Keeping a Bunny with Chickens?

[Shezadandy]

Hi all,

A stray bunny that is clearly not a wild bunny has appeared at our house. We've put "found" ads out there, but in the mean time we'd like to try and keep him/her safe, though I don't know that we'll be able to physically catch it.

We do know that our farm cat will happily kill, decapitate and feast on a bunny as he's kept the local wild population in check. So- while the search for the bunny's owner is underway, I want to do my best to keep it off the menu of the various predators.

If I got bunny into the chicken run, would there be any issue with respect to disease/parasite etc? Behavior wise, would they be compatible?

 

[JaeG]

It all depends on the rabbits personality and it should not have access to chicken feed. Rabbits have very delicate digestive systems so feed it what it's been eating and slowly start to introduce some hay and rabbit pellets if you need to. If it's an uncastrated buck then it could act aggressively towards your chickens (there's the odd story on this site of rabbits killing chickens). Can you net off an area in the run for it perhaps? Hopefully you can catch it relatively easily and locate an owner quickly, poor thing. It's a gorgeous rabbit.

 

[Shezadandy]

It all depends on the rabbits personality and it should not have access to chicken feed. Rabbits have very delicate digestive systems so feed it what it's been eating and slowly start to introduce some hay and rabbit pellets if you need to. If it's an uncastrated buck then it could act aggressively towards your chickens (there's the odd story on this site of rabbits killing chickens). Can you net off an area in the run for it perhaps? Hopefully you can catch it relatively easily and locate an owner quickly, poor thing. It's a gorgeous rabbit.

Excellent to know- so either way, even if it's compatible- then it wouldn't be able to be in the run without having access to chicken feed. I have no clue whether it's male or female, and even less of an idea weather it's been neutered. Even with a small chance that it goes after the chickens- especially since I've got broodies with chicks- I'll skip the risk. Thank you so much for the quick reply!

Today it was hanging around our goat house where it has access to some orchard grass hay- and I threw some alfalfa hay under there too. We've got a pond that's accessible for drinking, and I also put some water under the goat house. So far mostly we've seen it eat grass and pretty sure it was nibbling on the chicken crumbles left in the introduction/isolation chicken pen from the day before, along with hay from around the goat house. Yesterday we caught our first glimpse of it, then this morning it was inside that pen, then most of the afternoon in the same areas. Not sure where it went from there- so I'll have to wait and see if it reappears. I can probably rig something up, the question will be if we can get it to go in. =)

I did see a "lost bunny" ad - this was one of the pictures. The ad said it was lost at 12 weeks. The email I got from the poster of the lost bunny ad said it was lost at 10 weeks-- whichever the correct age, it's been gone for 5 weeks. I've never had rabbits, so I'm not familiar with how fast they grow or if it's probable that the lost bunny and our found bunny could be the same animal-- or if there are any disqualifying features that confirm it can't be the same bunny that I'm not picking up on as a non-rabbit person.

Of course the complicating factor is this animal was lost 35 miles away. I don't know if rabbits hid in cars like sometimes you read about kittens and cats - doubt it would have gone that far by itself without being someone's snack.

The weird thing- for me anyway- is she emailed back exactly once. If there was even the slightest chance that someone had up to the minute location on my (still at-large) animal and I had a picture to confirm the possibility- I would be in my car so quick, if there was even a chance. Sigh. I guess not everyone has the same priorities.

Thanks again for the reply - I'll work on having something rigged up for the bunny should it reappear tomorrow.

 

[Shezadandy]

p.s. my post went from having no image (a picture with an x in it) to now having three of the same ... sorry bout that- didn't want to mess with it again since it shows up now. That's the picture from the "lost bunny" ad to compare to the critter on our property.

 

[drumstick diva]

Thank you for trying to do your best for this stray bunny. Sorry I know nothing about caring for them But Bunny Lady (user name) sure does. I doubt that a bunny would travel 35 miles unless someone tossed it out of a car.

 

[Belgianchickies]

No not 35 miles must be different one I guess.
My rabbits and chickens are fine together, but no buck! And I feed my chickens in small portions so they don't leave any for the rabbits (and rats).

 

[Aerliss]

Your found bun looks like a very well looked after rex. That velvet coat is beautiful. The lost bun does not appear to be a rex. And 35 miles is a LONG way for a bun to travel. Could be lost, given its very good condition, but I'd always put money on dumped. Particularly in a rural area.

Two of my buns get on just fine with the chickens (Wub likes to hang out with them, while Isaac just ignores them) when garden and ranging time coincide. But the other one, Milo, chases them. He just wants to be friends, but they don't understand that.

Jaeg is right about the food. Chicken feed could easily kill a rabbit. Their digestive system is not set up to deal with large quantities of carbohydrates. They get clogged up, bloat, and die.

Really kind of you to try to help this bun. Thank you. You're already doing everything I could think of, if there's no rescues in your area.

 

[Belgianchickies]

Here's some more happy pics Today's special

 

[Shezadandy]

Your found bun looks like a very well looked after rex. That velvet coat is beautiful. The lost bun does not appear to be a rex. And 35 miles is a LONG way for a bun to travel. Could be lost, given its very good condition, but I'd always put money on dumped. Particularly in a rural area.

Two of my buns get on just fine with the chickens (Wub likes to hang out with them, while Isaac just ignores them) when garden and ranging time coincide. But the other one, Milo, chases them. He just wants to be friends, but they don't understand that.

Jaeg is right about the food. Chicken feed could easily kill a rabbit. Their digestive system is not set up to deal with large quantities of carbohydrates. They get clogged up, bloat, and die.

Really kind of you to try to help this bun. Thank you. You're already doing everything I could think of, if there's no rescues in your area.

Thank you! That seems to eliminate the possibility that they're the same bunny. Yes, we're in a rural area - I hate to think of people dumping animals here, but it happens all the time. I guess the timing is about right for all the cute little "easter bunnies" to stop being so little and cute. I really hope this isn't that!

I haven't spotted bunny since yesterday afternoon. That doesn't mean it's not hiding under one of the other buildings, or somewhere in the very tall grass- hopefully it's close by where it's got access to all the food, shade and water it can use.

Poor little thing, though it does seem to be doing OK for itself. Probably the biggest worry is the predators. There's a wild population in our various blackberry growths- I don't know enough about rabbits to know if it would be accepted there or if they'd hurt it or send it packing.

We'd have to catch it to get it to a rescue- if it was consistently in one spot I could build up something around it to try and contain- though our dirt is soft enough that it could dig right out under the fence if it knows how. I did do a rabbit rescue search and there's only one 'rescue' that didn't look like much.

But I've got it all over 3 neighboring counties on craigslist under 3 different categories, and on petharbor, and in the classifieds. So we'll see. If someone is actually looking for it (i.e. it was truly lost and not dumped) they should be able to find us.

 

[Shezadandy]

Here's some more happy pics Today's special
View attachment 1436784 View attachment 1436786

Super doo-per sweet pictures!!! Very awwwwwwwww inducing!