Rabbits require significantly more space than traditional hutch housing provides, with modern welfare standards recommending much larger minimum enclosures.
The vast majority of commercially sold rabbit hutches are inadequate for rabbit welfare. Rabbits kept in typical hutches have insufficient space for normal locomotion, cannot perform the binky that indicates positive welfare, and spend their lives in chronic restriction. Modern welfare guidelines reflect rabbits' actual behavioral needs rather than minimum survival requirements. Adopters who purchase appropriate housing before acquiring rabbits provide dramatically better welfare than those who start with traditional hutch housing.