To paint, or not to paint...a brand new hutch?

[Mamamould]

Morning all!

first post as I'm a newbie, but ive gathered some fab information from the site already, so thank you! very informative!

ive got a brand new chartwell hutch being delivered in the next day or 2, ready for 2 new Teddy Boars i'm due to collect in a couple of weeks.

my question is, do i need to paint or protect the hutch prior to piggies going in? i know its weatherproofed to an extent as its new, so it will have some protection, plus i have a cover which will go straight onto it. i've not owned an outdoor hutch in over 25 years so completely forgot these things!

I'm loving the cuprinol shades etc and i think further down the line i will look to paint the hutch as and when it begins to look like it needs freshening up; or is this something I'm better off doing sooner as opposed to later ?

thanks all for your advice!

 

[Piggies&buns]

I personally, with a good quality hutch, don’t paint on the first year but do it from the second year onwards.
The weather proofing on my rabbit hutch which is outside (my piggies hutch is in a shed so I don’t do anything with that) was really good, I didn’t need to actually do anything with it until the third year but did it on the second anyway.
There is absolutely no harm in doing it once you receive it though, just means you’ll know it is properly protected for this winter

 

[Mamamould]

I personally, with a good quality hutch, don’t paint on the first year but do it from the second year onwards.
The weather proofing on my rabbit hutch which is outside (my piggies hutch is in a shed so I don’t do anything with that) was really good, I didn’t need to actually do anything with it until the third year but did it on the second anyway.
There is absolutely no harm in doing it once you receive it though, just means you’ll know it is properly protected for this winter

hi!

thank you, i think come winter the piggies may be moved into my summerhouse anyway rather than left out in the elements, so they will have the protection. i may leave til next summer time then, it gives me a full year to decide on colours etc