Rabbit hutch

Sections and tiers

A hutch is made of sections standing side by side and tiers built one above the other (1–3). Each section on each tier has a mesh door at the front, a hay rack, a drinker and a pull-out tray. The back and sides are clad with boards, partitions separate the sections and the roof is mono-pitch.

The floor is boards or mesh with a resting board. The hutch is raised on legs or stands on blocks. Nest boxes for does can be added separately.

Farm hutch

For meat rabbits a multi-tier sectional hutch with mesh floors is more common. The bill of materials counts the trays, doors and drinkers on every tier.

Norms — what we know and what is missing

- In Lithuania there are no numeric area norms for rabbits kept by private owners. General requirements apply: weather protection, safe and cleanable materials (VMVT B1-336).

- VMVT order B1-508 sets a minimum for breeders: 0.2 m² for a pet rabbit and 0.05 m² for each additional one, walls at least 0.5 m high. The system shows it as a guide.

- Welfare organisations recommend about 6 m² including a run (e.g. 3 × 2 m). This is a recommendation, not a norm.

- There is no species-specific area norm for meat rabbits in Lithuania or the EU. The system does not invent a number — it flags the rule as unverified.

- The structure group is set by K = S × H³: a small hutch is usually not a structure (STR 1.01.03:2017 item 30). The municipality may set distances to neighbours.