on by that thought.

I wanted to give Artie some grass time too but then realised as he has EC I can't put him on the same grass as the others

They look good,
how long did it take to make them

fiver wrote:They look good,
how long did it take to make them

I've just made the one so far the one on the left with the aqua painted sections. It probably took something in the region of 4 - 5 hours - to paint the wood, fasten the wood onto each side panel, fasten the side panels together then put the lid on. I shall be making another one soon and it will be quicker because I won't make the same mistakes and have to undo and go back like I did last time!

I luckily found a place that sells the big hinges I used on the lid for 2 for £1, same for the hasps and staples I used for the corners - that was all a lot cheaper than I expected.

That looks great - how much do you reckon the run cost you in all? I was impressed with the price of the aviary panels

(Did you get the hinges and things from B&M Home Bargains? They're good for things like that and we know you have one in Skipton as Humum bought our lino from there )

Sparky wrote:That looks great - how much do you reckon the run cost you in all? I was impressed with the price of the aviary panels

(Did you get the hinges and things from B&M Home Bargains? They're good for things like that and we know you have one in Skipton as Humum bought our lino from there )

7 x 5ft panels at £5.99 each
Carriage of £10

Extra wood from timber yard (cut to size) was approx £12
Metal bits: 4 hinges £2,
mending plates about £3
8 x hasp/staple £4, cheap padlocks from eBay (not on yet!) £5
box of screws £2
Not counted cost for wood stain as we have several tins of the Cuprinol stuff already.

sooo, it was actually somewhere about £80 so not all that cheap!! It's a 5ft x 5ft 5 in, so slightly bigger than the ready made 6x4 run that cost about £75 and just needed unwrapping!! The home made one is better wood though - and a couple of inches taller - so better for binkying.

No not B&M - I never thought to look in there and I used to work opposite I got the metal bits from Yorkshire Trading.

Oh and Sparky - If you humum comes over the border looking for lino again tell her to go to the carpet place next to Kwik Fit and tell the bloke there it's for a rabbit hutch (ha ha) and he'll very slightly take the michael and then ask what colour the bunny is and find an off-cut that matches the rabbit

Edit to add: I've just dug out my receipt for the 4" x 1" wood and it was £12 not £18 so I've amended above.

Another edit: It would be possible to do the 5ft x 5ft run a lot cheaper by using only 6 panels instead of 7 and not adding the 4 inch in height. You'd need to block 16" x 5ft piece of the roof somehow - perhaps a piece of plywood. that would reduce the cost by £12 (wood) £6 (panel) + £3 for mending plates. So - £21 but plus whatever the plywood costs - so probably down by about £15 .... so down to about £65.

Big Ears wrote:Oh and Sparky - If you humum comes over the border looking for lino again tell her to go to the carpet place next to Kwik Fit and tell the bloke there it's for a rabbit hutch (ha ha) and he'll very slightly take the michael and then ask what colour the bunny is and find an off-cut that matches the rabbit

Humum says: 'Thanks for the tip. I'll actually be the wrong side of the Pennines again next Saturday and need some lino so will pop in there. Do they do it in a cowprint pattern? '

She's not funny

You SHOULD be proud! Those are lovely. I really like the aqua next to the wood. Who knew the combo would look so fresh! Well, you did of course!

gentl wrote:You SHOULD be proud! Those are lovely. I really like the aqua next to the wood. Who knew the combo would look so fresh! Well, you did of course!

The truth is I was being tight I couldn't find the redwood-ish wood stain, dark green didn't do it for me, I have 2 shades of purple and they both would have looked horrible so we were left with the aqua, I though 'it will have to do' but I absolutely love it now it's finished and I am going to do the next one the same

Sparky wrote:Humum says: 'Thanks for the tip. I'll actually be the wrong side of the Pennines again next Saturday and need some lino so will pop in there. Do they do it in a cowprint pattern? '

She's not funny

I'm sure your humum didn't intend you to quote this bit, Sparky

Absolutely Brilliant!!

It looks great! Very secure too.

It looks great. You've done a really good job

I too have a non-grass back garden and so Willow never really went out on the grass before (I'll have had her for a year next month). However, now I have the run I stuck it on our teeny tiny patch out the front, plonked her in and she loved it!

She can't really binky but she spent the whole time munching the grass and dandelions, flopped out, periscoping and enjoying the fresh air. My piggies also went out for the first time in there and were suprisingly confident considering how agoraphobic and neurotic they are usually

When Willow's had her Myxi booster I want to take her to my grandparent's huge garden where she can have a good binky and run around. But my gran lives in the countryside and the area is RIFE with Myxi, so I'm not sure if I'm going to risk it at all. Granny said she sees wild buns at least once a day on her lawn...

Cobbled together?????? That looks professional to me It's great! Very inspirational........... hmmmm.........now where did I put that screwdriver