Hen & Herd
Rabbit Calculator

How much space do your rabbits actually need?

Enter how many you keep to get a straight answer — drawn from the official good practice code, not a guess.

🇬🇧 UK version/🇺🇸 US version
Standards usedRSPCA / RWAF backed code

Rabbits are social and shouldn't be kept alone — the official minimum is stated for a compatible pair.

Rabbit size

e.g. Flemish Giant, Continental Giant — RWAF publishes separate guidance for these, since the standard figure is explicitly for small-to-medium rabbits.

Shelter + living area needed
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6.00 m²

3.00 m² per rabbit × 2 rabbits, based on the official pair minimum

Feed cost calculator · Water calculator · Bedding calculator · Cost of keeping calculator

Minimum dimensions for a pair are 3m × 2m × 1m high — this includes both the shelter and living/exercise area combined, permanently accessible to each other.

What this means

A roughly square shelter-and-run footprint would be about 2.4m × 2.4m. Long, narrow runs work too.

If you’re building a rectangular enclosure, examples include: 2.4m × 2.4m, 1.8m × 3.3m, 1.3m × 4.5m.

Working backwards: how many rabbits fit?

Standard figures follow the APGAW "Good Practice Code for the Welfare of Rabbits" (2021), backed by the RSPCA, Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund, and British Veterinary Association: a minimum of 3 x 2 x 1m (6m²) for a compatible pair of small-to-medium rabbits, with permanent access between shelter and exercise area. Giant-breed figures follow RWAF's separate giant-rabbit guidance: daily exercise space of over 20ft square (about 37m²), room for 3 consecutive hops in any direction, and that standard pet-shop hutches are rarely adequate. Neither source gives a precise per-rabbit figure beyond its stated pair/group minimum, so treat the per-rabbit share above as an estimate, not an official figure. This tool is a planning guide, not legal advice — check current rules before building.
How we calculated this +

Shelter + living area needed — small–medium

Applies to:
England — small-to-medium rabbits; created to support Section 15 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, backed by the RSPCA, Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund and British Veterinary Association
Assumption:
Published as a minimum for a compatible pair of small-to-medium rabbits — 3 x 2 x 1m (6m²) of shelter and living area combined, permanently accessible to each other — not a per-rabbit figure. Rabbits shouldn't be kept alone, so this is the floor for any group of 1-2.
Calculation:
6m² pair minimum, held as a floor for 1-2 rabbits. Beyond a pair, scaled at 3m² per rabbit (our own linear extension, not a published per-rabbit rate — the Code only says larger groups need more space) multiplied by rabbit count.

Why the floor is a pair minimum, not per-rabbit

Applies to:
England
Assumption:
Rabbits are highly social, and a solitary rabbit is now widely considered a welfare problem in its own right — the Code states its minimum space figure for a compatible pair, not a single animal.
Calculation:
No calculation — this is why the 6m² figure is applied as a floor for any group of 1-2 rabbits, rather than halved for a single rabbit.

Shelter + living area needed — giant breed

Applies to:
England — giant breeds (e.g. Flemish Giant, Continental Giant), added 2026-09-22
Assumption:
RWAF doesn't publish one area figure comparable to the standard 3x2x1m Code minimum for giants specifically. The only quantified figure it gives is daily exercise space of "over 20ft square", which we read as 20ft x 20ft (~37.2m²) — the natural reading of that phrasing, though the source itself doesn't spell out the arithmetic. It separately says giants should manage 3 consecutive hops in any direction (up to ~3.7m/12ft) and that pet-shop hutches are rarely adequate, both disclosed as qualitative context rather than folded into the number.
Calculation:
37.2m² floor for 1-2 giant rabbits. Beyond a pair, scaled at 18.6m² per rabbit (our own linear extension, same caveat as the standard-size figure — RWAF gives no giant-specific per-rabbit or multi-rabbit rate at all).

Sources checked: September 2026.

Rules can depend on where you live. National welfare requirements aren't the same thing as local planning, registration, nuisance or disease-control rules — check with your local authority before you build or buy.

What this means

These figures come from the APGAW "Good Practice Code for the Welfare of Rabbits" (2021), created to support Section 15 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and backed by the RSPCA, Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund, and British Veterinary Association. The recommended minimum is 3 x 2 x 1m (6m²) of combined shelter and living area — for a compatible pair of small-to-medium rabbits, not a single animal.

That's a genuinely different shape to most of our other calculators: rather than a clean per-animal figure, the code gives a pair-level minimum because rabbits should never be kept alone. We scale linearly per rabbit beyond a pair as a reasonable estimate — the code itself only says larger groups need more space, without giving a precise per-rabbit rate.

Technical methodology +

The source, assumption and arithmetic behind every figure are in “How we calculated this” above, and collected for all the rabbit figures on the Sources & methodology page.

Sources checked: September 2026.

Common questions

Can I keep a single rabbit?
It isn't recommended. The official Good Practice Code treats rabbits as needing to live with at least one compatible companion, and states its minimum space figure for a pair, not a single rabbit.
Does a hutch alone meet this minimum?
Usually not on its own. The 3 x 2 x 1m minimum covers a shelter plus a permanently attached living/exercise area combined — a hutch by itself is typically only the shelter portion.
Does a rabbit's size or breed affect how much space it needs?
Yes — select “Giant breed” in the calculator for rabbits like the Flemish Giant or Continental Giant. The APGAW Code's 3x2x1m minimum is written for small-to-medium rabbits specifically; the Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund's separate giant-breed guidance gives a daily exercise space of over 20ft square (about 37.2m²) instead, plus room for 3 consecutive hops in any direction — standard pet-shop hutches are rarely big enough.
What if I have more than two rabbits — does the space keep scaling?
Yes, at 3m² per rabbit beyond the pair minimum — for example, roughly 12m² for 4 rabbits and 18m² for 6. That's our own linear extension of the Code, not a separately published per-rabbit rate, since the Code itself only says larger groups need more space.
Is exercise space different from housing space?
Yes — rabbits need daily, permanent access to a separate exercise area on top of their shelter, not just occasional supervised playtime. The two are genuinely different space budgets, even though the UK figure states them combined.
Is this figure a legal requirement?
It's a recognised code of practice created to support Section 15 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, backed by the RSPCA, Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund and British Veterinary Association — not a standalone numeric law in the way Schedule 8 is for pigs. It's the best published welfare benchmark available, and this tool is a planning guide, not legal advice.
Is there a version of this for the US?
Yes — see our US rabbit cage size calculator, based on House Rabbit Society guidance.

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Want to see what keeping rabbits is actually like?

Try My Backyard — a simple interactive simulation. Adopt one, feed it, play with it, keep its bedding clean, and see how it gets on.

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