Adding my rabbits to the chicken coop!

[JacksonPearce]

I am expanding on the chicken coop and want to move my rabbits into it so they have more room. Right now, I have about a foot and a half of 1/4" hardware cloth apron around the coop to keep out mice and predators. Should I just wire over the entire bottom of the coop to keep the rabbits from digging, or is that overkill?

Also, I want to make sure the rabbits have a cozy place to go that the chickens can't get into. I'm planning to rebuild the nesting boxes and henhouse a bit higher, so the chickens are encouraged to use it rather than the lower areas, where I plan to put the rabbits sleeping area. Any thoughts on additional measures I can take to keep the chickens out?

 

[Cyprus]

Not a good idea. Rabbits have been known to attack and kill chickens.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

Should I just wire over the entire bottom of the coop to keep the rabbits from digging, or is that overkill?

Rabbits will dig.. it's not a might dig... it's not a sometimes dig... rabbits will dig, and dig a lot, so you will need something on the floor/ground. Google "Keeping Rabbits in Colonies" or "Keeping rabbits on the Ground" etc, and you can find a lot of info and recommendations.

As for the nesting boxes, I think the chickens will use the lowest choice they are given.

More information on the number of rabbits and chickens, and breeds, the overall size of the enclosure, etc. might help with further recommendations... but I would think the general idea of keeping rabbits with chickens is likely going to be prone to a lot of challenges/problems... but I've never attempted it, so take my advice with the proverbial grain of salt.

 

[cassie]

Nobody asked me, but that has never stopped me from adding my two cents before. This seems like a really bad idea for any number of reasons.

 

[jnicholes]

I raised rabbits with chickens before. They turned out just fine together. They shared their food and water, they got along well. What I did was I put the chicks in first then I put the rabbit in a few weeks later.

I got pictures of them getting along, I just have to find them

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I would not put the two together.

My rabbits have attacked chickens.
My chickens have dug up and eaten even older rodent nests.
Calcium and most grains for chickens are bad for rabbits.
High fiber rabbit diets can cause problems for chickens.
Chickens are high-parasite tolerance animals where lots of medication is safe on them.
Rabbits are low parasite tolerance animals and very few medications are safe for them.
Rabbits dig tunnels 8' long easily. Given enough time they will dig longer.

Not 100% sure how you're going to resolve those problems. I haven't found solutions for most of them, personally, or I might do the same thing. But if you decide to move forward, good luck.

 

[jnicholes]

They can get along, it's just very difficult to do.

 

[Bunnylady]

I raised rabbits with chickens before. They turned out just fine together. They shared their food and water, they got along well.

As @ChocolateMouse pointed out, rabbits should not be allowed to eat chicken food, and chickens should not be allowed to eat rabbit food; just because you didn't see anything keel over and die in the feeder doesn't mean everything about the situation was fine. If you are going to keep rabbits and chickens together, you need to make sure they can't get into each other's food.

 

[jnicholes]

@Bunnylady, I did that for two years, and I did not know they couldnt share food until just now.

Looks like I know much less than I thought. Thats frustrating.

Darn.

 

[jnicholes]

I apologize, I have been under a lot of stress lately, and I pulled a muscle last night. I am in a lot of pain. I apologize for sounding rude.