My rabbit might be killing my chickens

[KingD]

My old rabbit used to attempt to mate with my hens. None ever got killed though. The rabbit was massive and more than capable of killing a hen but he never did. I would say the best thing to do is to get a rabbit hutch and keep him locked up or alternatively secure the chicken run so that the rabbit can't continue his antics.

 

[MissE]

I am a firm believer of housing most species of farm animals separately. Some exceptions apply to large livestock.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sounds like it's suffocating the hens.
Bunny needs a separate area.

 

[the_peanut_coop]

I would say the best thing to do is to get a rabbit hutch and keep him locked up or alternatively secure the chicken run so that the rabbit can't continue his antics.

Agreed!

Bunny needs a separate area.

Agreed.

 

[the_peanut_coop]

have you sorted out something, @Zark32 ?

 

[4chickenslove]

This is a bizarre scenario. I’ve had chickens for almost 4 years and would lose one every once in awhile to a coyote or hawk. About a year ago I got a pet rabbit and it quickly become the wild/domesticated rabbit of the backyard. She’s always been very sweet and docile. She would follow the chickens around and it was really cute. All of a sudden about month ago one after another my chickens would get lethargic and die out of nowhere a couple days later. It seemed to be the chickens that our rabbit would take a liking to. Which made me curious but thought it was just a dirty coop which I later cleaned and the chickens seemed happy and healthy and started laying again. However today I found one of chickens dead in the run. Luckily I installed a nest cam in the run to keep an eye on things. As I started watching the video it appeared the rabbit was getting a little too close to the chicken. Then a few moments later it looked like the rabbit was humping the chicken. It went on for a few minutes until the chicken collapsed and the rabbit basically laid on top of it for awhile until the chicken stopped moving completely. This was extremely disturbing and my fiancé is in shock. Can some please explain what the hell is going on? Is this rabbit spreading diseases or is it literally taking advantage of my chickens until the die?

Yes your rabbit could easily be killing your chicken. Have you ever seen what two male rabbits will do to each other? They eat their testicle off and die. Rabbits can be very dangerous to other rabbits and territorial towards other animals as well.