Keeping rabbits and chickens together?

[denasfarm]

My adult Female rabbits are with my chickens (Silkies). They do fine and ignore each other for the most part. When bred they do go into a pen for supervision.

The Chickens will steal special food treats like bananas from the rabbits but it works well otherwise. When the roosters give the sky danger warning everyone including rabbits race for cover which is rather funny to see. I also have 13 quail running with together in this pen. They think they are chickens.

My 27 baby rabbits and 20 4-5 mo Ameracauna chicks were together but I moved the Chicks to the Silkie pen for more room. They all got along fine except the rabbits wanted to eat the scratch instead of the bunny pellets.

I have NOT tried to put rabbits with my large breed chickens (Rocks, Marans, and RIR) I am afraid they would pick on the rabbits. I may try it later with some older rabbits.

 

[picklespickles]

read the thing under "predators" where the rabbit ate the chicken. freaky. not sure if it is common, but just some food for though. surprised the heck out of me.

 

[denasfarm]

I read it. I think it was because it was a MALE rabbit.
Could have been lack of some nutrient?? I dont know for sure...
I do know males are more aggressive and territorial.
I did have a male loose in the pen but he was trying to bite the other rabbits feet through the bottom cage wire. So I swapped and locked up that male and have the females out and they just arent interested in the chickens (or each other) at all. I tried one other male at one point and he was not very bright for getting out of the weather so I put him back in a hutch for his safety.
Any of my rabbits will attack a human as they are NOT pets!!So I know how nasty a bunny can act. Of my 9 breeders only one female is pettable but still not a "pet".
The females I have go in and under the barn but like I said so far leave the chickens and quail alone. Maybe because mine have PLENTY of room, trees, brush, grass, a barn and other things to keep them occupied. Its not like they are all cramped up together in a tiny space.

The only downfall I HAVE found is the rabbits are horrible about attracting DOGS to the yard. Being white, bouncy and flashy we have to listen very carfully at night for any disturbance. If my Roosters or my Dogs go off we dont wait we head out the door to check for anything!

 

[picklespickles]

i've wondered if room has something to do with behavior too, though im not sure.

i know my various species get along way better than everyone says theyre supposed to. but tehre is plenty room for them to hide and get away from each other.

anyway. just brought it up cause it does seem to be true. and who would have thunk?

 

[redhen]

i wouldnt be worried about the rabbit hurting the hens...they can fly up on their roosts if there is a problem....BUT...a poor bunny cant get away from attacking hens...

 

[Cara]

I have a Netherland Dwarf that lives with my chickens. He does great, he much prefers it to being in a small boring hutch. He can't dig out because it's part of a barn with a concrete floor, with shavings on top. At first he liked to herd the chickens, but now they ignore each other.

I had an owl problem for a while and had to evacuate that coop, and while I was securing it he lived in a hutch with an OEGB rooster. They didn't bother each other at all. He's also had turkey and duck roommates in the coop.

 

[esthermgr]

Joel Salatin advocates raising a few rabbits in raised hutches inside the chicken coop, because apparently the chickens scratch the droppings into the bedding, eat pests, and keep the whole thing smelling better. And the spilled rabbit food and treats are treats for the chickens. If you hang the hutches or put them on high legs it doesn't really take much floor space away from the chickens. I am planning to try this method in my large chicken coop.

When I was a kid, we had rabbits in cages on the floor of a large chicken coop. It was a disaster on the floor like that. The rabbits hated the dust the chickens kicked up from their bedding and they caught a bad case of mites. I'm sure the chickens had mites too but the mites didn't seem to infest or bother the chickens nearly as much as the rabbits. As an adult managing my own flock, I would arrange things differently in the coop so that those problems weren't as big of an issue, though. So even the floor method might work with good mgmt.

 

[RabbitMage]

I would never house my rabbits in the same building with chickens, which is the same thing I and most of the rabbit breeders have said every time this topic comes up, which seems to be every other week.

 

[arabianequine]

Quote:
Why?

 

[ack123]

As rabbitmage said this topic comes up a lot. Most of the breeders on here will tell you it is not a good idea to do that. Since you are new to rabbits, I would suggest you raise a few caged rabbits first until you get some experience with raising them. Colony breeding is not something you want to jump into head first, and you could end up with a disaster as a result of it. Really do your research on that one. Those that do it properly have a setup where the animals are fenced in or tractored in an area that is both rabbit and predator proof. You don't want anything getting into them, and you don't want them digging out. Rabbits will also have a litter once a month, and the doe is ready to breed right after she gives birth. This can get easily get out of control in a colony setup. You may end up with more rabbits then what you can care for. Or you may also end up losing a lot more babies then you. From what I have read via people on the net, and in books losses in colony setups tend to be a lot higher then those in a cage setup.

You certainly don't want to take chances of them getting loose and running free either. If domestic rabbits survive the elements, they can produce a feral colony that can wreak havoc on the local ecosystem. Its also considered inhumane by most of the breeding community to let a rabbit roam free.

Chickens and rabbits also have very different nutritional requirements. Chickens need a feed that is low in fiber and high in protein. rabbits need the exact opposite. Feed a rabbit chicken feed and chances are will give it a severe case of enteritis which is very difficult to cure.

And yes rabbits are a critter that can cannibalize another animal if they put their minds to it. So can chickens. Rabbits will bite and kick and scratch at anything that annoys them, or gets in their space. Esp if they don't understand what the animal that is with them is. Chickens will also scratch and peck at their eyes too.

Rabbits can pick up coccidia and e coli from the chickens. And vice versa.