Raising a rabbit in with chickens?

[jennajolynne]

Does anyone have any experience raising a rabbit in with their chickens? I have read a few articles where people have done this. They have had the rabbit have its own hutch to sleep in at night and the hen house for the chickens and they all share a run. Does anyone on here have any experience with that? I cannot find any forums or posts about it. We are thinking of getting a rabbit. All of our chickens are young and haven't reached laying maturity yet so if there was a better time I didn't know if it would be best when they are young if we did so. I have 15 pullets and 2 roos. All around 8-10 weeks old. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[JaeG]

My Mum had a Flemish doe, Lucy, who shared her run with two Pekin Bantams (Cochin Bantams to those of you in the US) and the chickens loved her, sitting with her often, snuggling up when it was cold. She was quite old when introduced to the chickens who were about 8 months old when they moved in. I would get a docile breed of rabbit such as a Lop, Rex, or Flemish. But it would depend on the personality of the rabbit, and if you got a male I would get him neutered. Lucy recently passed away from old age and the two little hens still go up to her cage looking for her. It's heart breaking. My Mum wants to get some more rabbits but finding Standard Rex (in the colours Mum wants) here in New Zealand is proving to be tricky.