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How to Make a Rabbit Cage Out of Wood & Chicken Wire

People raise rabbits as pets, for profit and for their meat and fur. Regardless of the end use, rabbits require a confined space that provides shelter, bedding, privacy, food and water. These spaces are called rabbit hutches or rabbit cages. A rabbit cage that is 2 1/2 feet by 2 1/2 feet by 4 feet is adequate for even the largest rabbit. You can make a cage with untreated wood and chicken wire, as long as the chicken wire is 19-gauge with a 1/2-inch mesh. Heavy-gauge, small-mesh wire creates a firm floor. Add a little bedding so the rabbit̵7;s feet do not become trapped.

Things You'll Need

2-by-4s, 8 pieces, 2 1/2 feet long
2-by-4s, 4 pieces, 4 feet long
Electric screwdriver with Phillips head
Outdoor Phillips-head wood screws, 3 inches long
19-gauge chicken wire, 15-foot roll, 4 feet wide with 1/2-inch mesh
Wire cutters
Hammer
1/2-inch plywood, 4 feet long by 2 1/2 feet wide
2 door hinges with hinge screws

Instructions

- 1
  Screw together two rectangular frames with the 2 1/2-foot boards. Face the wide sides of the boards to the outside and put three screws in each joint.
- 2
  Place the two frames upright, 4 feet apart and parallel. Connect the frames by screwing in the 4-foot long 2-by-4s at corresponding corners. Put three screws in each connection. This completes your cage frame.
- 3
  Staple the end edge of the roll of 4-foot wide chicken wire along one of the 4-foot frame boards. Place the wood staples in a line at every point where the wire intersects with the wood.
- 4
  Stretch the wire roll to the next 4-foot frame board. Staple the wire to the frame board the same way you did the first one. Roll the cage frame over and stretch the wire roll to the next frame board the same way. Snip off the wire roll and lightly hammer the cut wire points into the wood. You now have three long sides that are covered with wire and one open long side.
- 5
  Place wire over the ends of the cage. Staple the wire to the ends on all four sides. Snip away the excess and hammer the cut ends down.
- 6
  Fit the plywood over the open side of the cage. Fit the door hinges to the plywood and the wooden frame 12 inches from each end of the 4-foot sides. Screw in the hinges. This door is the top of the cage.

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