Can I put a rabbit in my coop/run with the chickens?

[Hhoky]

Quote:
Nope. They are super diggers. They live in communities and dig tunnels/burrows that will go below the frost line & deeper.

Just a quick link pointing to rabbit colony raising Here . I'm taking ideas from here and there to put to work in our chicken/bunny Run (going to be small now, my silly clothes line pole is in the way.) But will have half concrete slab and half dirt. Very interesting reading tho.

 

[GiddyMoon]

Unfortunately I don't believe there is an "answer" to this. Rabbits all have their own personalities just like all over animals, including us. You might find he does wonderfully in there and you might find he does terrible. We had a Flemish Giant house rabbit for awhile and he was great..but not all rabbits are perfect for being a house rabbit either. I would give it a test run and see what happens.

 

[mskittydjs]

We were given a bunny last fall at our local fair where we rescued 2 RIR blue ribbon winners at the 4H competition. At that time, we had approx 12 chicken (10 hens and 2 roos). Bella (bunny) was placed in a metal cage inside the fenced chicken yard where all could get acquainted. DH hated the bunny being caged and wanted me to let her go free inside the yard. So, knowing my friends here at BYC would have the needed knowledge

I researched all that was said...pros and cons. I loved the live feed cam of the chicken yard with the bunny going free in it! We decided to give it a try. It actually worked really well! Everyone ended up eating everyone's food! The bunny loved the crumbles and the chickens loved her pellets but wouldn't eat chicken pellets! The bunny would eat right along side of them and never did either of them have any problems. Did she dig??? Well, she is a bunny!

She tried tunneling but we have 1/2" mesh buried about 12-15 inches down and she never got out. She did most of it during the cover of darkness and in the morning, I always did bunny escape route observation first. I was the one that ended up having the problem...I had made my coop easy to clean by lining it with linoleum on the floor and under the roosts, even in the nesting boxes. Bunny decided she didnt like linoleum and tore it all up!

Then there came the rabbit urine problems...my coop ended up smelling so bad with her going free. She really messed up all the corners with her urine! Awful! I am pretty particular about the cleanliness of the coop and with her in it, I had problems. I had hay on the floor, then tried pine shavings and neither worked for the smell. Now she has a huge specially built cage that she lives in and since we hate her being caged, we are looking for a good home for her but not one where she ends up on the dinner table! There was another plus to the last couple of months having Bella in her own cage...my dog caught one of my SLW ladies who bravely decided to fly over the fence. DH rescued her but there was some neurological damage...she would flop her head way back onto her back. When she walked, she would drift to the left. She wouldnt eat or drink in the yard so I put her in with Bella so I could monitor her. She was able to live and thrive in there with Bella. They were the best of companions/buddies/friends! I wanted to post a photo but can't figure out how. So I guess the bottom line is, yes they can and do get along. I wish you good luck and please post some photos!!

 

[ILOVEFRIZZLES]

My daughter put one of her bunnies in my growing up pen to let it get exercise, well it did. The bunnies went chicken bowling. It wait for the chickens to run to one end of the pen then ran right though the middle of them. The chickens would go crazy. The bunny would wait for them to settle down and go back in a big group and the then off it would go back the the middle. Keep doing this over and over. It was funny to watch, but the chicken where not happy about the whole thing. My daughter and I got a good laugh.