Rabbits kept outdoors face specific welfare challenges including predator stress, temperature extremes, and inadequate space; minimum outdoor housing standards are far above traditional hutch provision.
Traditional small garden hutches represent one of the most welfare-deficient forms of companion animal housing, yet remain widely marketed. Rabbits kept in small outdoor hutches face inadequate space, predator-induced fear without escape possibility, and social isolation. The psychological impact of constant predator stress — from foxes, cats, and birds of prey that the rabbit can hear and smell — causes chronic fear states even without physical attack. Welfare-appropriate outdoor housing provides the space, security, and companionship that hutch keeping denies.