I think my rabbit has started killing some of my chickens.

[Kessel23]

I have lots of rabbits, I have never had one attack my chickens but they were extremely aggressive towards each other sometimes. I had a small buck who killed multiple other larger and stronger bucks, he would rip into their chests and attack their faces and would hunt them down if I did not split them up well enough. I have had a few of these bucks in the past, the most horrible one broke into my breeding pen and killed the alpha buck and young bucks and even a few babies. The females can be pretty aggressive too but I have never had one that killed other rabbits. I have had a female who would attack me if I got near her babies, she could put a pretty big gash in my hand if she got lucky.

 

[Hyroler]

Maybe rabbit was trying to get out of its hutch because it knew there was predator in your yard.That would make more sense.

 

[pvaldes]

We can't guess your location, but if is mainland Europe I can inform you that there are lots and lots of racoons there. I would say mammal by the description and my guess would be weasel (or marten or mink). Rats can kill also birds, but would not take a lot of them in one night.

 

[El - Ahrairah]

I'm Nordic. No raccoons here.

 

[Hyroler]

I wouldn't worry about Rabbit having rabies.I can almost guarantee rabbit was digging and scatching trying to get out of hutch because it was spooked by some other animal in your yard.Rabbit have very good senses they can smell and hear predator coming from long distance.most likely young weasel or rats attacked chickens.

 

[pvaldes]

> I'm from Finland
No rabies cases since 90's if I'm not wrong. Add Nyctereutes to your list of possible candidates then.

 

[kittycat1356]

On YouTube Theresa few videos of rabbits attacking other animals even a doe biting the spine of another does baby, paralyzing its legs. So they do have some aggression somtimes.

But your post has me a tad bit confused, she has access to the coop? Or did she dig out and have access? How did she bring back all the bird parts? Are you positive she’s spayed? Maybe a male knocked her up and she wants more protein? (Seems unlikely though)

In any event if it was her, maybe she’s just needing more protein I know I had 2 bunnies who craved dog kibble. ( I had a dog and his bowl was out when I let them roam the room they would go straight for the bowl and lick it clean, I eventually gave them a few kibbles here and there as a somewhat supplemental treat. Dunno if it was good for them but they did okay with it,I didn’t keep them with my chickens though, and they were definitely calm bunnies, never nervous digging or anything.

 

[El - Ahrairah]

I meant that she dug under from one side to get to the coop. She managed to bypass the wire. Yes, she's spayed. I think she brought back pieces through accessing the hole she's already dug out to get into the coop. Wait, a male what? A rooster, or a male rabbit? I don't have male rabbits. I've considered the protein theory too.

 

[3riverschick]

We are having a problem with" zombie" raccoons in Ohio, USA. Lost fear of humans, very wierd behavior. See online news article. Turns out they have a form of distemper.
Best,
Karen in western Pennsylvania

 

[kittycat1356]

I meant that she dug under from one side to get to the coop. She managed to bypass the wire. Yes, she's spayed. I think she brought back pieces through accessing the hole she's already dug out to get into the coop. Wait, a male what? A rooster, or a male rabbit? I don't have male rabbits. I've considered the protein theory too.

A male rabbit lol!
I’m not sure if it could be a wild bunny from where you are, I know that the US rabbits can’t breed with the Europe rabbits (domesticated ones same as EU)
I thought maybe a male wild rabbit could be coming for her at night or in the evenings and her desire to mate could be driving her mad? rabbits (EU) are also group animals so being 100% alone is usually stressful for them.

If she had full access to the coop at any time I wouldn’t put it past her to kill a chicken but the part where she brought it back is interesting in the least! I would buy a havahart trap just in case to be positive it isn’t a small predator. I’m not sure of what predators you have there, but it’s always a good idea to be on the safe side!

I’d just keep her away from the chickens the best you can now. Maybe if she doesn’t already, give her a few feet of run space with small hole chicken wire on the bottom. I had my rabbits in a “chicken tractor “ and they loved eating the grass. I eventually put them in a hutch though.