Rabbits can they llive with chickens?(bantams)

[Mikhail]

I suggest you go to a rabbit forum, like Rabbits United forum. NOT having veggies and fruits will make for a very unhealthy rabbit. Pellets and hay don't have everything they need for a balanced diet. A cup of pellets a day is too much, they should have unlimited hay, 1 cup of veggies a day and a limited amount of pellets.

 

[RabbitMage]

Sounds like HRS info to me.

Mikhail, a good pellet, hay, and water is all your rabbit needs to be healthy. Pellets are formulated to be a 100% balanced and healthy diet. I've been feeding my rabbits this way for 9 years, and if I remember right, chinbunny has been doing this for longer than I have.

You CAN feed your rabbit a mostly veggie diet, sure, as long as you make sure to do your research and devote a lot of fridge space and money to it. If you don't feed the right veggies you could end up with a nutritional deficiency or make your rabbit ill. When feeding pellets, you just don't run that risk.

And if you're concerned about doing the best for your rabbit, don't keep them with your birds. I wouldn't even let mine share the same building because I'm a worrywort.

 

[chinbunny1]

Yup, as rabbit mage says, Ive been doing this for a long time. My rabbits are fed pellets and hay. Some of mine have went on to place very well, and even had one win at nationals. You don't get that with unhealthy rabbits. The information I use caomes from rabbit breeders, and those heavily involved in the hobby that out a lot effort and research into it. Even most pet owners feed their rabbits mostly a commercial pellet. I had one bunny that was given to me years ago that was fed mostly vegetables (HRS diet). He was sickly, and out of condition. It took me three weeks to break him off the vegetables to get him to eat pellets. Ive also heard plenty of horror stories where someone followed the HRS guidelines/fed them greens and vegetables, and it killed their rabbit. Fact is there was one that I know of that was more recent. And I believe this person got her information off the internet. The only thing she ended up with was a dead bunny.

Like rabbitmage also says, you can feed it. But it takes a lot of extensive knowledge to make sure that rabbit is getting the right amount of nutrition so that it stays healthy, and in good flesh condition. Your average pet owner (or beginner) is not going to know that. Besides that out of the 'healthy rabbits' I have seen that have been fed the veggie based diet, I have yet to see one that actually is in good health. Most of these rabbitsd are also prone to dental disease, and GI stasis (so much for good health huh?). Whereas breeders and pets fed on pellets don't seem to have that problem. And yes we do pay very close attanetion to the health and well being of our rabbits. (In case that does get brought up). In all the years Ive been raising rabbits I have never once had a case of dental disease. And have only had a couple of them get GI stasis. And I have raised hundreds of rabbits. Some of that have died at an old age. Currently my oldest ones are about six years old, and still going strong.

Thats why its best to feed pellets first, then hay, and everything else as treats.

This site has a pretty good rabbit forum so far.

I would also suggest joining ones like the showbunnylist.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ShowBunnyList/

And even meat rabbits is a good one in case you ever decide to breed and raise them for food.


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Meatrabbits

There is also the ingoing debate on whether the rabbits can pick up lice and mites from the chickens too. I don't think its possible because I have mine in the same building with my pigeons and I don't have a problem with it.

 

[mekasmom]

Yes they can live together. Feed them a grain of some type with some alfalfa, even cracked corn or all purpose stock feed will work. You should also have some oyster shell for your chickens in order for them to lay.

 

[chinbunny1]

Cracked corn is not good for rabbits. Thats why most of us will caution against feeding them corn based feds. It can ferment during the warm smmer months, and actually make them very sick, and can kill them. Grains aren't really that good for rabbits either unless they are fed as a conditioner, and in small amounts. Or as a well researched rabbit food suppliment.

 

[Picklestix7866]

Now I've heard that you should not keep rabbits and poultry together in the same coop. My friend in 4H got a rabbit last year and kept it in her chicken coop in a separate cage and it died a few days later. The vet said it was something to do with the chickens but I don't remember the name. To me it is not worth it. I won't even touch my rabbit if I have just handled my chickens because I don't want to get him sick. It's not worth it at all.

 

[chinbunny1]

Hi pickles. You can keep them in the same building together. they just can't come in contact with the chicken poop. years ago I kept my rabbits and chickens in the same building together and never had a problem. The rabbits just had to be kept caged.

 

[mekasmom]

I have had them both together and/or separate for decades. I have also thrown out cracked corn, oats, and alfalfa pellets or hay for years. They are all still alive, and reproducing.
I guess if I end up with dead critters in the decades of the future that's when I will start to worry.

 

[obsessed]

I think it is not such a good idea. Rabbits and chickens share the same diseases. Ducks and rabbits yes. Chicken and rabbits no.

 

[chinbunny1]

I lost rabbits a few years ago to feeding them a corn based feed. Ive also been breeding and showing them for years. Like I said, the grains are OK as conditioner, and that may work for you. But corn is not OK. If you don't end up with s sick animal, you end up with a very pot bellied looking one. But IMHO its not worth the risk. New people could come in here, and read some of this stuff, feed the wrong thing to rabbits, and end up making them really sick or worse. I would never feed mine a lot of grain or chicken feed. Feeding them pellets is about the only way you can keep them healthy and in top condition. Most breeders will not touch corn, nor feed a corn based feed because it can kill the animal. A grain diet may work as long as its fully researched, and the animals are getting the right amount of nutrition. There are breeders out there that do mix their own feed. But its like the vegetable diet. New owners wouldn't be capable of doing that to make sure the animal is getting the proper amount of nutrition.