Rabbits and Chickens

[professorkelmer]

Hi All:

So I decided to start an urban garden and I have two rabbits and 11 chickens. They all live outside my homemade chicken coup. Its approximately a size of a bedroom. My rabbits will not eat their feed and they love the chicken feed. It has cut down on my expenses. I put an old couch in the house and the rabbits made a home underneath. Do you think it will be hard for them to breed. They get along with the chickens.

 

[cavemanrich]

HARD FOR RABBITS TO BREED..

Maybe only if they are of the same sex..

Most of all

and WISHING YOU BEST

 

[professorkelmer]

Well alright then

 

[Bunnylady]

Chicken feed is all wrong for rabbits, nutritionally speaking. They will probably get so fat eating it that they won't want to breed. Rabbits eating the chicken feed is frequently a problem when people try to keep chickens and rabbits together, even if the rabbits and chickens leave each other alone.

 

[abooot99]

So I think it's pretty possible to have chickens and rabbits coexist but the feed is definitely a problem. I have chickens and rabbits as well and while they are separate right now I am seriously considering putting them back together as they used to be. I separated them because the rabbits were chowing on the chicken feed and it's really not good for them. My plan is to devise a chicken feeder that is either rabbit proof or putting the chicken feeder a pie where the chickens have to fly to a perch like birdfeeders. We just have to outsmart those little critters because they do love some chicken feed

 

[DutchBunny03]

Hi All:

So I decided to start an urban garden and I have two rabbits and 11 chickens. They all live outside my homemade chicken coup. Its approximately a size of a bedroom. My rabbits will not eat their feed and they love the chicken feed. It has cut down on my expenses. I put an old couch in the house and the rabbits made a home underneath. Do you think it will be hard for them to breed. They get along with the chickens. 

Do not let your rabbits eat chicken food. As previously stated, they will become obese. Try this: let the chickens and rabbits out together during the day, but at night put the rabbits somewhere else. That will not stop them from eating chicken feed altogether, but it will give them a chance to eat pellets, which have what they REALLY need in them.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

There's another problem with chicken feed. Most people feed layer feed, which contains high levels of calcium. Rabbits can't absorb that much and calcium buildup in rabbits can lead to kidney failure.

For game bird feeds, many of them contain meat or animal by products (bone meal, fish meal, etc), which is obviously inappropriate for rabbits. Chickens are omnivores and rabbits are herbivores, so...

I'd also have some concerns about chickens digging out newborn rabbits or aggressive does chasing/injuring chickens that get to close to her burrow. Rare, but happens.

 

[professorkelmer]

Thanks Everyone!

I started feeding my rabbits at night while the chickens are down for the night. My rabbits and chickens roam free in my closed in backyard, so I don't have problems of any of the animals fighting one another. Also, everyone loves the alfalfa hay, which has a lot of nutrients. So far so good. Thanks for your advice and comments.

 

[professorkelmer]

Thanks I will do that...

 

[freerangepossum]

I feed black soldier fly larvae to my chooks so although they range together..there is no competition unless I throw dandelions in!
The bonus is that if anything threatens them all..the Rabbits scream and I come with a gun!