mystery silkies

[Bigsonstinypets]

hello, I inherited these two silkies from a nieghbor. not sure their ages or genders. They mostly stay together inside the coop, while the the rest of the flock frolics in our orchard.

 

[Bigsonstinypets]

one is bigger. they both have walnut combs. and one has spurs. not sure about the other one, because both have a lot of twisty toes.

 

[MysteryChicken]

They're cockerels.

 

[Bigsonstinypets]

They're cockerels.

Thought so, thank you. I think i am going to make a colony of Rosters in a separate area with another fellow someone dropped off. I just didn’t want two males over one lady. hopefully 3 bachelors and a rabbit will be ok.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Thought so, thank you. I think i am going to make a colony of Rosters in a separate area with another fellow someone dropped off. I just didn’t want two males over one lady. hopefully 3 bachelors and a rabbit will be ok.

You're welcome.

 

[artbykarenehaley]

Chickens carry respiratory germs that can affect rabbits.

As for behavior, individual animals differ. My sister had a rabbit buck that got into a fight with a rooster. Granted, the rooster hopped over the top of the rabbit's run and entered the rabbit's territory.

We also had some rabbits that were loose for a week before being recaptured and they never clashed with the chickens we had, despite spending most of their time in the chickens' run. These rabbits were weanling does that got out of their hutch after I very stupidly forgot to check the latch on the door.

What gender is the rabbit?

 

[artbykarenehaley]

Also! The cockerel silkies you have are gorgeous. I'm no breeder and don't know anything about the SOP of a silkie, but I think they look really healthy and are nicely shaped.

 

[Bigsonstinypets]

that’s an interesting question. I don’t know the gender. But the big rooster and robot all lived peacefully together through the summer. each goes into it’s own coop before dusk. since the two silkies basically hang out in the coop during the day I don’t think it will be a problem.

i think they are gorgeous too. and so soft to hold.the feathers feel like the goose down from a pillow. and light as air. totally different from my sussex and orpingtons.

 

[artbykarenehaley]

that’s an interesting question. I don’t know the gender. But the big rooster and robot all lived peacefully together through the summer. each goes into it’s own coop before dusk. since the two silkies basically hang out in the coop during the day I don’t think it will be a problem.

i think they are gorgeous too. and so soft to hold.the feathers feel like the goose down from a pillow. and light as air. totally different from my sussex and orpingtons.

I'm working on the assumption you haven't tried to check the rabbit's gender, so I apologize in advance if you have tried and results were inconclusive, or if you already know all this but haven't been able to catch the bun.

If the rabbit will let you handle it, you can check to see if you have a male or female. This is useful to know if you plan to get more rabbits in the future but probably doesn't make much difference if you only want the one.
I'm assuming the rabbit is older than ten weeks, and if it's a buck you'll probably see his testes when you gently turn him over. If you can't tell for sure, you may have to get more hands on. Rabbits can retract their testes to protect them from injury, so sexing buns can be a challenge. If you need it, here's an instructional video.

I think the rabbit will get along just fine with the silkies if it's already comfortable with the other rooster, but maybe keep the rabbit out of the enclosure while the two new roos get to know the big guy.

There will be some pecking order to sort out between the three of them, which can get kind of rough. The rabbit might be at risk if in there while they're getting that figured out.

Do keep an eye on both the rabbit and roosters' health while together, as many diseases are cross communicable between these species. If the space is kept well maintained and there is plenty of ventilation then you shouldn't have much issue. Rabbits are so darn delicate. My sister and I 4h with both rabbits and chickens, and one winter we had some respiratory illness sweep through the rabbit barn. At the time we were keeping our bantams on the floor in the rabbit barn while our rabbits were up in hutches. While we didn't have any dead animals, we did have a lot of snuffly wheezy rabbits and chickens. Never doin that again, when I get rabbits again I'm going to keep them apart.