Anybody have chickens and bunnies together?

[Pharm Girl]

My son wants a bunny for his 9th birthday. I have an unused chicken coop that is only used for the chickens to lay eggs in the top part. If I pull up the ramp, a rabbit could have the unused bottom section.
I'd love to see pictures if anyone has these animals together.
Just starting my research on taking care of rabbits.

 

[clairabean]

I do. Well, I did until this afternoon. The bunny would just hang out with the chickens in the run, dig holes in the dirt, come in at night through the coop pop door.... I fed her a bowl of bunny food twice a day. She learned how to drink from a chicken waterer... I swear she thought she was a chicken.

BunBun was tameish. She was just like a chicken. The chickens were a bit nervous around her, though, but not too much so.

BunBun pooped/peed in the corner of the coop. We use DLM, so it was just a matter of poop scooping every few days. Not a biggie. Until she started to steal eggs. She scared off a broody and stole her eggs and ate them. Twice. I was skookum mad. Last night BunBun pulled down the chicken proof lamp on to the shavings. It was pure miraculous the entire coop did not burn to the ground.

She is now rehomed as a meat breeding rabbit at my neighbours. No more of this nonsense.

Here is a pic of BunBun right in the middle of the girls....

 

[rebel-rousing-at-night]

Quote:
I think it would be hard to keep the chikens from eating the bunny food which in turn would leave the bunny without.

Bunnies will dig so you would need a solid or wire floor. I think it would be better if you could hang a rabbit cage in there so the bunny would have it's own water and food and it would be easier for your son the catch it too.

 

[clairabean]

A little rabbit food is not going to harm a chicken. I feed the bunny twice a day, one cup each time. She ate what she wanted and the rest was a free for all. The chickens were leary of her, so she had no contest. They do not need to free eat all day.

Rabbits dig. No doubt about it. Expect her to dig out of your dirt run- under the fence. Every. Single. Day. Expect her to try to burrow in the coop. Our coop iss wooden planks, but she tried to burrow in the deep litter. In summer she tried to dig out of the run every day. If she dug towards the coop, then I let her be. If she dug towards teh fence, I filled it in. Every. Single. Day.

It is not an easy way to keep rabbits, that's a fact. It was an experience I enjoyed, but will not repeat.

 

[WriterofWords]

I had a New Zealand White names Rabbit who lived with the chickens for about 3 years. They got a long great, he ate more of their food than they did his, he was killed in a coop attack. It was cute to see him snuggled in a nest with a hen perched on top of him.

 

[cjsgrlsx3]

When my chicks are just old enough to go outside I put them in the bunny cage. The bunnies and the chicks enjoy each other's company and snuggle at night! But I have never placed the bunnies in the coop with a full grown chicken.

 

[Pharm Girl]

Well, this all sounds good. The empty coop is my tiny broody coop, so the bottom section, which will be totally closed off for 'bunny only' has a wood floor and door on each side. I have a large bird cage with an open bottom I am planning to tip on it's side and hook up to the small chicken door of the coop so the rabbit could get outside in the sun, but it will be wire on all sides including floor. I figure I would only let the bunny out when we are supervising it, but not sure what the chickens would do with it.
I was just at Alpenrose Dairy's little farm and they have a lionhead bunny that runs through the barn and pasture with the silkies, sheep, goats, goose, and one donkey. They were all used to each other and had their own stall in the barn for night. It was so cute!
Here's a picture of the section of coop the bunny would occupy.

This is the coop. It only lasted a few months before I bought a new bigger one (chicken math!) Some of my ladies like to use the nesting boxes in the top and I plan on letting a broody hatch a couple of chicks in the spring, but they don't use the bottom section at all.
I'll skip the heat lamp and bring the bunny inside during the winter! Scary!

 

[aoxa]

I wondered this same thing.. Until I was told chicken food can really hurt a bunny.. Didn't know how to keep the bunny from eating chicken feed, so I decided not to get a bunny. Other than the feed issue, there wouldn't really be a problem keeping them together.

 

[clairabean]

Bunny food is essentially the same as chicken food. Mostly greens. The bunny should be very restricted from chicken food, as they do not need as much protein as chickens.

A bunny will chew through chicken wire like butter. And they do not need heat, same as chickens.

 

[Pharm Girl]

In the picture I have one side that is chicken wire, but that has since been replaced with hardware cloth. Can they get through that?