Can I safely keep chickens and rabbits together?

[_-Captain BRM-_]

I love my rabbits and have VERY expensive breeding stock so I would never want to do anything that would harm them. It it safe to keep chickens and rabbits together? I'm picturing a rabbit cleaning chicken maure off and getting sick... Rabbits die from sicknesses very easy so I want to be extremely careful. Any thoughts on this? TIA.

@Kiki
@The-White-Elephant
@BenlynFarm
@EmmaRainboe

(And those are all the rabbit people I can think of rn lol)

 

[the_peanut_coop]

I love my rabbits and have VERY expensive breeding stock so I would never want to do anything that would harm them. It it safe to keep chickens and rabbits together? I'm picturing a rabbit cleaning chicken maure off and getting sick... Rabbits die from sicknesses very easy so I want to be extremely careful. Any thoughts on this? TIA.

@Kiki
@The-White-Elephant
@BenlynFarm
@EmmaRainboe

(And those are all the rabbit people I can think of rn lol)

I also have a concern for your chickens- I've heard lots of stories where a rabbit will try to mate with a chicken and end up breaking their bones or suffocating them.

 

[Chookchicken]

Is there a reason you want to keep them together? I’d advise against it since it likely won’t bring either side any benefit, and may end up hurting the chickens.

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

Is there a reason you want to keep them together? I’d advise against it since it likely won’t bring either side any benefit, and may end up hurting the chickens.

Just to have them using the chicken/rabbit tractor together to save on space.

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

I also have a concern for your chickens- I've heard lots of stories where a rabbit will try to mate with a chicken and end up breaking their bones or suffocating them.

That would make sense. The doe I'd be putting out with them is too young to have all those hormones at the moment but that's a very good point.

 

[SilverBirds]

I successfully kept rabbits and chickens together. I had 4 rabbits and 6 chickens living together in the same coop. The shared one big run. The rabbits had a safe place on the bottom of the coop with a hole just big enough for them, but to small for chickens. On top of the rabbit house, the chickens could fly up to roost and how nesting boxes to lay their eggs. Each section had a door on the back to clean out the poop. I wish I had a picture of the setup since it's probably confusing the way I am describing it.

The biggest issue was feeding. I'm sure you are well aware that corn is not good for rabbits and that is a big ingredient in chicken food. We had to have the chicken food in a place the rabbits couldn't touch it and the rabbit food somewhere else.

The rabbits lived to be a good 5-6 years until they ran away when we were moving or died of illness. It's quite the hassle having the two together but they managed. Now we have enough room for the rabbits to have their own hutch and the chickens their own coop.

 

[the_peanut_coop]

Just to have them using the chicken/rabbit tractor together to save on space.

I wouldn't if I were you Not to mention I've seen some of my more sassy chickens trying to fight the rabbits through the fence when the birds free-range. They might get spooked by the rabbits and thingscould get messy

 

[Weeg]

I personally don't even recommend keeping rabbits outside.
My bun which I had was a pet, so I understand how it would be different if you are raising them for meat or breeding.

 

[the_peanut_coop]

I personally don't even recommend keeping rabbits outside.
My bun which I had was a pet, so I understand how it would be different if you are raising them for meat or breeding.

My rabbits are pets too, I keep them outside so that they can have more space because there are two of them. I do have to make sure they're locked up safely and that they haven't dug any holes, though

 

[BenlynFarm]

We let ours run around in a large fenced area with our chickens, ducks, and Great Pyrenees with supervision. But, I’ve noticed sometimes the chickens try to peck them (never any injury) and I noticed our male rabbit chasing some of the hens today like he wanted to breed them, as someone mentioned above. He also took a glance and sniff at the cats like he wanted to try them as well. But I don’t think I’d ever say I’d feel comfortable enough for them to be housed together. But, the tractor might work out ok for you. Just see how your chickens tolerate the rabbit. Mine for the most part don’t care about the rabbits but they have a large space to share.