How to Clean a Rabbit Hutch

Good hygiene will not only make sure the rabbit is comfortable but help to keep it healthy. Any rabbit will do far better in a clean, sweet-smelling hutch than in a dirty one.

Rabbits are naturally very clean animals, and unless confined for a long period or not cleaned out sufficiently often, will tend to use one corner only as a lavatory. However, they do urinate heavily and the smell of the urine can be very strong. Whether a hutch smells or not is entirely up to the rabbit-keeper. If any rabbit has, unfortunately, to be confined to its hutch for a long period, the hutch will need cleaning daily. A cleaning routine will ensure the hutch is kept healthy and comfortable.

Rabbit droppings make good fertilizer, so litter and bedding are an excellent addition to the compost heap. With no heap available, it is probably best to burn old bedding, though in a smokeless zone it must be carefully packed and sealed in plastic bags.

In summertime a few drops of mild disinfectant (not phenol-based) sprinkled on the hutch floor before fresh litter is added will discourage flies, which can cause health risks.

Three to four times a year the hutch should be washed and disinfected, then rinsed off well and allowed to dry thoroughly before the rabbit is put back. If a hutch is empty for any time, it should be well scrubbed out with a strong solution of household ammonia to kill any germs lingering in the cracks of the wood. When dry, the outside of the hutch can be creosoted or limewashed, and again allowed to dry thoroughly before it houses more rabbits. The inside should not be treated in this way, in case the rabbits gnaw the wood and are poisoned. However, if serious disease strikes, it is best to burn the hutch rather than run the risk of installing more rabbits in it.

Any concrete area in a permanent run should be hosed down from time to time. Grass within a portable run should be lightly dusted with lime after it has been nibbled down and that area not re-used until a really good crop of grass has grown again. Using the same patch two or three times a year is quite sufficient. More frequent use may give the rabbit stomach upsets.