I have someone that I have been in discussion with about whether or not they could keep rabbits in the same area as the chikens (colony in the coop type setting in believe) Any body ever done this... Pros and cons?
Rabbits and chickens... Together?
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I have chickens on the ground in my rabbitry. The cages hang above.
There are some hazards even to that setup. I've heard there may be diseases that can pass from chickens to rabbits. Never had a problem, but I only keep a small closed flock of hens.
I don't add DE to the floor to keep the birds from kicking up too much dust.
And once, a newly-brought-in doe was unexpectedly pregnant and birthed on the wire in a bottom level cage (one of those situations where the person selling me the rabbit promised that she couldn't be pregnant :roll: ) It was cold so they probably died quickly, but by the time I found them the chickens had pecked at the babies through the wire.
It was the most horrible thing I'd ever seen pertaining to rabbit raising.
After that experience, I've always been careful to keep does in higher level cages where the birds can't reach, just in case.
My hens are sweet to people and each other and not cannibals at all...and they never peck at adult rabbits or juniors.
If they will eat newborn bunnies, I'm afraid most people's birds would. Hens in a colony would probably learn to destroy every nest of popples they could find.
The other thing would be rabbits coming in contact with chicken poo. To me, that would be gross.
There are some hazards even to that setup. I've heard there may be diseases that can pass from chickens to rabbits. Never had a problem, but I only keep a small closed flock of hens.
I don't add DE to the floor to keep the birds from kicking up too much dust.
And once, a newly-brought-in doe was unexpectedly pregnant and birthed on the wire in a bottom level cage (one of those situations where the person selling me the rabbit promised that she couldn't be pregnant :roll: ) It was cold so they probably died quickly, but by the time I found them the chickens had pecked at the babies through the wire.
It was the most horrible thing I'd ever seen pertaining to rabbit raising.
After that experience, I've always been careful to keep does in higher level cages where the birds can't reach, just in case.
My hens are sweet to people and each other and not cannibals at all...and they never peck at adult rabbits or juniors.
If they will eat newborn bunnies, I'm afraid most people's birds would. Hens in a colony would probably learn to destroy every nest of popples they could find.
The other thing would be rabbits coming in contact with chicken poo. To me, that would be gross.
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I have a similar setup to Zass. My rabbit cages hang about 3 feet off the floor, and the chickens have the floor. We put down about 4 - 6" of pine shavings, digging out black gold chicken and rabbit manure compost twice a year and replacing it (not as hard as it sounds).
It works really well for us. Almost no bugs anywhere around the rabbits!
It works really well for us. Almost no bugs anywhere around the rabbits!
My rabbits are outside in cages.. and I let my chicken roam around during the day .. only in the afternoon.. and they are under my rabbit cages , eating up some grains .. but they don't live with them.... I had birds in the barn.. just sold them all and the dust that they give off is over whelming ...
MamaSheepdog
Well-known member
If they do it, I would definitely recommend a set up like Zass and Miss M have.
Be sure to advise them to put some type of barrier above the cages to prevent the chickens from roosting on them and soiling the rabbits or their feed and water. To prevent the chickens from eating the young rabbits (we had one member who came out to a scene of carnage when a litter left the nest for the first time) a secondary barrier of chicken wire below the cages would be a good precaution.
There is some debate about whether coccidia is host-specific or a more opportunistic parasite that will infect whatever critters are handy, but I myself would not risk having the rabbits frolicking around in chicken manure and possibly getting infected.
I don't know if this holds true with a larger population of rabbits sharing the chicken coop area; but I have a quarantine cage in my chicken run, and the chickens eat all of the rabbit poop that drops to the ground, as well as the feed.
Be sure to advise them to put some type of barrier above the cages to prevent the chickens from roosting on them and soiling the rabbits or their feed and water. To prevent the chickens from eating the young rabbits (we had one member who came out to a scene of carnage when a litter left the nest for the first time) a secondary barrier of chicken wire below the cages would be a good precaution.
There is some debate about whether coccidia is host-specific or a more opportunistic parasite that will infect whatever critters are handy, but I myself would not risk having the rabbits frolicking around in chicken manure and possibly getting infected.
I don't know if this holds true with a larger population of rabbits sharing the chicken coop area; but I have a quarantine cage in my chicken run, and the chickens eat all of the rabbit poop that drops to the ground, as well as the feed.
I have chickens under my rabbits as well, but-- they can not get on top of the rabbits cages, and- the bottom of the cages is about 3 1/2 feet above the ground. They do scratch the rabbit manure all over, so-- cleaning is more of a chore then when the rabbit manure was all in one neat pile under the cages.
GBov
Well-known member
I had a colony in my chicken pen - 20 by 20 feet - and never had a problem. Well, until I started falling into rabbit tunnels all over the yard, that is! :roll:
The fence was dug in 18 inches but needed to be at least 3 feet as the does figured out to dig down and then out. Not out as in escape but out as in miles of tunnels!
When there were no litters the burrows had big wide entrances and the chickens use to sit in them on the cool, fresh dug sand. The rabbits were either digging or resting deep underground during the day so they all seemed to be fine living together.
Never had a pecked eye or young kit attacked but the colony buck would have MUCH fun scattering chickens. He would wait for them to be close together and then run through them and watch them scatter.
I don't know if I was just lucky or if it was something to do with the tons of sand dug by the rabbits but cocci never appeared and, other than a genetic flaw in my does at that time, I never lost a kit to anything else in the colony.
BUT! Having to live trap the kits to dispatch them was a bit of a pain in the backside. They were super wild but again, that may have been that bloodline. I have a NZ and a rex buck loose right now and they both me go right up and pet him, no problems but then again, they grew up in a cage instead of a burrow so that might have something to do with it.
The fence was dug in 18 inches but needed to be at least 3 feet as the does figured out to dig down and then out. Not out as in escape but out as in miles of tunnels!
When there were no litters the burrows had big wide entrances and the chickens use to sit in them on the cool, fresh dug sand. The rabbits were either digging or resting deep underground during the day so they all seemed to be fine living together.
Never had a pecked eye or young kit attacked but the colony buck would have MUCH fun scattering chickens. He would wait for them to be close together and then run through them and watch them scatter.
I don't know if I was just lucky or if it was something to do with the tons of sand dug by the rabbits but cocci never appeared and, other than a genetic flaw in my does at that time, I never lost a kit to anything else in the colony.
BUT! Having to live trap the kits to dispatch them was a bit of a pain in the backside. They were super wild but again, that may have been that bloodline. I have a NZ and a rex buck loose right now and they both me go right up and pet him, no problems but then again, they grew up in a cage instead of a burrow so that might have something to do with it.
