HELP with Bunny Behavior and Breed ID

[OmAnNom]

Hello! Recently, we unexpectedly acquired a bunny. Friends found him at a neighbor's locked in a bird cage, outside in raining and subfreezing weather with no food, water or clean bedding. We don't know how old he is, or what breed he may be. Can anyone help us identify his breed so that I can learn a little more about him?



The dog exudes great patience for him, but he he has some behavioral oddities I'm worried about. For example, he creeps around the yard, following her everywhere she goes and even supervises her pooping activities. She has had to put him in his place a few times. He's obsessive about the dog. It's weird.




He free ranges with our flock during the day in our backyard, and is put up in a hutch we made him at night. Until recently this was working very well...





The last two weeks I've noticed him sniffing the chicken's butts, and today DH and I saw him repeatedly trying to HUMP THE CHICKENS. Now, let's all take a moment to imagine how adorable a bunny-chick would be... Yes. Ok, now let's address what on earth is wrong with this bunny. Has anyone ever experienced this? A bunny. Humping chickens. Will getting him fixed help?

We were happy we could give an animal a home that had a bad past life, but we can't have bunny-chicken rape. Any advice welcome.We're at a bit of a loss.

 

[sourland]

He is a Californian. He is following the dog because he is thinking about sex with her as well as with the chickens. Rabbit bucks can be especially amorous - "if you can't be with the one you love - love the one you're with'. Castration may alter (no pun intended) his behavior. Isolating him from the dog and chickens surely would.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Can't help you on breed but yes, getting him neutered will absolutely help with him wanting to jump anything that moves lol! He will be a much better and contented pet!

 

[OmAnNom]

He is a Californian. He is following the dog because he is thinking about sex with her as well as with the chickens. Rabbit bucks can be especially amorous - "if you can't be with the one you love - love the one you're with'. Castration may alter (no pun intended) his behavior. Isolating him from the dog and chickens surely would.

I would castrate him myself if he tried to assault my dog

I'll get him fixed and see how much that helps his little libido. Thank you, sourland!

 

[Bunnylady]

I agree with Sour - looks like a Californian. I'm thinking he's probably fairly young, too, since he is such a nuisance with his attentions.

I had a conversation with another breeder at a rabbit show about this sort of thing. She had a cage with several young bucks in it, and one was being a pest. She said her daughter had said, "Why is he doing that? There are only bucks in that cage." "I wasn't really ready to have that conversation with her," she mused. "Oh, he's a young male rabbit, " I said. "They'll hump anything." "You know it," she said. " I have a pair of bunny slippers in need of serious therapy."

Hopefully a little "brain surgery" will settle this guy down. Be warned, though - not all vets will see rabbits, and a lot of those who do charge a ridiculous amount to see them.

 

[aprille218]

He is Californian or Himalayan colored but I think he might actually be a Rex rabbit. Is his hair very soft and all the same length? If so he's a Rex if not he's a Californian. Getting him his own cage/ space would be best. Rabbits can get coccidiosis from chickens which is much more likely to kill a rabbit than an adult chicken. Plus then he wouldn't be able to get into the chicken food which can be bad for him.

 

[Bunnylady]

He is Californian or Himalayan colored but I think he might actually be a Rex rabbit. Is his hair very soft and all the same length? If so he's a Rex if not he's a Californian. Getting him his own cage/ space would be best. Rabbits can get coccidiosis from chickens which is much more likely to kill a rabbit than an adult chicken. Plus then he wouldn't be able to get into the chicken food which can be bad for him.

I've bred Mini Rex for about 25 years, and I don't think that looks like a Rex coat at all. It is short and tight, but if you click on the image to bring it up to full size, you can clearly see the "lie" of the coat, and Rex coats just doesn't do that. Even when the picture is in the smaller size, the whiskers don't look right - all of my Mini Rex have had short, curly whiskers that tend to break off when the animal reaches maturity.

I agree, though, that a rabbit shouldn't be eating chicken feed. Lots of chicken feeds have protein from animal sources, which is fine for chickens, but you don't feed meat to rabbits. Also, the grains in chicken feeds are naturally high in carbohydrates (starches and sugars) and rabbits digestive systems aren't designed to deal with high carbohydrate diets.