Can bunnies live with chicks?

[U_Stormcrow]

I have both. My chickens free range. My bunnies are caged (see Signature, below, for current flock). Bunnies require a lot of time and handling to be "pets", they are a potential disease vector to chickens and other poultry, and they are attractants to other rodents if kept outside (which is why they become a disease vector). If not maintained, they can be downright uncooperative, and on "freezer camp day" I have more injuries from my cute little Rabbits of Caerbannog than from by birds, spurs and all. Those digging paws are razor sharp - make my cat envious.

I don't recommend, but it certainly can be successfully done. (both, from experience)

 

[snkjohnson]

I have both. My chickens free range. My bunnies are caged (see Signature, below, for current flock). Bunnies require a lot of time and handling to be "pets", they are a potential disease vector to chickens and other poultry, and they are attractants to other rodents if kept outside (which is why they become a disease vector). If not maintained, they can be downright uncooperative, and on "freezer camp day" I have more injuries from my cute little Rabbits of Caerbannog than from by birds, spurs and all. Those digging paws are razor sharp - make my cat envious.

I don't recommend, but it certainly can be successfully done. (both, from experience)

Thank you very much, this is very helpful!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm in final planning stages of moving my bunnies into the run I'm building. Will try to remember to come back to this and document the what and the why - but of course I won't be able to guarantee that it is actually a workable solution. Sometimes, I fail repeatedly until I find success...

 

[Sally PB]

Rabbits of Caerbannog

I have that entire scene playing in my head now!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I have that entire scene playing in my head now!

Last cull, I looked like I had duct taped several feral cats to my body and taken a cold shower. That scene has a certain ring of truth to it...

 

[Sally PB]

Sorry to laugh.

 

[Sally PB]

How's your armor?

Ok, I'll shut up.

 

[DragonflyAcres]

I have that entire scene playing in my head now!

"Och, it's just a harmless little bunny!" Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Literally, I have the shirt.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

OK, this is what I do now -

I have a roofed breezeway. Added horizontal supports spaced 30" apart, attached bunny cages to it. Set a 1x2 on top, used left over metal roofing and plastic roofing to cover the bottom cages. Repeated above. Gives me two levels of bunny cages, its about 12' long, so I have room for big cages (I have Continentals and NZ Whites) - the smallest cage is 30"x30", they can't drop pellets on one another, pee on one another, spill feed or water on one another.

The bottom row is far enough off the ground I don't have to bend much, and I can get a shovel under it w/ (relative) comfort to harvest bunny gold for the gardens.

What I learned from this:
1) I thought the plastic roofing panels would be brittle in our high heat then breif freezes. That may be - but bunny urine is so acidic the metal roofing is sheeting and rusting. Frequent cleaning (see the hose?) helps, a lot - but its no perfect solution. The plastic panels turned out to be the better option.

2) Because we get wind blown rains at a steep angle, and because the bunnies are too big (and the cages too small) to put individual houses in them, I had to put partial walls on either side of the run. It allows wind above and below for airflow, plus the breezeway itself (our highs are just under 100, but our summer average is closer to 95) - but it still gets pretty warm in there. When we freeze, it gets cold. That's just the way it is. They tolerate both.

3) the chickens will scratch around in the bunny gold for missed pellets, bugs - the bunnies don't (usually) drop much. But by feeding them inside elevated cages, the birds can't get the feed.

4) having cover on the roof of each cage also keeps the mice and rat droppings out. That's great - because even with the chickens getting what the rabbits drop, its a rat magnet. I keep reusable (enclosed) rat snap traps on both levels, often baited with bunny food to help control the population.

5) when its hot, a continental can drink half a plastic coffee can worth of water in a day. I fill the plastic can each day to the top. Sometimes, the bunnies will chew the cans - it won't hurt them, but you will find thin shavings of red or blue or black plastic on the ground (depending on coffee brand). We don't get cold enough, long enough, that freezing has been a problem except one day last year. When the ice is thin, the bunnies go right thru it.

6) I also have metal feed bowls (blue and pink) screwed to the cage wall. Those feed bowls had stainless steel bowls inside them. When a bunny is playful, or mischeiveous, or annoyed, or bored, it will grab the lip of that tiny bowl with its teeth, flip it over, bash the cage with it like a prisoner with a metal cup in the old movies, then dump it in their water bowl. They can't be broken of the habit, so just remove the metal inserts. Use them for something else.

7) baby bunnies really will try and wedge their heads between the slats. they can even get them caught in 1x1" hardware cloth (and smaller hardware cloth uses such thin wire the cage deforms under their weight). Pick a breeder cage or two, use untreated 1x6 lumber, make a skirt around the base of the cage. use scraps as sothemth to screw into for the corners. Not only does it keep the babbies in and provide something solid for momma to start packing fur against, but your rabbits can also use it to keep their paws and teeth trimmed. I will place a few boards on the floor of the momma cage as well to keep the fur from falling thru and protect the babies from cold drafts from underneath. Remove as soon as they aren't needed, or your rabbits may start piling pooh on them - not something you want to clean.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

OK, this is what I do now - View attachment 3942278

What I'm going to do:

Build 7x7' roofed "sleds" using the same 2x6 spaced 30" apart (edge to edge) as side by side single layer supports for four 30x36" cages. The two sets of supports will be 6" apart to beek the male bunnies from successfully marking one another. It will get clear or tinted plastic roof panels (almost 8x8 roof) on a 3/12 pitch. That's 6' high on the low side, 8' high on the high side. Will provide approx 1' overhang on every side. Cage access will be from the left and right, roof will be high to low front to back.

Walls will be open for our hot hot hot summers, but I'm looking at hanging shade cloth to both slow wind-born rains and cut direct sun while allowing air to pass -instead of solid plastic walls. Price is comparable.

Plan to build two. Might make the other with a 30x30 and a 30x36 cage joined together as a breeder cage on one side.

Expect they will be too heavy to move by hand, plan to use the tractor to drag them (I don't have forks). If needed, can place them side by side (low side into the winter wind) or front to front to make a little building of them.

Technically moveable, more likely I will shovel bunny gold rather than moving them to a more desired locati0on then the gold piles up.

and I'm drafting up a 50' x 60' chicken "run" using chain link fencing and incorporating the back side of my barn - will end up moving the bunny cages inside that, most likely. We've had some predator problems on property, and I tire of the losses. Need a way to protect the smaller critters. May well move my feed storage (I'm trying to source broken chest freezers) into that as well, so rodents and bugs have to run the gauntlet of my chickens to get at the feed bins.

Good to dream, right?