Hopping mad! Meet the rabbit that thinks it’s a chicken

They may not seem the most natural of stable mates. But Nibbles the rabbit has quickly taken to his feathered friends – three chickens named Jemima, Gerald and Geraldine – since moving in to their pen.

The one-year-old bunny has started to ape their behaviour, snuggling up to his companions for warmth, sharing their food and water and jumping up on their perch alongside them.

His owners, David and Evelyn Gamble, are convinced that the unusual arrangements have led Nibbles to think he is a chicken.

Mr Gamble said: 'I think they maybe look at each other as the same thing.

'I'm waiting for him to see the chickens scratch and dig holes because he's got the opportunity to do that.

'And, if he does, the chickens will love that because he'll probably dig up worms and everything else and maybe they'll bond closer.'

Their cohabitation began when Mr and Mrs Gamble, who are retired and live in Hadley Road, Sheringham, inherited Nibbles from their grandchildren when they moved house.

'He had the freedom of my son's garden but we're keen gardeners so I told him he's not going to have the freedom of our garden because there won't be anything left as he eats everything,' Mr Gamble explained.

'We put his hutch into the chicken pen and left him for two or three days so the chickens could get used to the rabbit and the rabbit could get used to them, and then we let them out.

'The chickens had never seen a rabbit before and the rabbit had never seen any other animals.'

Mrs Gamble added: 'He will just lay on the perch for as long as the sun is shining.'

The owners are now planning to get the rabbit neutered, before he becomes too fond of his new friends.