# Any problems keeping rabbits and chickens together?



## Island Rabbits

Hello all, 
We are about to buy land and homestead, which is exhilarating and a little baffling. I have 10 rabbits and the goal is to keep them in a colony (those who get long, anyways) with access to a run during the day. Eventually, we will have chickens too. Can they be kept in the same run as rabbits? If so, what about roosters? I havenât had much luck googling the topic. Just a video of chickens breaking up a rabbit fight.


----------



## MaggieJ

KSALguy keeps chickens and rabbits in the same colony. A lot of people worry about coccidiosis spreading from chickens to rabbits... Other people believe the different strains of coccidiosis to be species specific. 

Having had both chickens and rabbits, separately, I would not house them together. Chickens can be nasty and I can't think that having them around would do anything good for the rabbits. I'd rather pen the rabbits and free-range the chickens.


----------



## o&itw

It works for a lot of people, but the professional growers insist it is an accident waiting to happen, and their argument sounds resonable. 

Apparently the real problem is not with coccidiosis, (the species are different), but with salmonella. Salmonella (or parathypoid) is a disease not uncommon in chickens, and can be brought in by rodents, but especially by wild birds like English sparrows.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/Chickens-Rabbits.htm


----------



## RiverPines

I would not let my rabbits run through chicken poo!
Chicken poo is nasty and the poor buns would have to lick that crud off their feet and bodies if they lay or walk in it, which they will.

I personally dont think chicken poo is good in a rabbit diet.

In the rabbit colony itself, I would hope chickens cant get into it. 
Chickens are predatory omnivores and tiny newborn bunnies would taste delicious!

I wont mix herbivore with omnivore. Why to different of species.
IMO thats just problems waiting to happen.


----------



## MaggieJ

I knew there was something I was missing, when thinking about this question. Senior's moment! :shrug: I agree that if your chickens carry salmonella, it will definitely be a threat to the rabbits. But even if it wasn't, the idea of aggressive chickens pecking at rabbits is not enticing. I had one of my hens peck my cat in the face - totally unprovoked!


----------



## byexample

We have our chickens and rabbits housed in the same barn. But I'd never consider having them share a run or have access to one another. Definitely sounds like an accident waiting to happen. I could see giving the chickens periodic access to the run to pick at and break up the bunny poo... but I wouldn't have the chickens in there with the rabbits at the same time. That's my opinion... but like everything else I don't believe there's only one right answer. And what works for one homestead might not work at all for another.

I love the concept of the bunny colony... but my neighbor tried it and it went ugly-bad. It was so bad that I wouldn't even consider it for our rabbitry.

Be well,

Patrick Harris
http://ByExample.com


----------



## byexample

RiverPines, that's a really good point concerning chickens going after baby buns. Hadn't even considered that... but my chickens have a field day with any mouse or other small rodent like creature when they can get to it.

Can't imagine how you could chicken-proof your rabbit nests... that could turn out to be quite horrific.

Patrick Harris
http://ByExample.com


----------



## KSALguy

i am by no means an expert, the only thing i have to offer is that my rabbit colony and its accompaning warren has survived quite well with out problem in the chicken run for going on two years now, the rabbits share their space with chickens and pigeons, the rabbits have dug their warren under the coop and all babies are born down there out of reach of any preditor and the chickens, 

for thoughs who have not done it and have no real experiance though i am sure you have a good point, its just not a point that agrees with what has actually been working for the last two years for me,


----------



## Island Rabbits

Thank you all for this wealth of information! My boyfriend is going to be thrilled. We're still in the land purchasing process and all designs are hypothetical as of yet, but it's relieving to have first hand accounts and information. Thanks a lot!


----------



## MaggieJ

KSALguy said:


> for thoughs who have not done it and have no real experiance though i am sure you have a good point, its just not a point that agrees with what has actually been working for the last two years for me,


KSALguy, your system has been working very well, there's no doubt about that. Probably the fact that your buns have a proper protected area for their warren has a lot to do with your success. 

Not all chickens carry salmonella, which is the major disease concern in housing them together. There may be a way of testing chickens to find out if they are carriers. 

The natural aggressiveness of chickens is another issue that I think needs to be considered. I've had three different breeds of chickens and they have all been aggressive to varying degrees. Mine free-range, so lack of space or boredom are not the reasons for this. It is just their nature.


----------



## smilesnsunshine

I'm also doing well with caged rabbits and cage-free chickens. The chickens root through the rabbit manure piles from time to time, which I believe helps keep the fly population in check. I chose Brahma chickens which are a (comparatively) mellow breed.


----------



## nduetime

ok, so here is the story. No flames, please. I did not know what to do with our meat rabbits with my DD so ill and incapacitated. I had tried to give them away numerous times, it was the wrong time for us to butcher them so...I let them go. They stayed here. Seriously, they never left the barnyard area and continued to let us pet them etc. Sometimes they slept in the riding arena (hay and sand...lovely) and sometimes they slept in the chicken coop. The one we called Momma Buns liked the chicken coop ALOT!

One day not too long ago, I found Momma Buns dead next to the cow tank. I assumed she was stepped on. Anyway, dead she was. The next day, I see a little black bunny outside with the chickens eating grass and drinking water. Whew! I thought, great, at least he/she is able to fend for themselves. Looked to be about eight weeks. The very next day, I see a little friend with little black bunny, this one is grey, just like the Daddy "Big Blue". Well. thinks I, I am glad he/she has a little friend. 

The next day or two were uneventful and we enjoyed the antics of the two baby bunnies. The next day however, another little black bunny shows up. AHA! Triplets! great! this was getting kind of fun. Sure enough, a day or two later, another little grey friend shows up. All these lovelies run in and out of the chicken coop and hang around the chickens.

Many antics and hopping extravaganzas. Suddenly, Big Blue decides he does not like the babies so much. He chases them around and around. Just as I was getting prepared to save them...all the chickens (all nine hens and 1 roo) gang up on Blue and chase him away. A couple hens escort the babies back to the coop. Well! I guess they do not really need me.

Early one frosty morn, days later, I hear crunching noises outside my bedroom window. (I hate food eating noise) I politely requested that Bud, the big grey cat leave and eat elsewhere. Then I see the greyish mess. Oh no! maybe they are feathers? Nope, we lost one of the grey babies. I was sad but then realized, they were free to roam about and this was farmlife. Still not thrilled about it though.

Two days later, you guessed it! Another little black bunny showed up! Momma Buns had five! They are all still free range chickens and rabbits, including Blue and seem to be very happy. The babies eat with the chickens, come out in the am with the chickens, and sleep with the chickens. They seem to be big enough now that Daddy blue leaves them be but sometimes hops around with them and eats. 

Ummmm, to answer your question, I think it is ok to have bunnies and chickens together!


----------



## KSALguy

yes chickens can be aggressive, i have seen the chickens bat the rabbits around and the rabbits bat the chickens around, neather are any worse for ware, i have a mix of mutts and silkies and game and game cross chickens, some of which are pure holy terror to humans if crossed the wrong way, but the rabbits and chickens co exist, now if i have a dead rabbit carcass or something like it the chickens will DEVOWER it, but the live rabbits are fine, 

i have one doe who has been alive and breeding quite well for the last two years out in the colony, 

i do periodically put ACV in the water to help treat EVERYONE at one time for what ever ails them, 

Fire ants are not even a problem INSIDE the colony, there is so much activity and earth moveing i have not lost anything to fire ants inside the colony setup, i HAVE had a few escapee rabbits that i caught later that have apparently sat on a fire ant hill and have the bite marks on their private parts to prove it, but none of the rabbits i have caught and handled out of the colony have had any such marks, 

the pen is setting on a kind of slope so when it rains (which it does alot in south east alabama) everything gets washed down hill away from the warren


----------



## gunnar wordon

I built a chicken run yesterday out of chainlink and i plan to put two breeding pairs of rabbits in there? there are 8 chickens in there but its a huge run.


----------



## pancho

I free range my chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, and rabbits together. They eat the same thing out of the same feeder, many times at the same time.
Yesterday I had a duck with 14 babies eating from the same feeder as rabbits and guinea pigs.

I had some baby rabbits come out from under the barn last week. The chickens usually are above the rabbits in the pecking order unless the rabbit gets mad. Yesterday I watched a small blue rabbit work his way up the pecking order. He went through 2 silkie hens and won. He then tried the silkie rooster. It took a few minutes but the rooster finally won out. I am sure the little rabbit will be back for another try.


----------



## gunnar wordon

i just worry that the rabbits may get brutalized by the roosters. have you ever seen a brawl like that occur?


----------



## KSALguy

nope, infact a rabbit is more likely to scare the crap out of the chickens just for giggles, i have seen a rabbit look at a group of hens and run right at them like a bowling ball sending them flying, then swerve to a stop just to see what happend, then start grooming like nothing had happend at all.


----------



## Fat Man

smilesnsunshine said:


> I'm also doing well with caged rabbits and cage-free chickens. The chickens root through the rabbit manure piles from time to time, which I believe helps keep the fly population in check. I chose Brahma chickens which are a (comparatively) mellow breed.



This what we do. The chickens share a yard with the goats (for now) but the goats don't have access to the rabbits.


----------



## volchitsa

Although most of my rabbits are caged, I have a few free range rabbits (well, partly free ranged. They asked to be penned at night  ). All of my chickens are free ranged and they treat the rabbits just like the cats; they generally ignore them but sometimes walk up to them and give an inquisitive "baaw baw baaawk". They also sometimes peck them, but it's more of a "Oh hey" sort of peck, just a light bop that the rabbits don't mind at all (I don't know if they even notice). The roosters pay no mind to the rabbits. Just like KSALguy said, the rabbits do enjoy spooking the chickens (and the cats) by charging up to them and then stopping  lol.
I haven't had any problems with them, but then again I don't have many free range rabbits and so the chickens may not notice them all the time.


----------



## GBov

My first buck is named Bowler because he will sit all peacefull like untill the chickens get in a nice group and then BAM, just like a bowling ball through 9 pins lol.

We only stopped having the chickens and rabbits loose together because of our very loose sandy, well, sand! A few cave ins convinced me we had to change our system but in all the time together, the chickens didnt even bother the very young bunnies as they started exploring the world above their burrow.

THey were right little devils to catch though!

I finally made a cage with a one way door, left the door propped open, put the food in the cage for a week and then put the door down. Hungry kits pushed their way into cage for food, no way out mwahahahaaa! Caught bunnies!

They never seemed to get chicken poo on them but with all the earth moving, they always seemed to have clean sand to lie about on.

Another plus was my buck didnt go steril in the heat. When it was hottest, I only ever saw buns in the late evening and early morning.


----------



## mekasmom

gunnar wordon said:


> i just worry that the rabbits may get brutalized by the roosters. have you ever seen a brawl like that occur?


Chickens will kill and peck (eat) small bunnies.


----------



## pancho

mekasmom said:


> Chickens will kill and peck (eat) small bunnies.


Not a worry there until I get a chicken that goes underground.


----------



## GBov

pancho said:


> Not a worry there until I get a chicken that goes underground.


Our chickens would scoootch as deep into the burrow as they could but not to try to get the baby bunnies - four or five feet farther into the burrow - but to get to the cool air. 

The rabbits just pushed through the crowd lol.

Not trying to cause trouble here but for the nay sayers, do you have first hand experiance of aggression or nastyness between chickens and rabbits or are you passing on hear say?


----------



## Macybaby

I would think amount of space is a key. Confined in a small space, and there will be problems. Enough room for them all to be able to get away from each other if needed, then usually things are fine. 

Food is another issue - many people only free range their chickens, so a tasty treat is always enjoyed, others keep plenty of feed around so the animals don't look at each other as food as much. I have no trouble with my dog, cats and free range chickens, but if the dog or cats got really hungry, it might be different. 

I love watching the chickens and cats interact - those hens have no problem putting the cats in their place, but the cats think of the chickens as annoyances, not competion and for sure, not food. 

So, with those that chickens go into the borrows - do you ahve problems with them getting stuck? My chickens don't seem to know how to back up and usually can't turn around in really tight quarters. I've had to rescue them several times from getting wedged somewhere that they could have easily backed out of.


----------



## pancho

I will have to take a pic sometime that shows guinea pigs, ducks, chickens, and rabbits all eating out of the same small trough at the same time.


----------



## GBov

Macybaby said:


> I would think amount of space is a key. Confined in a small space, and there will be problems. Enough room for them all to be able to get away from each other if needed, then usually things are fine.
> 
> Food is another issue - many people only free range their chickens, so a tasty treat is always enjoyed, others keep plenty of feed around so the animals don't look at each other as food as much. I have no trouble with my dog, cats and free range chickens, but if the dog or cats got really hungry, it might be different.
> 
> I love watching the chickens and cats interact - those hens have no problem putting the cats in their place, but the cats think of the chickens as annoyances, not competion and for sure, not food.
> 
> So, with those that chickens go into the borrows - do you ahve problems with them getting stuck? My chickens don't seem to know how to back up and usually can't turn around in really tight quarters. I've had to rescue them several times from getting wedged somewhere that they could have easily backed out of.


My chickens only sat in the burrow when hte doe had it nice and open for the young buns to come and go. When she had new babies she kept teh burrow mouth filled in so tight that only one rabbit could fit. But even at its most open they never got more than a foot or so inside. Afraid of getting stuck most likely. And any fresh pile of dirt had chickens piled up on it to get the coolness.


They are all so funny.


----------



## arnie

u can raise rabbits in a free range coliny they will dig holes controled breeding is nearly imposable and the rabbits can fall victom to all sortts of things espically dogs cyotes raccons cats it can work if you set up correctly . Personaly I like my cage system controled breeding of good purebred nzw rabbits my attempts at free rangeing worked for a short time but have ended badly the idea of little mantiance and fenceing sounded good.with proper fenceing and controling breeding buy only leting the buck visti a week every couple months could be sucksesfull


----------

