Rabbit In The Coop

[BullardBarnyard]

Ok. Here's our dilemma.
Our rabbits live in a hutch. Sounds common, no? Well these rabbits have had about 3 feet to explore their whole lives. They're very solitary and aren't the skinnest rabbits, making them probably not the healthiest. I wanted to know if it would be good to let the rabbits either live in the coop with the chickens, or live in a hutch in the yard with the chickens. I don't want the chickens bullying the rabbits and FURTHER hermitizing them, or vise versa.
Are there any health concerns, for either animal?
Tips? Advice?....

 

[Lute]

Someone was just saying on another thread how that wasn't a good idea. They had put their rabbits in with their chickens when the rabbits were young but after a few weeks they grew up and attacked the chickens.

It seems other people have done it though.

 

[dainerra]

I put my rabbits in the coop with the chickens. I went down one afternoon to check for eggs and found this...




chickens never bothered the babies, rabbits never bothered the chickens. I did move her nest out of the coop LOL she had picked the hens favorite nest to have her babies!

 

[Bunnylady]

Wow, dainerra, you were lucky! I had some rabbits in hutches in an area where the chickens could get under them. A doe kindled out of her nestbox, and some of the babies fell through the wire. When I found them, the chickens had pecked several of them to death.

 

[Lute]

I'm going to take a wild guess and say it's like dogs and livestock. It depends on the chickens.

 

[dainerra]

Wow, dainerra, you were lucky! I had some rabbits in hutches in an area where the chickens could get under them. A doe kindled out of her nestbox, and some of the babies fell through the wire. When I found them, the chickens had pecked several of them to death.

when I found them, they were still damp, so they hadn't been there long. I know for SURE that the birds would have eaten them. I put them in a tote with an entry just big enough for Mama bunny and a divider to make sure that none of the kits could accidentally be pulled out.

I do agree that it depends on the chickens and the bunnies. Some of both types can be more aggressive. But, as long as no one is actively attacking the other and both species have a place where the other can't go, then I haven't had a problem. I do keep a very close eye on things the first few days and then check a couple times a day after that.