Building first rabbit hutch - having problem finding right kind of wire fencing

Hello all, hoping you can... well I guess I'm hoping you can relieve some of my stress and tell me everything is going to be ok lol.

We're building our first rabbit hutch and I am having a heck of a time finding proper wire fencing. From everything that I've read, the best material to use for a floor is as follows

14 gauge double dipped (galvanized after welding or GAW) 1/2" x 1"

It's really hard to find that exact specification for wire fencing, and when you can actually locate it, it's only available in a minimum 100' roll, and since it's crazy heavy, it's crazy expensive to ship. And no one has it locally so shipping is my only bet. I just simply cannot afford spending $300+ to make sure I've got preferred floor material so I am at a bit of a loss here.

For sides, I know that I have a lot more options. I would like to go no larger than 1"x1" because we're going to have babies in most of the cages at some point. We will have the flooring material go up the wall a bit, but I don't think any larger than that would make me comfortable.

I THINK 19 gauge 1/2"x1/2" hardware cloth should be fine for sides. I may need additional wood or tensile steel cable support to keep the sides stiff, but I think this somewhat easily accessible and affordable specification would be an acceptable material for the sides. What do you think? I can get a 50' length of 36" high roll on Amazon for $57. I came this close to paying $50 for 25ft of the same material locally at Home Depot today...

For the floors I am completely lost. I can't find anything affordable that will be good for the rabbits, at least based on these "preferred" specifications I keep reading about.

For those of you who have built your own hutches, what materials have you used? Home Depot has some 1/2" panels that have white plastic coating at four panels for $40 which I'm willing to get since they would fully cover the floor and we're going to make two hutches, but I'm concerned that the rabbits are going to chew some of the plastic coating off over time and I don't know if the metal underneath is galvanized or not. Even though these panels are extremely expensive by unit measure, it's pretty affordable on a "per hutch" level. I'm willing to pay a little extra if I can get past this problem and if we don't have to worry about the plastic coating and rusting due to exposure.

Wow, ok sorry I didn't mean for it to get that long... but anyone who can give advice, suggestions, etc it would really boost my mood on this whole project.

Thank you all! - Joshua (pic of frame in progress to follow)

http://www.klubertanz.com/CatalogMain.htm

At the bottom of the left-hand sidebar is a link that will take you directly to the welded wire section. They will sell wire by the whole roll, half roll and even by the foot if you want it that way.

You could put a roof on it and just use it for hanging cages.

Here is the almost-finished product. Just some weatherproofing and detailing left.

Hi everyone,

Regardless of your chosen brand, the quality of the rabbit cages must be high. The wire mesh should closely cover the wood, or the rabbit will easily chew through it. Check the hutch for sturdiness, and see how it has been constructed. If it appears flimsy and cheap, avoid buying. Make sure the roof is water-proof, so that outside rabbits are kept from the rain.

Rabbit cages always need to be at least 1.5× the size of any given rabbit, so that they have enough room to romp around in. Any smaller and it will likely cramp your bunnies, making them become scared.

Best,
Jeffrey

Looks good Joshua. Only thing I'd add is simple chicken wire around the bottom to keep everything away from the rabbits feet.

Ok... I am going to bring this topic back from the dead. I too am having trouble finding a solution for the wire floor of my hutch. I can get exactly the size I need at a great price on Amazon, but it is 19 gauge 1/2x1/2 hardware cloth. I see comments in the product page from folks who have used it for rabbit hutches and they say it works great. But my question is 1. Is 19 ga too small, will it hurt their feet? Is 1/2 to small, will their poop still fall through?

Ok it appears I'm having a similar issue as some of you. I can not decide on which floor I will put for my hutch. This is the 1st rabbit hutch I am making and pretty excited about it. As for the floor on the tractor supply website, in stores only might be able to find 16 gauge 24in X 15ft welded mesh in 1in X 1in squares.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/cage-wire-24-x-15-ft-1-x-1-in

Having the same problem along with not knowing what dimensions will work for rabbits. I got a how to guide that is for 36x30x18 (WxDxH). Using the 1x2 wire for the walls and making them 18" high will leave enough wire to do another cage from the scrap piece that would be 16" high. Just not sure if 16" would be too short? Not exactly sure which breed I want but thinking New Zealand whites. If I can get the extra cages from the 16" height then it would be cost worthy to just build, but if that isn't a proper enough height then I'm gonna try and hit craigslist to get used cages. I'm planning on building a "lean to" type shelter that I can hang cages in. Any ideas on this folks?