Do Chickens & Bunnies Like each Other?? do they make good room mates??

[possumqueen]

Best answer to this question: www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=233725

watch the first youtube video on the list.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

mine play together all the time. they like to play tag - it's very funny to watch them interact and seek each other out just to play.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

4 City Chickens....No, they have never messed with the hens..sometimes when i throw lots of grass in the chicken cook, the bunnies will push the hens out of the way. LOL...they have chewed on the side of one of the nesting boxes, but it is nothing major..I have about 14 nest boxes in there. In fact one time one of the bunnies had babies in the hens nesting box. the hens never used it...so I guess the bunny figured she would use it.

 

[coopdeville08]

We have two bunnies in our run and coop. They come go as they please. they eat, sleep, and play with the hens. More often than not they are in the front yard or at the neighbors. They do what they want. I am thankful to have two boy bunnnies.(no babies)

 

[ChickaChickaBoomBoom]

Ours have always gotten along fine. The only problem is that our bunny, Lil' William ("Willie") seems to get a little amorous with a hen now and again. It isn't a big deal, but I did put together a little video of their fun - don't judge me.

-Dave

 

[NewHopePoultry]

I think as long as you understand there can be some health risk,then it can be done.
I currently have some rabbits in a colony outside and am gong to add a few chickens later on.
I have a fence around the house to keep the rabbits from digging out, its about 2 feet deep.
Rabbits have tteth and chickens have beaks, so they can mess with each other,but I think that as long as they have their own spaces,then they should be fine.

 

[catfish/okie]

I have 8 chickens in the back yard plus theres a couple of cottontail rabbits that reside in my back yard, They dont seem to pay any attention to each other. One time I walked thru my gate and startled one of the bunnies so he made a beeline toward the storage building. The hens were behind the coop and the rabbit startled them and they ran out into the middle of the yard. One other time the rabbit hopped into the coop when the chickens were in there and they chased it out. I havent seen the rabbits here lately maybe because there is nothing green for them to eat. I havent thought about it till just now.

 

[mountainchick5]

I have one female Holland Lop, Biscuit, that thinks she's part of the flock. It started when I let her out of the hutch during the day to run around the fenced yard with the chickens. The chickens decided her hutch was the best place to lay their eggs. So they kind of kicked her out. Biscuit decided their coop was the best place to dig a hole. The chickens love it! They have a dirt floor, and I use the deep litter method, so Biscuit tried to dig to China, and the chickens had the best dirt baths of their lives.

So they let the rabbit stay.

It's funny when I throw out treats, the rabbit runs with the flock for the goodies.I think it depends on how the animals are introduced, and they'll figure out their pecking order to work it out. I would just watch for a while to make sure nobody gets hurt.

 

[melissa41927]

i have also kept rabbits with chickens for years. it is funny to watch the rabbits feeling their oats and running around and chickens flying up. we also had a rabbit that would run to the top of the roost just to make the cochins fly off. we had a roost built out of two pallet leaning across each other.

 

[ChickaChickaBoomBoom]

Our rabbits eat our chicken's food and our chickens have eaten our rabbit food. They all enjoy scratch as well.

Since we have two male rabbits, one is free-range outside the chicken run currently, while the other has been living in with the hens. The only problem is that the rabbit (not the amorous one ) likes to sit at the top of the plank to the coop, and if a hen is in laying or wants to lay, they can't get past him and he doesn't seem to care. It all works out in the end, though.

Any time the more "active" bunny gets a chance, he is in the run checking things out, etc. He will also jump and spray the hens whenever he gets the chance, which is another reason we have kept him a little more separated from them lately. Interestingly, he used to do this with the ducks when they were younger, but as they've matured he is no longer interested. Probably their more aggressive rebuttals.

-Dave