Bunnies and Chickens do they mix?

[Chickens? WOW]

Hey! My coop burned in a fire about a month ago. I am getting over it, it is a little shaky. I just want to know, my dad and I are planning the coop and the run. The run is going to be huge, I was jsut wondering if 2 bunnies can go in the same run as the chickens. They will be sharing the same living space with 12 chickens. I will get 2 Marans, 2 auracanas, 3 plymouth, and 6 sexlinks. They will all live in the same room in the barn, but they will have seperate coops/hutches. I would just like to know that I won't end up with the run and barn room split in two because of this. Thanks in advance!

 

[Chickens? WOW]

Um?!?! Hello out there? Any help/answers, I would really like to know!

 

[Chicken0Boy]

I have no idea, but I will give you a bump!

If it works I might be getting me some bunnies!!!

 

[Chickens? WOW]

Thanks!

 

[ganesha09]

So sorry to hear about your coop! Wish I could answer the bunny question, but I can't. It seems like they would be good companions- I know some of the experts here will have an answer for you. Good luck with the new coop! And- good luck with the new chickies and the bunnies!

 

[WhetzelMomma]

Did you search the site about that? Because I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere that people are housing their rabbits in the same area as their chickens, and it works.

 

[savingdogs]

I think you could put their hutches inside the chicken run, but they eat different food. How would you manage that? I think your bunnies would get to soiled by chicken poo as well. Chickens can clean up around and under a hutch however and can help clean up the dropped pellets, but you would not want to have rabbits eat chicken food too much or vice versa. Also, rabbits could poo in the nesting boxes since they like to poo in boxes sometimes, that would be gross too. I think you would have to have the rabbits in a hutch inside the chicken run. But then you would have to walk through chicken poo to clean your rabbit hutches and tend to them, so I don't think the idea is going to work really well without some good muck boots! I also think that chickens would kill baby bunnies if you breed them. I agree these animals might be friendly to each other as adults, but not practical for living together.

 

[DianeS]

Mine mix just fine.

I have chickens in a coop, and rabbits in hutches, and they share the same run area when they are loose.

Now, there are issues to be aware of. As someone else said, they don't - and shouldn't - eat the same food. In my case, I put the chicken food in the coop (where the rabbits cannot get to) and feed the rabbits in their special feeders in their hutches once a day. The food for the rabbits doesn't sit around all day for the chickens to even see. Eggs get laid in nestboxes in the coop, so I don't have problems with rabbits bothering eggs (breaking them, pooping on them) in any way.

Some days I throw some cracked corn or sunflower seeds into the run, and the chickens scratch around for them all day. The rabbits don't seem to care. They'd eat them if they were sitting in front of them, but they don't hunt around to find them.

Chickens do peck at rabbits, especially when the rabbits are first introduced. It does die down, but does not go away completely. And chickens peck more at smaller rabbits. I would NEVER leave baby rabbits where chickens could get them. EVER. I firmly believe the chickens would eat the babies. (They can eat mice, and baby rabbits aren't much bigger!) I don't even leave babies in hutches if the chickens are on the other side of the wire - chicken heads can reach an inch or two inside the hutches. Rabbits don't get to go in the run until they're 3-4 months old. They stay in hutches or overlarge pens - both outside the chicken run - until then, to keep them alive.

I do have one rabbit that wants to bully the chickens. And some day she might succeed. So be aware that might happen, too. If she's around when the chickens are scratching or drinking, one of these days she might try to take a bite out of a chicken comb. Time will tell.

The poop doesn't seem to be an issue. Rabbits get it on their undersides from time to time. But no biggie, it cleans off.

Have any specific questions? I'll answer them if I can.