Keeping rabbits and chickens together!?!

[cbookout]

I currently have 11 hens and 1 roo. 2 of the hens, (NH Reds) will be leaving us soon because they are bullies. And the Rooster just hit 1 year and is starting to act a little fishy so he is probably going too. I only want docile birds in my flock from here on out regardless of laying ability. They currently have over 10,000 sq ft of wooded and grassy free range area and a large hen house with an automatic door. Their free range area is fully enclosed.

I am thinking about integrating a flemish giant into the mix. I would only do this breed of rabbit because of their size. I need something that is as large as a small dog to deter predation by hawks (there is hawk netting but it is sporadic - 10,000 sq ft is a huge area to cover). I would put a hutch in the hen house, it is plenty large enough. But I guess my question is, would the rabbit use the automatic door like the hens? It opens every morning at 6:30am and closes every night at 8pm. Would the rabbit be able to figure this out fairly quickly? I typically collect eggs around 4 or 5pm and do not go back out after that because of the automatic door. Does anyone have experience using an automatic door for rabbits?

 

[blondie34]

I currently have 11 hens and 1 roo. 2 of the hens, (NH Reds) will be leaving us soon because they are bullies. And the Rooster just hit 1 year and is starting to act a little fishy so he is probably going too. I only want docile birds in my flock from here on out regardless of laying ability. They currently have over 10,000 sq ft of wooded and grassy free range area and a large hen house with an automatic door. Their free range area is fully enclosed.

I am thinking about integrating a flemish giant into the mix. I would only do this breed of rabbit because of their size. I need something that is as large as a small dog to deter predation by hawks (there is hawk netting but it is sporadic - 10,000 sq ft is a huge area to cover). I would put a hutch in the hen house, it is plenty large enough. But I guess my question is, would the rabbit use the automatic door like the hens? It opens every morning at 6:30am and closes every night at 8pm. Would the rabbit be able to figure this out fairly quickly? I typically collect eggs around 4 or 5pm and do not go back out after that because of the automatic door. Does anyone have experience using an automatic door for rabbits?

The rabbit should be able to figure it out eventually once it gets into a routine. Despite what people say I have had some pretty intelligent rabbits. This being said, it's probably not a bad idea to give the rabbit its own hutch or space outside of the coop in case he/she doesn't make it back in before the automatic door closes.

I don't know much about flemish giants and their temperament but if you get a male I'd suggest getting him altered .. I had a young male New Zealand White that WAS incredibly sweet but once he reached sexual maturity he started going after my ducks and killed two of them. He has since had it free-range privileges revoked.

 

[ShrekDawg]

How do you tell if a chicken has cocci??

 

[FLminifarm]

My barn (converted form a shed) has one side built as a chicken coop and the other side has rabbit hutches. I let my chickens out to free range for a bit during the day and my bunnies also. They free range together nicely and never stray far from the barn. They are all pretty tame. I have had no issues other that the bully hen attempting to peck a bunny (she pecks at everyone who steals her favorite dust bath spots though lol). No injuries have happened. I don't leave them unattended even though our property is fenced well. We are planning on adding two very secure runs, one for the chickens and one for rabbits soon, so they can be out for longer times without needing me to watch them. The animals are are SO happy when they get to enjoy the dirt and grass and sunshine. My rabbits are for pets, not for food(our personal preference, no judgement to those who do!), but they are a blessing to my kids and to myself. I also feel we bless them by giving them a life not in a cage 100% of the time. They take turns having time inside the house also when the weather is extreme. They love to hop around and scare the cat lol!

 

[HnkyDnkyZZFarm]

We have our rabbit hutches/cages inside the chicken yard, but they are in their own enclosed space. I don't so much worry about the chickens, but the cat can catch a rabbit in an enclosed pen a lot faster than I can. We tried to free range them for about twenty minutes before I realized the cat brings me rabbits of the same size - they've since grown, but the hour and a half chasing them and finally getting so frustrated running around the chicken yard chasing rabbits like a chicken-topia version of Alison in Wander-trip-and-land during which I briefly walked away and threw my hands in the air and said FINE! The cat can have you, no I don' really mean that, just let me catch you dangit!

I don't think they'd be well equipped to handle the pecking order in our yard. We have 12 chickens and three ducks, and they are very firm about order. Our Barred Rocks can be a bit aggressive. The chances of them making a break for it through a previously unnoticed crack seems high. Chasing is not my favorite sport.

 

[TwinsLoveChicks]

A while back when I was introducing two new hens into my flock, I kept them in the same run as my two rabbits, and since then I've introduced more hens like that. They got along fine. In fact, one of my rabbits would chase the hens around!

So the only things I would worry about would be aggressive hens, maybe roosters, and not having a secure enough run.

 

[chirkey]

We keep our chickens or turkeys with rabbits. They get along fine. Sometimes the chicks will cuddle up next to the rabbits for warmth. No issues my end

 

[lucylola]

I have two pet rabbits that have been running free for about a year in my fenced in little mini farm. They seem very happy and so far have not dug out. They had a litter ( didn't know they were female and male oops). We got the male fixed after that. But they seem to do well with all my chickens, dogs and cats. They do dig though. They have a sleeping tunnel under one of my storage sheds. In the morning they come out and hop over to me for their treats and then hop away on their merry hopping way.

 

[magiloo]

I have had rabbits my whole life. Spending a lot of time in apartments, makes them the ideal pet, since they are small, there few regulations against them and they make little to no noise. My point is, I agree rabbits do not always come when called, but they are extremely territorial. So they do not go far. When I lived in suburbia my rabbit would somehow always escape the backyard, but he just knew to hop down the sidewalk and graze in the front yard. He never went any further. Another rabbit I had always stayed on the front deck and never went down the steps, even when she could see a lovely garden calling to her, just feet away. I took my current bun to a huge park hoping to see him use his fabulous legs to run the expansive lawn. He just stayed under the tree I put him under and ran around it for a couple of hours. And when I picked him up to take him back to the car, he used those fabulous legs to jump from my arms and go back to the tree. Left to their own devices, rabbits will want less and less to be handled, but I don't believe they will go anywhere. They certainly need to be protected, because even a house cat on the prowl can be a predator to your bun. But even a bun that won't leave the porch and who will kiss you regularly can be hard to catch when the sun is going down. She gave me many a hard time having to dart around and climb under deck furniture to get her in, but she had to come in. Otherwise, she would never had survived the possums, raccoons, cats, dogs and whatever else might have come for her. It would have never occurred to me to keep buns and chickens together. I would eat a chicken, but eat my sweet furball? Never! Chickens have beaks that bunnies are not equipped to deal with. All they can do is run, and if you have them penned together, I think that spells disaster for the bun. Diseases aside, I think it is just dangerous.

When I was a kid, my family went on a camping trip. I had spent time swimming and catching a blue bellied lizard. When we got home, my mother didn't know what to do with the lizard. I really do not know why we had a rat for a pet, but my mother put the lizard in there with the rat, and it was literally a fraction of a second before the rat had killed the lizard. Maybe I get too attached to stuff, but that was terrifying. Some stuff just do not go together.