Has anyone here let their chickens free range with a rabbit?????? At the moment I have my granddaughters rabbit Pumpkin staying with us. It was used to being in the house with central heating etc and getting fussed over by a 3yr old. Well they have moved house and everything is kind of crazy for them at the moment so Pumpkin is now staying with us. She may be here perminently and just getting visits from our granddaughter. When Pumpkin came the weather was cold outside so we put her into the shed after a few days as she was getting cold. But it hardly seemed fare as she was used to more company. Everytime I went to get the hen feed there was a troop of chickens behind me visiting the strange ball of fluff in the shed? Pumkin didn't seem to be bothered and liked the company. The last few days the temperature here has gotten a bit better and so Pumpkin's cage and run are outside in the Chicken run! The girls are keeping her company and don't seem to be that bothered that she is there at all. However I don't want to open the rabbit run and let her out amoungst the chickens because I don't know if they go together well? Obviously they eat a little defferently etc but I don't want Jessicas rabbit getting pecked to death! I would like some advice on this and has anyone else got rabbits and chickens together?????? If pumpkin ends up here perminently she does need friends and SHE IS NOT COMMING IN THE HOUSE!!!!!! Dogs etc! And we have a very jealous cat in the house! Oes
I dont see why it would be a problem....and if bunny gets cold why cant she bed down in the coop at night (if you have a corner with no roosts over it so she wont get pooped on? She will stay warmer....Not sure if a bunny will eat poopy straw and get sick though-- we have 2 young doelings (mini goats) in the chicken yard and they go inthru the pop door and sleep in the coop at night- not my idea but they are pretty set on it (goats are pretty stubborn)... and hasnt done anyone any harm so far....
If this is a mature rabbit, she should be so large that the chickens wouldn't bother her. It seems that they should all be able to successfully forage together. Chris
Yes! We used to have 2 rabbits free ranging with our flock of 10-20 hens (and sometimes a roo), in a large fenced in yard. They never bothered each other at all. They would free range together all afternoon, but the rabbits had a separate portion of the shed and a run all to themselves to spend the night and morning. When they free ranged in the afternoon, rabbits would occasionally go into the chicken run and eat the hay, but only if it was clean and fresh. So that was no problem. The only potential problem was that one of the rabbits used to sneak into the coop and eat the layer feed. He did not do it very often, because I kept an eye on him, and he quickly learned he wasn't supposed to do it (I would herd him out of the coop when I caught him). I was concerned that the layer feed could be harmful to the rabbits because it is high in calcium, it's grain based rather than grass based, and it's just not formulated for rabbits. So if you can keep the rabbits from eating the chicken feed, go for it!
I have a bunch of different size rabbits we turn into the chicken pen from time to time. The chickens don't bother them.