The Poultry Keeper

Paula · Joined: 18 Oct 2005 Posts: 65 Location: Northants

Got a bit of a strange friendship going on! i have a rabbit that runs around with the hens, never a problem with them, well until now. the rabbit has bonded a strong friendship with one of the hens. the hen sleeps on the floor with the rabbit they almost cuddle up together, but the rabbit has decided to start chewing her feathers, and the poor soul has not a tail feather left, she won't get up and roost or move away from the rabbit, the rabbit is not being aggressive just over friendly, and i don't know how to stop this strange behavior. the poor hen will end up bald at this rate, i have had them together since the start and the rabbit only bothers with this one hen,i don't want to shut the rabbit up in a cage as she has never been in one and feel that would be unfair as she is used to having plenty of room, has anyone had this before or any advice how i can stop it chewing.

CP · Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:00 am Post subject:

New one on me! Never heard of this behaviour before! Shocked

Hope someone can give you some advice Paula. Wink

debcat · Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:20 am Post subject:

not heard of that either Confused

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

That's a nice relationship, a pity miss bunny has to spoil it. Could you perhaps put them separate at night ~ I'm assuming that the feathers are nibbled at night

mojo · Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:03 pm Post subject:

what about something on the feathers for a few days to put bunny off....perhaps vaseline

Bhindi · Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:04 pm Post subject:

only a guess towards a solution Im afraid, but how about painting on the feathers something thats tastes unpleasant, just to break the habit. The only downside to that is it probably wont be nice for your hen either when she grooms herself, but if theres not much to groom anyway maybe it wont hurt for the short term..

mojo · Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:06 pm Post subject:

pardon there is a echo in here....hehehehe great minds and all that eh Bhindi

Bhindi · Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:35 pm Post subject:

as they say Mojo... birds of a feather flock together Laughing

Paula · Joined: 18 Oct 2005 Posts: 65 Location: Northants

day or night they are together, just been down to see them, the hen has just layed with the rabbit sitting next to it.and she is the only hen that lays on the floor, i thought of putting that stuff on that tastes really nasty that you use on horses to stop them chewing, as it does no harm to them should be fine on the hen i think it is called crib box or something like that, apart from that i don't know but the hen don't mind the rabbit at all she goes off to find her. quite sweet really, but much more chewing and she will look like a battery hen Embarassed

George · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 5661 Location: London

It's worth trying putting something unpleasant tasting (to rabbits) on the hens feathers, it might make a difference

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

I'd give the horse stuff a try if you have some or try the vaseline first if you don't.
What does gentian violet spray taste of ~ nice or nasty? Any one tried it ? That's another option.

George · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 5661 Location: London

I doubt the gentian violet would do any good, I sprayed it on the tails of my badly pecked hens, (mind you hens don't have that much taste!)

Made them look pretty though, Wink

Lisa · Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 7:05 pm Post subject:

Can't find my rabbit behaviour books at the mo, so off the top of my head...

Putting something unpleasant tasting on the hen has a chance of working. I know its a technique used for destructive house rabbits eg if they chew furniture. You can get various sprays - I've also seen them for dogs and birds too at pet shops.

I'd still be curious as to why the rabbit is doing chewing though - if there is a really strong need to do this, then they might carry on, despite the horrible taste. Does the rabbit have things to chew? I seem to remember they must chew hard things to wear their teeth down, because their teeth continuously grow, like our finger nails. So I'd go for a 2 pronged approached: both discourage the rabbit from chewing the chicken (use of unpleasant spray or temporary separation) but also find some way to encourage the rabbit to chew something more appropriate.

Could boredom be part of it? Not sure exactly what rabbits need to do in a natural environment, but most animals spend most of their day eating, or looking for food. (Concentrated) food we buy for our animals tends to be quick and easy to eat... leaving our animals with nothing to do for the rest of the day. Its part of what zoos call it "enironmental enrichment", ie making feeding more natural / difficult / challenging / time consuming....

Nisi · Joined: 09 Sep 2005 Posts: 164 Location: Yorkshire

Yes I think painting on something that tastes nasty would be good or maybe giving the rabbit a carrot to chew.
One word of warning though. Many years ago my father-in-law had a rabbit and an aviary of canaries and other birds of a similar size. I had been to a campsite where their rabbits and birds all shared the same aviary. I suggested that my father-in-law put his together. They were fine for a week or so then one morning he discovered that the rabbit had killed all the birds during the night. I still feel bad about it. Embarassed

CP · Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 5:25 pm Post subject:

A killer rabbit! Shocked

Who would have thought? Confused