Rabbit's DON'T belong in cages!!!

[insanity]

Here is a little buck from my pair of French lops.

 

[SternRose]

How cute!!

 

[Americano Blue]

 

[UpNorthPrepper]

Hello everyone from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.. My first post on this site.

I got 13 chickens about 2 months ago. They have a coop with an attached run that is fully enclosed but they have plenty of room.. And I will expand the run even more in the spring.

I just picked up 2 New Zealand white does (10 weeks old) and I am searching for a buck. After reading this thread I decided to try putting the rabbits in with the chickens. I put a dog kennel in the chicken coop, I removed the tray and buried the kennel into the deep litter and added some straw in the floor of the kennel. I hung a pellet feeder in the kennel and put a water dish in the kennel. The first day I left the does locked in the kennel. On the 2nd day I opened the door and out they came... They immediately seemed happy and weren't scared of the chickens at all! Within minutes they were out in the run eating the veggie scraps that the chickens turned their nose at. They were running and jumping and loving life. I am not against caging rabbits but I'm gonna try to keep a colony in with the chickens. I plan to construct a few cages with access to an isolated run for the bucks to control breeding, and I will add a cage for baby kits to live in till their old enough to hold their own In the coop. I keep the kennel door propped open just enough for the rabbits to squeeze through so they can get away from the chickens. I also have the kennel about 5 inches from the wall of the coop and put straw back there and they use it as a tunnel behind the kennel which gives them a place to get away from the chickens. I also added a hay rack with about 80% Timothy and 20% alfalfa. So I am free feeding them pellets hay and veggie / fruit scraps.. I think the setup is pretty awesome and I'm glad the chickens and rabbits get along.

One of my main points is that I bought my rabbits from someone who raises them in cages. But when I got them home they sure seemed more natural and happy in the coop and run with room to wander, play and eat. I'm not knocking cages at all, and I plan to use cages to isolate, breed and raise kits. I just really like the colony plan especially since I didn't have to construct a whole new home for the rabbits since the coop works great.

Question.. My does are almost 11 weeks old now. If I add a buck this week could they possibly get pregnant now? At what age do I need to isolate them.. I realize they are not ready to be good mothers till 5 or 6 months.

Awesome website! Awesome forum! Awesome thread! I'm glad to be here.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Hello everyone from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.. My first post on this site.

I got 13 chickens about 2 months ago. They have a coop with an attached run that is fully enclosed but they have plenty of room.. And I will expand the run even more in the spring.

I just picked up 2 New Zealand white does (10 weeks old) and I am searching for a buck. After reading this thread I decided to try putting the rabbits in with the chickens. I put a dog kennel in the chicken coop, I removed the tray and buried the kennel into the deep litter and added some straw in the floor of the kennel. I hung a pellet feeder in the kennel and put a water dish in the kennel. The first day I left the does locked in the kennel. On the 2nd day I opened the door and out they came... They immediately seemed happy and weren't scared of the chickens at all! Within minutes they were out in the run eating the veggie scraps that the chickens turned their nose at. They were running and jumping and loving life. I am not against caging rabbits but I'm gonna try to keep a colony in with the chickens. I plan to construct a few cages with access to an isolated run for the bucks to control breeding, and I will add a cage for baby kits to live in till their old enough to hold their own In the coop. I keep the kennel door propped open just enough for the rabbits to squeeze through so they can get away from the chickens. I also have the kennel about 5 inches from the wall of the coop and put straw back there and they use it as a tunnel behind the kennel which gives them a place to get away from the chickens. I also added a hay rack with about 80% Timothy and 20% alfalfa. So I am free feeding them pellets hay and veggie / fruit scraps.. I think the setup is pretty awesome and I'm glad the chickens and rabbits get along.

One of my main points is that I bought my rabbits from someone who raises them in cages. But when I got them home they sure seemed more natural and happy in the coop and run with room to wander, play and eat. I'm not knocking cages at all, and I plan to use cages to isolate, breed and raise kits. I just really like the colony plan especially since I didn't have to construct a whole new home for the rabbits since the coop works great.

Question.. My does are almost 11 weeks old now. If I add a buck this week could they possibly get pregnant now? At what age do I need to isolate them.. I realize they are not ready to be good mothers till 5 or 6 months.

Awesome website! Awesome forum! Awesome thread! I'm glad to be here.

My does started digging out of the fence by tunneling by a few months old. Keep an eye out bec they will tunnel.

 

[Bunnylady]

Theoretically, does can get pregnant as young as 12 weeks. Most people segregate by gender at 10 weeks or younger, just to be safe.

 

[UpNorthPrepper]

Thanks for the responses.

The ground is frozen up here now so I shouldn't have to worry about them digging out till spring. I plan to add hardware cloth under the litter in the run to prevent digging.

My biggest challenge is to get the rabbits to drink from the large chicken font waterer. I've been keeping a fresh dish of water in the rabbit area for now but I'm hoping they will learn to drink from the chicken waterer because it is heated and will be less work for me once they figure it out. The problem is I can never catch them drinking from it because whenever I enter the coop the rabbits go to their hiding spots. I've been thinking about installing a camera so I can see if they are using it.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Thanks for the responses.

The ground is frozen up here now so I shouldn't have to worry about them digging out till spring. I plan to add hardware cloth under the litter in the run to prevent digging.

My biggest challenge is to get the rabbits to drink from the large chicken font waterer. I've been keeping a fresh dish of water in the rabbit area for now but I'm hoping they will learn to drink from the chicken waterer because it is heated and will be less work for me once they figure it out. The problem is I can never catch them drinking from it because whenever I enter the coop the rabbits go to their hiding spots. I've been thinking about installing a camera so I can see if they are using it.

Mine used to run to hiding places too. Someone told me to bring a little piece of apple out with me twice a day when I go to the chicken yard. I had to take the time to coax them out the first few times. Now they run to greet me. I never go our without their small apple treat. They like other things but apple is their favorite treat. Sometimes I pull a baby carrot out of the garden. They really like that too.

 

[Free Feather]

I used to have a couple free range rabbits, and they LOVED apples. You could have been screaming and stomping and threatening murder, and they would still come up to you if you had an apple.

 

[chicken farmer]

Those of you who have the colony pens please post pictures if you can no matter how big or fancy it is. I'd love to see them!!