How is everyone doing with their New Year resolutions?! A few weeks ago we suggested some resolutions that could help improve rabbit welfare, and we'd love to hear if you have managed to do any of them. If not, it's not too late, how about starting off by finding a retailer on-line that you think is selling hutches that are too small for rabbits, and politely e-mailing them and telling them. Remember that a rabbit should be able to take 3 hops in its hutch and rear up fully (so that they do not develop painful spinal deformities) - for an average sized rabbit (remember of course they should be kept in pairs so this should be a minimum) this will be 6ft long and 2ft high.

Watch the link below. It will only take you a few minutes to send an e-mail, and could really help to make a difference.

How Many Hops? - YouTube

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A hutch is not enough
www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Rg7...MEp5FP-3DB3Zmc
Join us - http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/join/index.php
Reg Charity 1085689

dont get me wrong im all for the bigger the better mine have 6ft hutches but do you think wild bunnies can stand on back legs in there warren i dont think they can and they live quite happy

Ummm...they don't live permanently under the earth do they? Rabbits periscope in order to spot danger, a natural behaviour, and wild rabbits have no need to do this underground in relative safety. If you observe them when out feeding, they do it it constantly. Plus warrens contain chambers, many big enough in order to allow them to do this.

A domestic rabbit spend its entire life in a enclosed area, therefore its basic needs must be met in all areas of its housing. To prevent them the ability to do so, is cruel. Afterall, we don't house rabbits in anything remotely live a natural environment.

Ive never understood comparing wild and domestic animals and their needs; its like comparing apples and oranges.

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I am just a worthless liar.
I am just an imbecile.
I will only complicate you.
Trust in me and fall as well.
I will find a center in you.
I will chew it up and leave,
I will work to elevate you
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Like Nonnie says wild rabits can come and go as they please above ground so can run, stretch, jump, etc as much as they want. Can a domestic rabbit stuck in a hutch do all those natural behaviours?

I hate hutches completely, don't own one and never will. No matter what size the hutch is it is never going to be big enough. I keep my outdoor group in a shed where they have a huge run attached to it with daytime access. During the day they come and go between shed and run but at night when shut in the shed for safety they can still run, jump and stretch as much as they like. They'd never get that chance in any size hutch.

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That's right, Nonnie. These are only average figures, because it varies between males and females, but a wild rabbit will regularly cover an area equalling between 20 and 30 tennis courts in a 24 hr period. They'll be with companions all the time, and will constantly keep a watch for predators - stretching up to look -and will also eat from overhanging branches, again stretching up.

Observing my own rabbits, especially the younger one, Betty, she spends a lot of her time stretching to her full height, looking at things above her. If I put out a small folding table, she wants to sniff the underside of it and then will stretch to look on the top. She's easily 2ft tall when she does this, probably a bit more. She couldn't do any of that confined to a hutch.

The rabbit in the video took 6ft for its 3 hops...but it started and ended those hops in an open space, a Runaround tunnel. Even with a 6ft hutch it would be hard for a rabbit to replicate that as it would bash its nose at the end of the last hop. So 6ft really is an absolute minimum for smaller breeds of rabbits, and with a (minimum 8ft x 4ft) run constantly attached to the hutch.

As mentioned above, wild rabbits live in community groups and don't spend time alone. As prey species, they need that for safety, but also they are highly social animals and studies have found that rabbits value company of their own kind as much as they value food. With that in mind, they should never be kept alone, but should live in neutered, bonded pairs or groups. The 6ft hutch/8ft run would be for a pair of small rabbits.

__________________
A hutch is not enough
www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Rg7...MEp5FP-3DB3Zmc
Join us - http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/join/index.php
Reg Charity 1085689

I was shocked and dismayed walking my dog today, I passed some houses & one of them has some wooden coops etc outside for sale, there was a hutch & it could not have been more than 2ft long, I might pluck up the courage to knock on their door & inform them it's really not suitable

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You should see what "hutches" a local pet shop here are selling then. You've probably heard of the chain, Petsville International, they've had protestors and all sorts outside, even burnt down twice. Yet they're still there selling puppies, kittens, tortoises etc despites rumours of haing their license stopped. The hutches they have I couldn't even fit a rabbit in, smaller than a cat carry box, but they are labelled up as rabbit hutch costing £40. I refuse to go in this shop but they piles these horrible little prisons up outside they shop, it absolutely stinks when I walk past.

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No, I haven't heard of that one, although we have a pet shop in a nearby town that keeps their rabbits with guinea pigs in Zoozone type cages
It's disgusting

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No I haven't heard of that company, but will certainly check it out and add it to our RWAF committee forum

__________________
A hutch is not enough
www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Rg7...MEp5FP-3DB3Zmc
Join us - http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/join/index.php
Reg Charity 1085689

Snap.

I'd like to meet the person who decided a small wooden box was a suitable enclosure for a highly active, social animal; and bitch slap them into next week.

But as they are here to stay, its up to the general public to educate the ignorant, and ensure only the best and most suitable hutches are used and purchased. If an animal can not exhibit a natural behaviour, then its being housed incorrectly.

It would also be nice if all owners and propective owners, went out and observed rabbits in their natural enviroment, so they can see just how social and energetic they are; that hasn't been lost through the domestication process. I fear many, many pet buns just shut down and do very little during their lives due to boredom and lack of space.

__________________

I am just a worthless liar.
I am just an imbecile.
I will only complicate you.
Trust in me and fall as well.
I will find a center in you.
I will chew it up and leave,
I will work to elevate you
just enough to bring you down