Things You'll Need
- 2 small carabiners
- 5 sections of 20-inch deep by 6-foot long plastic-covered wire shelving
- 3-foot metal garden stakes with holes, 4
- 42 plastic zip ties minimum
- 2-foot by 3 1/2-foot sections of chicken wire, 2
- 2-pound hammer
- Hacksaw
- Small tarp or plastic tablecloth
Instructions
Building the Sides of the Hutch
Cut with the hacksaw through supporting rods of one 6-foot section of wire shelving to produce two 3-foot sections. Cut close to the perpendicular wires to reduce snagging. Trim the other piece to remove the extending rods with the hacksaw. You should now have two matching pieces of shelving.
Place one long piece and one short piece of your shelving end to end, lying flat on the ground with the 1-inch lip aligned and facing up. Connect the two pieces in at least four spots, extending from the bottom to the top using the plastic zip ties. Do not tighten ties all the way at this point. Align another long piece of wire shelving at the end of the short piece and connect this with at least four plastic zip ties, leaving them slightly loose again. Repeat the process for the final long section of shelving.
Flip the sections over, so they are roughly lying on top of each other. Loosely attach the two unconnected ends to each other at the top and the bottom with plastic zip ties.
Stand the whole thing up on edge with the lip sitting on the ground. Spread the sections, so they form a box with 90-degree angles at each corner. Place the sections where you want the rabbit run to stay.
Place the metal garden stakes in each of the four corners of the box and drive them into the ground with the two-pound hammer. Attach the walls to the stakes with plastic zip ties.
Assembling the Roof
Lay the two remaining sections of shelving, side-by-side, so the lips are facing up on opposite edges. Connect these two pieces of shelving with at least six plastic zip ties. Do not over-tighten the ties as you want the joint to be flexible. This section will form your peaked roof.
Lift the two-piece roof up and flip over, so the lips are facing inward. Move the roof section over to the sections that form the walls of the rabbit run. Slide the roof down over the tops of the garden stakes and attach to the two long sides with plastic zip ties.
Cut the chicken wire to fit the open ends of the roof with the scissors, leaving enough excess to wrap around the roof edges and zip tie together. Wrap the chicken wire firmly around each roof edge and secure tightly enough that the rabbit cannot escape. On the non-door side, you also may attach the chicken wire to the wire shelving.
Tighten all the plastic zip ties, except on the one short end where you only placed two. This will be your door. Cut through the two plastic zip ties that were used to hold the structure together. Use the two small carabiners to secure this section.
Place the tarp or plastic tablecloth over the southern or western end of the rabbit run to provide shade. Secure it by tying the ends to the shelving.