Where would you put my rabbits?

[hoosiercheetah]

I'm going to build a wood-and-wire hutch. I have several options of where to locate it, and I'd like to hear the popular opinion.
Options are:

Next to the Garage. It would be an Eastern Exposure, so they'd have sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon.

Pros - Sheltered from rain, because garage has an insane 24" of eves. East wall also shelters from most wind.
- Out of view from street and house - wife approval will be easy to obtain.
Cons - Rabbits will pee on my garage, which is paneled with painted plywood. I'd have to make a back-splash by hanging shower curtains or something.

Under the giant pine tree. This thing is 100 feet tall and the lower branches are 8' off the ground, with a spread of something like 40' diameter.

Pros - Shade. Nothing for rabbits to pee on.
Cons - exposure. Hutch would have to be built to provide shelter, so more materials, and hygiene problems.
- Visible from house. Wife may or may not enjoy watching rabbits, so this is a possible Pro.

In the Garage. Just like it sounds.
Pros - shelter. No wind, no rain, climate controlled
Cons - Car. Starting a car, raising and lowering the door, may scare rabbits to death.

So what do you think?

 

[wyoDreamer]

Protection from the wind and the evening sun will be huge. Hanging a shower curtain is a really good idea, I will have to remember that, it would make the rabbit area easy to hose down. You will need to be out there daily to check on them, so the fact that they will not be in direct line of sight shouldn't be a bid deal anyway.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

Ya, I'm tending to think next to the garage is the way to go.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

 

[chickenlover09]

I'd have to say next to the garage. You can make a curtain out of fabric to close when it's sunny, so your rabbit doesn't get heatstroke, or cataracts.

If your rabbit is going to live outside, make sure to buy fly protectant, so your bunny doesn't get flystrike, and clean it's hutch often.

My rabbits both live inside my house in an x-pen, and they get about 3 hours of free range time in different rooms of my house, along with 30 minutes of agility and "bunny walks" outside.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

I forgot to mention these are meat rabbits. 2-4 breeders and one litter at a time. I don't know if that makes a difference.

 

[chiklee]

I would put them under a nice shade tree where they can still see you that will shade them and they can communicate with you when they see you . If you keep them out of your sight they can become someone's supper if worried about the hygiene problem my daughter put a tarp under the cage and it guides the mess in a bucket and she dumps it in her garden . It keeps her yard clean . She invented the rabbit toilet . Its kind of a joke when I see it .

 

[wyoDreamer]

I like the tarp into a bucket idea. Anything to make cleanup easier.
I saw diagrams somewhere of a waste collection system someone set up for their rabbits. The cages were stacked so the upper cages had a tray underneath as usual, but there was also a tray under the lower cages and both were tipped to allow the waste to flow to a single collection point.

Can you put a thermometer out behind the garage to check how high the temps get? Now is a good time to check.

edited to add: I am thinking of a high/low thermometer.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

Behind the garage the temps are slightly warmer in the morning, and cooler in the afternoon, because its an east-facing wall. Sunlight in the am, shade from about 11.00 on. Under the tree would always be shaded.

Waste collection and disposal is not an issue at either place.

 

[chickenlover09]

Under the tree then.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

So it seems like the crowd is liking the tree. It begs the question, what will the rabbits do during a thunderstorm when the wind is up? Sounds like I have hutch building research to do.