A growing movement advocates for keeping rabbits as house rabbits rather than in traditional outdoor hutches, with evidence of significant welfare improvements for house-kept rabbits.
The transition from hutch to house rabbit keeping represents one of the most impactful welfare improvements available to individual rabbit owners. The combination of greater exercise space, social interaction, warmth, and environmental complexity in house rabbit environments addresses multiple core welfare deficits of traditional hutch keeping. Even outdoor rabbits benefit significantly from extended indoor access during extreme weather.