# Putting Bottle Lamb with Rabbit.  Good or Bad idea?



## rockdoveranch (Apr 28, 2011)

This morning we decided we HAD let ALL the ewes, with and without lambs, out on the 10 acres where our house is because of the drought.  This meant we needed to do something with the little bottle ewe lamb as we felt she would not be able to keep of with the herd and she would get knocked around ALOT.  Her mom is not feeding her and paws and butts her around too.

Since all our portable dog kennels are being used, we decided to put her in with the French Lop doe that fights with both the other doe and the buck rabbits.  She has a cage inside a dog kennel and has free run of the dog kennel.

The lamb cried for a long time so I decided to bring a chair in the kennel with a towel and give her a bottle and love on her for awhile.  She is used to the chair and stands under and near it a lot in the pen she has been in.  She has not cried since I left her.

The rabbit has been interested in the lamb and HAS been nice to her.  Before I went in there the lamb was butting the rabbit, but that has stopped now and the rabbi is staying near the lamb.

Do ya'll think this is a bad idea?  Internal parasite?  Etc?  I will keep the rabbit cage and the kennel VERY clean.  And the rabbi food will be way inside her cage so the lamb cannot explore it.

The rabbit weighs about 14 pounds.  The ewe lamb was born on 4/20 and is still very tiny.


----------



## currycomb (Apr 28, 2011)

i don't think there is anything to worry about at this stage. the rabbit can move away if the lamb gets too rough, and i have never heard of a rabbit eating a lamb, so they can be strange bedfellows!!!


----------



## TigerLilly (Apr 28, 2011)

What a cute picture!


----------



## rockdoveranch (Apr 28, 2011)

Thanks to both of you.  

She started crying A LOT.  I could not bare the sadness, so at the moment she is on my lap in the house.

I wish our puppies were older because if they were I would just keep her in the house.  We did that with our first two bottle babies.  I have pictures of one wearing diapers.


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Apr 28, 2011)

CUTE!  That's a big rabbit and/or a tiny lamb!     Can you mail the lamb to MD?


----------



## carolinagirl (Apr 28, 2011)

Oh, the lambie is WAY too cute!! What a cute pair they make.


----------



## lasergrl (May 2, 2011)

Here is my 4 week old soay ewe lamb playing with my 4 month old belgian hare doe.  The rabbit plays more aggressively but as soon as the lamb realized how the play goes they have alot of fun!  The lamb fake rams the bunny, the bunny kind of does it back then runs circles around the lamb.  That makes the lamb jump around like a nut!


----------



## rockdoveranch (May 7, 2011)

Precious pictures!

Glad I am not the only one who pairs two unlikely pairs!

We have started letting "Wimberly" out with the ewe and lamb herd.  She is only taking a bottle 3 times a day which is a LOT less than our past bottle babies, but she drinks a lot more at each feeding.

When I feed her she follows me back to the house, but as soon as I go in she goes to the herd.  I feel really bad for her, but she seems to be holding her own and is keeping up with the rest of the sheep and trying to steal milk from different ewes.

She is still very tiny and is not as peppy as the rest of the lambs.  Today though, I did see her run sideways and having a good time.


----------



## Ms. Research (Aug 27, 2011)

How's Wimberly doing?  Has she been able to adapt to your herd?

Just sitting here prepared and waiting for Irene, I've been delving into the Sheep Archives and came upon this thread.  Amazing how animals will sometime adapt to different species.  

Also been on your website.  Very impressive.


----------



## KKeiC07 (Dec 5, 2011)

I'm new here, but thought that was such a cute post! I kept my bottle lamb with my little Dutch bunny! He loved her and she had such a big attitude that he was actually afraid of her!


----------

