$20 Rabbit Hutch

Hucklebunny has settled into her new home nicely.

She was rather adamant that it not be referred to as

Hucklebunny Headquarters.

She informed me (quite firmly) that it is Hucklebunny Hideaway.

Whew!

I wasn't aware that a little bunny could be so particular. 

As stated in the title of the post,

this hideaway set us back $20 and some sweat equity.

Before I explain the details,

let me say, it could have been a $10 bunny hutch

but a certain royal bunny wanted a shingle roof which we were out of

instead of tin that we already had on hand.

She really is a particular little thing.

She was given a supervisory position over the hens.

That's a roll she mostly chooses to ignore.

Instead, she has been trying to claim head of security from a certain

rather bewildered canine.

Rip is nice to her and seems aware that bunny stew isn't on the menu,

but questions our sanity for torturing him so.

She is a rather naughty bunny and has "marked" his bed

so is no longer allowed to be free in the house.

As additional punishment, she has to sit in my lap and be petted.

Ha!  That'll learn her.

Now on to the hutch, ahem, I mean hideaway.

After the last post, you might understand that disposable cash

is pretty scarce at the moment.

My solution was to build the hutch from things we had on hand.

Amongst those things were some locust posts.

These were decent posts that I'd used in a different project 

then changed my mind on.

Whenever we cut down a locust, we save posts if we can.

They are a very hard wood and once cured almost impenetrable.

Rather than try to use brackets, 

Mr. LB had the brainy idea just to strap them together 

with some 1" metal he had pieces of.

This worked great because we could cinch them tightly.

The "cage part" is about 54" wide and 28" deep (OD.)

I will say using posts creates a few challenges in getting things square.

The posts weren't exactly straight.

I laid out the front as one frame then the back as another.

I was able to scrounge side boards from my scrap pile.

(See another project from this pile here.)

I had a little bit of hardware cloth left over from the chicken coop

so only needed to purchase a 10 ft. roll ($10.)

Again fitting that wire into/onto those locusts that weren't square

was an interesting task.

I felt like I could use an extra arm or two to hold things in place.

I used the air stapler in one had and my other hand had to do the rest.

The door is held on in an old fashioned method of leather scraps.

Only they used to use old shoe leather as door hinges.

My latch is rudimentary at the moment, but it works.

I need to have my favorite metal fabricator make some special enough 
for Her Huckle Highness.

Here you can see the components and construction better.

The roof is shingles which I have to agree looks much better with the whole hideaway theme and natural posts.
They cover chipboard and tar paper which were both scraps.

I used a little less than 1/2 of a $20 bundle.

(That means I have more to make something else:-)

Then because St. Valentine's Day is this week,

she has her hideaway decorated accordingly with red and white lights and vines.

She seems quite pleased with her situation

though seems perturbed that there is a canine with higher ranking.

One other addition that I am hoping to add

is a framed screen to hang below the cage

to catch the "berries" and let the liquid flow through.

When I get this done, I can share more.

I tend to enjoy making things using what's available.

I also really enjoy not giving box stores my money.

Meet Hucklebunny

This my friends, is Hucklebunny.

She is actually a rescue rabbit of sorts.

I happened across an add that stated she was found near a busy street.

The request was to find the owner or a new home since the person who found her couldn't keep pets.

After a couple days, she was still available so I was able to pick her up.

Bunny "berries" are extremely good for the garden,
 and since this bunny is so tame,

I thought I would offer her a position at The Locust Blossom as

Chief Executive Officer in charge of crop (garden) fertilization.

She will be in charge of not only a certain quantity of fertilizer production but also supervise 4 employees (aka the hens.)

She seems very healthy other than possibly being slightly dehydrated.

I believe the gentleman who found her had a dish of water for her and she seemed quite pleased when I offered her a regular rabbit waterer. 

She has consumed quite a bit of water today for a single bunny.

At the moment she is lodging in a nice hotel (a cage in our house)

while the construction of Hucklebunny Headquarters is under way.

(I'm building her a hutch.)

Upon completion, she will move into her permanent accommodations

 where she can work efficiently throughout the day.

She has been working on producing some samples,

but her current situation offers minimal storage for such things.

She is hoping headquarters is completed soon 
so she can settle in and get to work.

We are looking forward to a long and successful career together.

Okay, feel free to call me a sucker down in the comments.

I wouldn't have really gone looking for a bunny,

but she is so tame and sweet, I couldn't resist.

I actually don't even mind having her in the house right now,

though I'm sure with time that would change.
Also, if anyone can tell me what breed she might be,
I would love to know.
It doesn't really matter as I will keep her anyways,
but I'd love to know nonetheless.