# Rain barrel hutch



## LilyPatchFarm (Mar 25, 2013)

I have a question...

Has anyone ever made hutches out of rain barrels before? a 55 gallon drums interior, on its side of course, measures almost 36'' long by 24'' wide. They could easily be attached, in rows, to a wall with screws through the bottom and a simple wooden brace. If you cut "windows" out on each side and put hardware cloth over it, and make a hardware cloth door over the front of the barrel there would be plenty of airflow. The benefit of them is that you can stack them on top of each other easily, the floors are solid, they offer plenty of room for small/medium breeds and at least in my case, I have a million of them lying around not doing anything.

Does anyone else think this would work?


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## Azerane (Mar 25, 2013)

I'm honestly not 100% sure what you mean by rain barrel. Are they metal or timber? If they're metal, I wouldn't make a hutch out of them. Also if they're round, you would need to cut off part of it so you would be able to make a flat bottom, though you said they were stackable so I'm not sure what shape they are. Do you have any pictures of one to get a better idea?


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## LilyPatchFarm (Mar 25, 2013)

I'm sorry-

I'm thinking of the industrial hard plastic 55 gallon drums. I say rain barrel cause thats usually what we make out of ours. Ours are food quality, so have housed no chemicals.

They are stackable if you build a frame to keep them from shifting. They are round, but the diameter is 24'' and so with bedding would make a stable flooring for smaller/medium breeds.

The only worry I have is chewing the plastic- but the inside of them is very smooth with no corners or edges so not sure a bunny could find a place to chew.


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## LilyPatchFarm (Mar 25, 2013)

Its common here for people to make dog houses and chicken coops out of them:


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## Azerane (Mar 25, 2013)

Ahh I see. You would certainly need to put windows in it for airflow, and if outdoors, would still need to be out of the sun as I can see the inside heating up a lot if kept in the sun. My main concerns are that firstly, 90cm isn't very long and you would need two in a row to get a good hopping length for a rabbit. Secondly, the curved floor I think is a very bad idea, ever with some bedding down it will be a little unstable with the weight of a rabbit, and it will limit the size of the floor they have to use simply because of the curve. I mean, it could be done, but I personally wouldn't.


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Mar 29, 2013)

Those things would heat up so fast, regardless of how much airflow you had in them. 
Also, due to them being round, they really _aren't_ 24" wide... That's at the diameter, which is halfway up from any "floor". 

What do you have your rabbits in currently?


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## Blue eyes (Mar 29, 2013)

^^^^ I agree. If you look at the photo with the chickens, the actual floor area with the hay (and not truly accounting for the curve which I do think is problematic) but the floor area is about 12" wide at best. It is half the actual width of the barrel. I think it's just too small.


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## hannah_biota (Mar 30, 2013)

I have chickens and can tell you that they are using the barrel as a nesting box, the chicken is not housed in there, she just goes there to lay eggs. That would be like using a barrel for the rabbit's litter box or a sheltered area to hangout in, which I think would be fine but I agree that a rain barrel would not be suitable as a hutch...or a chicken coop.


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## LilyPatchFarm (Mar 31, 2013)

Right now my guys are in either 24 X 24 or 30 X 30 or 36 X 36 hutches at the moment. I concur with all the issues noted above. I was just thinking outloud  But I agree, it doesnt look like it would work at all.

My chickens love them though!


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## Blue eyes (Mar 31, 2013)

BTW, the bunny in your avatar is unbelievably adorable! What ears!!!:inlove:


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