can anyone give advice on our new pet bunny!

[oesdog]

My DH in his wisdom just bought our 3 yr old granddaughter a rabbit except it will have to live here!
Her daddy is not keen on her having pets so I guess I am foster mom again!
Anyhow it's been years since I had a rabbit and I never had chickens then either. So does anyone have rabbits and chickens together or is that a bad idea? We also have a cat - can Rabbits and cats make friends? I don;t want the rabbit to be lonely?

- OMG I am mother to a bunny! Called Pumpkin - thats what the pet store called her. It is a nice name! PUMPKIN Agh?

I guess it could have been worse as DH has talked about pigs and goats too! I am begining to think I need an Ark.


Oes

 

[Whittni]

I keep one rabbit myself. She can live in a hutch in their run though. If you can find another bunny she is compatible with then get one but its a hard task. My rabbit is scared of others so she is content. Keep the cat away from the rabbit.

If you can afford an arc of animals, please do it. Having animals is an amazing experience that all animal lovers should be allowed to have.

 

[leetfreq925]

Is the rabbit going to be inside or outside? Much better to be an inside bunny. They are super social creatures and need their run around time. outdoor bunnies have a much more stressful unhappy life, unless you want to integrate her inside the chicken coop so she has friends?
They can definitely be friends with cats, but introduce them slowly. Bunnies are very territorial and need their own hutch space. I would get a large dog crate, get a litter box and keep her in there for a couple weeks. slowly let her out to wander around now and again. check out the house rabbit website for information : www.rabbit.org.
what breed is it?

 

[oesdog]

Is the rabbit going to be inside or outside? Much better to be an inside bunny. They are super social creatures and need their run around time. outdoor bunnies have a much more stressful unhappy life, unless you want to integrate her inside the chicken coop so she has friends?
They can definitely be friends with cats, but introduce them slowly. Bunnies are very territorial and need their own hutch space. I would get a large dog crate, get a litter box and keep her in there for a couple weeks. slowly let her out to wander around now and again. check out the house rabbit website for information : www.rabbit.org.
what breed is it?

Not sure what breed - but it is deffinately a RABBIT!
Bunnykins is now in the shed in the dog crate and has been since we got home. ( OMG DH cut my kitchen bowl up to make it a bed and it has hay in and wood chip and everything already! ) Our other chicken run is being used for the baby chick at the moment as she is only 11 weeks old and too young to go in with the adult hens. So I can;t put Bunnykins in there and it is a might too small for a rabbit - also I figure the Rabbit won't perch too well lol

So being that the Rabbit is at the moment homeless it is in the large dog crate belonging to Bailey and DH is masterfully creating a Bunny kingdom in the yard! I expect the palace to be ready in about two days. It is getting bigger all the time! Honestly please don't mention more rabbits!

The thing is going to live outside! I just don't know if I can let it free range at the same time the chickens are out. When I opened the shed earlier the girls ( 5 adult hens) all lined up and trailed in after me to view the new captive inmate! They don't think it looks much like a chicken! They were not impressed and marched back outside! They don;t know it will be sharing the lettice and carrots yet! Shhhhh

Anyhow the pet shop say she is a girl -however last time I got a bunny from a pet shop I was told it was deffinately a boy - only that diognosis went out the window when I found 5 baby bunnys in her cage! That was 20 odd years ago so I am a bit rusty on Bunny care. I did have giant Dutch whites when I was a child and they were very big and cuddly. BUt that was back in the stone age and they free ranged with dinosours!

As for the Ark - I was thinking it would be more for me than the managerie!

Oes. - Darn

Dh does love fur and feathers! You all know it is not really for the grandaughter don;t you!

 

[leetfreq925]

They will be taking over the house soon! haha! I love this :
Not sure what breed - but it is deffinately a RABBIT!

hilarious! hahaha! at least you have a good sense of humor about this.
Bunny would be fine with the chickens, as long as bunny gets multiple opportunities to scope the place out first sans chickens. Is it big enough? and the chickens are full grown, right? chickens have somewhat fleeting attention spans and once they see bunny can fight back, then they'll leave it alone. they actually can make quite lovely companions for bunny in the sense they provide excellent entertainment
is the bunny house your husband building connected? as long as bunny has it's own hutch (preferably inside the run?) then they can cohabitate just fine.
i wouldn't "free range" bunny, right? i think it needs to be contained in the run at all times, but maybe not... i don't know about that one.
also, and i guess this depends on how high you're willing bunny to travel up the food chain, but i would get it spayed/neutered, depending on what the vet says IT actually is. they usually are much better behaved (less biting) and, especially for girls, it avoids quite a bit of health issues.

sounds like you have your hands full

 

[oesdog]

They will be taking over the house soon! haha! I love this :
Not sure what breed - but it is deffinately a RABBIT!

hilarious! hahaha! at least you have a good sense of humor about this.
Bunny would be fine with the chickens, as long as bunny gets multiple opportunities to scope the place out first sans chickens. Is it big enough? and the chickens are full grown, right? chickens have somewhat fleeting attention spans and once they see bunny can fight back, then they'll leave it alone. they actually can make quite lovely companions for bunny in the sense they provide excellent entertainment
is the bunny house your husband building connected? as long as bunny has it's own hutch (preferably inside the run?) then they can cohabitate just fine.
i wouldn't "free range" bunny, right? i think it needs to be contained in the run at all times, but maybe not... i don't know about that one.
also, and i guess this depends on how high you're willing bunny to travel up the food chain, but i would get it spayed/neutered, depending on what the vet says IT actually is. they usually are much better behaved (less biting) and, especially for girls, it avoids quite a bit of health issues.

sounds like you have your hands full

Yes - this is from the Man who keeps telling me he wants to leave here and spend 6 month is Spain??????? NO I have indeed told him NO - I am not getting pet passports!

I am going out to the shed to check if this thing is really here again! I do that every couple of hours but I am not waking up from this nightmare! I see bunnykins all over the lawn!!!!!!!!! Hundreds of Bunnykins - I am dooomed!

- You guys know I will love on it as always more strays! It is still a baby but as big as the adult hens already so I guess it will be ok. I will try her in with them supervised.
As for the free range they can't get out of the yard! The girls get free pickings of the veg gardens at the end of the season it would be sad if Bunykins couldn't have it's share!

Oes