Backyard Chicken people looking to get into Rabbits

[Grant]

Welcome. I can’t help much with the rabbits, but I do have the Highlands. Mine are crosses with mini Hereford then a mini cross bull. I’m raising for my consumption, not selling purebreds. The quality vs quantity thing. Enjoy the journey.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Congratulations! You should make a thread and tell us all about them.

Thanks!
Cluckmecoop7's Animal Friends!

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Is your rabbit living with your chickens? I really want mine to share the run.

No, I have a separate hutch for the rabbit across the yard. Although I've never done it, I don't recommend keeping rabbits and chickens together. Some people have had it work out fine, but others......not so much.

1. Chickens and rabbits usually eat different food. - If you kept them together they could eat each others food and get sick.

2. Chickens and rabbits could spread disease(s) to each other.

3. If you suddenly introduce your rabbit to the chickens they will probably think it's another chicken trying to enter 'their' flock and attack it. The rabbit could also kill the chickens.


There are other bad things on keeping them together, but that's just my opinion. If I were you, I wouldn't.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

I was thinking it would provide cushioning and nesting material since the cages will be used for nursing and rearing kits. Perhaps I'll just add a nesting box/tray for the doe to give birth and nurse the kits.


I thought about this. I will try to go 18" down.

You will have to have nesting boxes for when the rabbits ‘kindle’..means have babies..they pull fur, and make a big nest..the boxes are where they put the kits and they jumpin top to protect them. They are very simple to make. Don’t go watsing money on anything at the store..they usually are made cheap and don’t last, which, I’m sure you may already know with chicken coops? As for rabbit ‘tractors’. Movable cages for in the summer...I have many...I’ve had a few get sick..as long as you are on top of deworming...which you have to do anyways if you plan to eat them...they should be ok. Yes, they dig..but, if you are around to be moving the tractor..I’ve never had any dig that fast or deep to escape in a day...and I’ve had up to 15 in a tractor at once...I have had some jump out the top, when I was a dummy and forgot to to close the door...ugh. But, they get pretty tame and don’t go far. But, rabbits do get stressed..then it can become an issue. I won’t get into that..but, if you ever run into that...be sure to get on here right away and I can give you step by step help, as I’ve had much experience with it, and lost some and saved many to it. I’m a breeder. I breed New Zealand and California. Sometimes cross the two. Flemish giants are very pretty, but really known as a meat rabbit, so...you might want to some read each on that. The ones I raise are considered duel purpose. Right now I have/ about 50. Just sold a ton ready for Easter. Have many kits that will ready, and most are already claimed. My husband will be delivering them to a mutual spot...if we are still allowed...otherwise we will hold them until after all this is over. There are many of us with rabbits on here. Some put bunnies with chickens. I do not. I did have one goose in a tractor with rabbits, he had one leg and needed company. They got along fine., other than the rabbits ate his feed. I would definitely go through the many rabbit threads and read a bunch, for tips. I had a ‘slip up bunnies’ over the winter...accident breeding from two bonded bunnies very young. Well, the doe gave birth...about 4 weeks later she kindled again!! She had no contact with the buck again. Apparently is it’s rare, but it does happen that a doe can keep fertile eggs inside her and have dual litters. I had to wean the first litter. Unfortunately she didnt nurse the second batch and I lost them on the 2nd day. But it was definitely a learning lesson and the great people on here gave me great help!! Rabbits do better in the cool than heat, so I’m glad you picked a shaded spot for them! Some like to put a frozen water bottle bottle in with them on really hot days or mist them with a water bottle. I do both. Also, I open the top of my hutch doors in the early morning to let in cool air and shut by 11to prevent heat. Sometimes it’s harder to breed in the very hot temps, but I’ve still been able. welcome to BYH...you’re going to love it here, the people ar3 great...oh, most of us keep journals, that way you can write about your farm/animals/family, etc...post pictures and we can get to know you you and help along the way. The more info you give, the more we can help! The journal thread is down under social...here’s some pictures of my outside hutches and in the barn...just to give you more ideas for set ups, we have tin poop catchers under hutches so the poop goes into a 5gallo g bucket. Hubby made them. Very nice for me!!

 

[Breeder!]

You will have to have nesting boxes for when the rabbits ‘kindle’..means have babies..they pull fur, and make a big nest..the boxes are where they put the kits and they jumpin top to protect them. They are very simple to make. Don’t go watsing money on anything at the store..they usually are made cheap and don’t last, which, I’m sure you may already know with chicken coops? As for rabbit ‘tractors’. Movable cages for in the summer...I have many...I’ve had a few get sick..as long as you are on top of deworming...which you have to do anyways if you plan to eat them...they should be ok. Yes, they dig..but, if you are around to be moving the tractor..I’ve never had any dig that fast or deep to escape in a day...and I’ve had up to 15 in a tractor at once...I have had some jump out the top, when I was a dummy and forgot to to close the door...ugh. But, they get pretty tame and don’t go far. But, rabbits do get stressed..then it can become an issue. I won’t get into that..but, if you ever run into that...be sure to get on here right away and I can give you step by step help, as I’ve had much experience with it, and lost some and saved many to it. I’m a breeder. I breed New Zealand and California. Sometimes cross the two. Flemish giants are very pretty, but really known as a meat rabbit, so...you might want to some read each on that. The ones I raise are considered duel purpose. Right now I have/ about 50. Just sold a ton ready for Easter. Have many kits that will ready, and most are already claimed. My husband will be delivering them to a mutual spot...if we are still allowed...otherwise we will hold them until after all this is over. There are many of us with rabbits on here. Some put bunnies with chickens. I do not. I did have one goose in a tractor with rabbits, he had one leg and needed company. They got along fine., other than the rabbits ate his feed. I would definitely go through the many rabbit threads and read a bunch, for tips. I had a ‘slip up bunnies’ over the winter...accident breeding from two bonded bunnies very young. Well, the doe gave birth...about 4 weeks later she kindled again!! She had no contact with the buck again. Apparently is it’s rare, but it does happen that a doe can keep fertile eggs inside her and have dual litters. I had to wean the first litter. Unfortunately she didnt nurse the second batch and I lost them on the 2nd day. But it was definitely a learning lesson and the great people on here gave me great help!! Rabbits do better in the cool than heat, so I’m glad you picked a shaded spot for them! Some like to put a frozen water bottle bottle in with them on really hot days or mist them with a water bottle. I do both. Also, I open the top of my hutch doors in the early morning to let in cool air and shut by 11to prevent heat. Sometimes it’s harder to breed in the very hot temps, but I’ve still been able. welcome to BYH...you’re going to love it here, the people ar3 great...oh, most of us keep journals, that way you can write about your farm/animals/family, etc...post pictures and we can get to know you you and help along the way. The more info you give, the more we can help! The journal thread is down under social...here’s some pictures of my outside hutches and in the barn...just to give you more ideas for set ups, we have tin poop catchers under hutches so the poop goes into a 5gallo g bucket. Hubby made them. Very nice for me!!View attachment 71422View attachment 71423View attachment 71424View attachment 71425View attachment 71426View attachment 71427View attachment 71428View attachment 71429

I love this rabbit and duck house combo. Do you have to heat in the winter? I'm in IL, so I was thinking I would move the rabbits into the heated garage for winter. As for nesting and raising kits, I'm going to repurpose my 3-tier quail hutch for that. I plan to move the pregnant doe to the dutch and let her build the nest, give birth and nurse in their. Then I'll remove her when kits are weaned and keep the kits in the hutch until they're large enough to go out. I posted a pic of the hutch during it's construction in the first page of this thread. It's 4ft long and 18" deep I think. Each cage is 15" tall in the front and 12" tall in the back (the floor is sloped). I could rework the floors and level them. It wouldn't be too challenging of a task.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

I love this rabbit and duck house combo. Do you have to heat in the winter? I'm in IL, so I was thinking I would move the rabbits into the heated garage for winter. As for nesting and raising kits, I'm going to repurpose my 3-tier quail hutch for that. I plan to move the pregnant doe to the dutch and let her build the nest, give birth and nurse in their. Then I'll remove her when kits are weaned and keep the kits in the hutch until they're large enough to go out. I posted a pic of the hutch during it's construction in the first page of this thread. It's 4ft long and 18" deep I think. Each cage is 15" tall in the front and 12" tall in the back (the floor is sloped). I could rework the floors and level them. It wouldn't be too challenging of a task.

I saw..it’s very nice!! No heat in the winter, and based on the threads here, our winters are much more brutal than yours. But, if you have a garage, then..great! I have wayyy too many rabbits and wayyy too many vehicles to spare one of our many garages.... So, the barn works great. She will will build a nest, by pulling fur out of her belly...but, I really think you ought to read up on nesting boxes...they are quite easy to build and they offer a great deal of heat and safety for the kits. When the doe starts to nest, she’ll take the hay and crest her nest in the box, then pull fur...this just my opinion...but, I think if you read through the threads, I think everyone of us use nest boxes with great success. Take advice with a grain of salt... Also, I hope you know you can’t keep does together when they are raising kits? Some does can’t even be kept together period. I’ve had some that are bonded...meaning put together since young..,and they did great. But, some that we’re about a year...can’t be put together much...just depends on the doe. But, definitely when they kindle...can’t be together..they could hurt the other does’ kits....sometimes..if a doe has too many kits, or something happens to the doe, you can TRY to sneak some newborn kits into another doe’s litter...but sometimes it doesn’t work...just depends on the doe. You might want to ask @Bunnylady about the sloped floors...she’s the most knowledgeable, I think...I’m not quite sure how that would work on the nails and feet over a long period of time? Might be just fine.....

 

[Breeder!]

I saw..it’s very nice!! No heat in the winter, and based on the threads here, our winters are much more brutal than yours. But, if you have a garage, then..great! I have wayyy too many rabbits and wayyy too many vehicles to spare one of our many garages.... So, the barn works great. She will will build a nest, by pulling fur out of her belly...but, I really think you ought to read up on nesting boxes...they are quite easy to build and they offer a great deal of heat and safety for the kits. When the doe starts to nest, she’ll take the hay and crest her nest in the box, then pull fur...this just my opinion...but, I think if you read through the threads, I think everyone of us use nest boxes with great success. Take advice with a grain of salt... Also, I hope you know you can’t keep does together when they are raising kits? Some does can’t even be kept together period. I’ve had some that are bonded...meaning put together since young..,and they did great. But, some that we’re about a year...can’t be put together much...just depends on the doe. But, definitely when they kindle...can’t be together..they could hurt the other does’ kits....sometimes..if a doe has too many kits, or something happens to the doe, you can TRY to sneak some newborn kits into another doe’s litter...but sometimes it doesn’t work...just depends on the doe. You might want to ask @Bunnylady about the sloped floors...she’s the most knowledgeable, I think...I’m not quite sure how that would work on the nails and feet over a long period of time? Might be just fine.....

Thanks for the advice and opinions. Very appreciated.

 

[Breeder!]

For those who are following along here, I'm in the process of moving our compost bins in the garden to another location about 60ft away. We have a 3-bin setup scrapped together. I decided it would be easier to just build a new set of bins and move the compost over rather than pull out all the compost from the original 3 bins, move the structure and then move the compost again into the bins. The reason I'm telling you this is I now have a 3-bin structure made of wood with rather small gaps but plenty of gaps for air flow. I'm thinking with a roof, some doors and a power wash I could have outdoor rabbit pens with little effort. I would move the structure from the garden to the chicken run, which would be the hardest part but just a few screws removed and I can move each panel separately. The chicken run is secure and would allow me to hopefully let the rabbits out to hop around with some feathered friends as long as they all get along. I'd also be able to keep the rabbits in separated from each other if necessary. I really like the idea of a colony, but I don't like the of females fighting and males over breading.

Here's a picture of the compost bins I'm talking about that I took a year ago. It's rough, but I have the skills to fix it up and get it to be a neat rabbit enclosure for rabbits on the ground.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

Hello,

I've been on BYC for about 2 years now, and I'm coming over to BYH as I look to get into rabbits. Perhaps one day in the future we will have dairy goats, Highland cattle and horses (that's the dream), but we are living on a 1/3 acre suburban plot right now so that's not that type of herd is not currently feasible. We currently have 10 chickens (3 are just chicks), 6 ducks, 2 turkeys and a bunch of quail. I'm thinking of getting out of quail and re-purposing their 3 tier hutch for rabbit breeding/rearing. If possible, I'd like to keep the rabbits outdoors most of the year, ideally in the run with the chickens and two turkeys. Our chicken run is well shaded and I could build an area into the shed that the run wraps around to keep the rabbits in. During the winter, I wouldn't mind moving the rabbits into our heated garage.

About 8 years ago, my wife (then girlfriend) and I had a pet rabbit for some time. That's the extent of my experience with rabbits though. I've never bred them nor kept them in a colony like I would like to. I'd also like to try to get them to be friendly around people. We have two children, son is 3 years old and daughter just going on 5 months. I certainly don't want a child being bit and scratched by rabbits.

The purpose of the rabbits would be for meat primarily and possibly selling kits. They would also be pets though, especially the breeding group. I'm favoring the Flemish Giant as a breed of choice. I've been told I should consider a different breed for meat/bone ratio and feed conversion, but I REALLY like the Flemish Giants. I think they would look awesome in the run with the birds. I may go with a different breed though, especially because finding the Giants locally seems impossible.

Hello and welcome to the forums! Indeed, rabbits can make great pets — for the right people. ... Rabbits exhibit strikingly distinctive personalities. We may be as childish and dumb as puppies or chattens, as autonomous and interesting as cats, or as trustworthy and genuinely affectionate as dogs