Shed/rabbit house/greenhouse

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I have a shed in the back that really is just full of junk. I want to turn it into a rabbit HOUSE THING and not a rabbit HUTCH THING. and something I could use for chickens after the rabbits are gone, or as some rabbits die have rabbits and chickens. I think it is too far away from the house to be safe for chickens or rabbits. Would it be hard to take apart? DH and DB built it at our other house 18 years ago. When we moved here, I have no idea how DH did it, but he took it apart at the old place, moved it here, threw it over the back fence and before I knew it, he had it put back together. I guess I could get DB to give advice. I am so tired of being told I should get rid of the rabbits. Since the rabbits are already in their hutch, it would not be that this had to be done fast, so I am wondering if DS and I can do this, MAYBE with the help of DB, which last night both DB and SIL upset me. All they talk about is how I should get rid of the rabbits and the hutch is ugly and poor rabbits living in a hutch and I should just kill them I guess. I know how to kill a rabbit. I have seen rabbits killed. I have probably killed more rabbits than people have ever seen using greyhounds and I am done with it. I am not a farmer. I do not raise rabbits for food or money. I am not against other people hunting or raising rabbits for food and think that is wonderful and glad for farmers raising my food. This is just something I am doing. I gave them a home and now I going to do what I have to until they are gone. I DO NOT WANT ANYMORE EVER but I will keep these until they are gone. I would like to move this shed and turn it into something like the other picture attached. Not exactly like that, but where the rabbits would be inside each one with their own hutch and maybe a run each or a couple where I could switch them. Build it up closer to the house and under a tree where there is shade, and not sure about the greenhouse thing. I really just need some temporary small thing, but make all this look cute with little flower boxes or whatever lol and not so crazy like a rabbit factory. Maybe easier for me to clean and take care of than what I have. I have already earned the crazy rabbit lady title, so I might as well do it up good.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Or looking at the picture and thinking about it, it might be easier and better just to go ahead and finish fencing the yard and put a 6 ft fence across the back. This picture is about 5 or 6 years ago and on the right of that picture the neighbors put up a 6 ft fence and DH put one on the other side of the yard. We just never finished the back. If i had runs for the rabbits I have seen where the pens have been dug out and wire buried and then dirt put back over and when they start their tunnels they can only go down a short ways and hit wire, the WHOLE BOTTOM of the run, not just the fence line. I could have DB help or give advice. Would cutting holes in the walls for runs hurt the shed or cutting out for a window?

 

[Nyboy]

Why do you think it is to far from house to be safe for rabbits or chickens ? Unless you have bears around that shed looks pretty safe.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I guess just far from the house compared to where they are now. Worried if kids going down the alley might mess with them or dogs but if I had the fence up then they should be safe from dogs. Actually, down the street is a park and there was a bear and moose have walked down the alley, and there was an owl that stayed in a tree watching the rabbits, and the man that had the rabbits before had chickens and something killed his chickens. He said it was some kind of bird.

 

[baymule]

How far from the house is it? It might be easier to put up the fence to keep dogs and kids out and off your property. These rabbits are YOUR rabbits and you can do whatever the heck you want to with them. If that means making them a nice place to live out their days, then that is what it means. What I call "Good Intenders" are always around to give unwanted advice on how to live your life. That's all very nice, but what is good for someone else might not be what is good for you. So, do what the hell you want to.

It will not hurt the integrity of the shed to cut small holes for windows or pop doors to let in fresh air or as openings for the rabbits to come and go in the shed to the runs. I would keep them separate though, you don't want babies!

You could use hanging all wire cages in the building and have chickens in there too. I used to raise rabbits in all wire hanging cages and I had a chicken coop attached to the rabbit barn. Maybe you could divide the building in half, use half for the rabbits and half for the chickens.

Windows would be a good addition for the building. If you have to cut through the wall studs to make a hole big enough for windows, just frame up a square 2x4 box to set the window in and it will not hurt the structure. Paint it, plant flowers, and make it something you enjoy.

Is it built on posts that are dug in to the ground? Or is it built on a frame placed on concrete blocks or bricks? If it is posts set in the ground, leave it where it is. If it is built on a frame, you can jack it up and put skids under it. Then drag it where you want it. We did that with a building last summer and I will be glad to share with you what and how we did it.

 

[Nyboy]

The dark side of me thinks a rabbit would make a nice Christmas gift for DB & SIL

 

[journey11]

I watched my brother move one of those buildings once. You jack it up and put round logs/posts under it, like 4, and as you push it along, you take the one from out the back and put it in front and roll over it again. You'd need a couple helpers.

I would cut a couple of windows in the back, that the air can flow through in summer with the front door open, or close in winter to cut drafts. Maybe salvage some small windows from a house that open and close. You could probably get three cages mounted along each wall inside, for a total of 6. Then take them out and remodel when you put chickens in there.

Yeah, turning under wire about 2 feet out in a skirt will be necessary for a rabbit run. Maybe line with flat rocks so you can take it up and turn the wire skirt to the outside later for chickens to keep predators from digging in.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Is it built on posts that are dug in to the ground? Or is it built on a frame placed on concrete blocks or bricks? If it is posts set in the ground, leave it where it is. If it is built on a frame, you can jack it up and put skids under it. Then drag it where you want it. We did that with a building last summer and I will be glad to share with you what and how we did it.

It is only about 40 or 50 feet from the house, but would be at the back. It is on a frame and no posts in the ground. I think it does not matter if I leave it there because if I am going to have rabbits go in and out of a pen, I will have to have a fence no matter what and I am not sure yet that is a good idea, but I am considering it. The hutch is getting old and going to need repairs or something different.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I watched my brother move one of those buildings once. You jack it up and put round logs/posts under it, like 4, and as you push it along, you take the one from out the back and put it in front and roll over it again. You'd need a couple helpers.

I would cut a couple of windows in the back, that the air can flow through in summer with the front door open, or close in winter to cut drafts. Maybe salvage some small windows from a house that open and close. You could probably get three cages mounted along each wall inside, for a total of 6. Then take them out and remodel when you put chickens in there.

Yeah, turning under wire about 2 feet out in a skirt will be necessary for a rabbit run. Maybe line with flat rocks so you can take it up and turn the wire skirt to the outside later for chickens to keep predators from digging in.

I have been watching videos of moving them like that, but if I wanted it for chickens, it would be perfect back there by the garden. There is a tree on the south west corner of the shed, bigger now than in the picture and then the 6 foot fence on the west, so shaded during the day, but would need windows and the door open.

 

[ducks4you]

Hire the work out. I started doing that instead of buying, unloading and stacking 400 bales/hay every year and I found two guys around 30yo that wanted cash work and live a couple of blocks from my house, so they could walk over. I like the building. It is wood and that is perfect for animal housing bc it is insulating. I keep two of my barn windows open ALMOST 365 days/year bc it's also made of wood.