Funny Finnish bunny thinks he's a chicken

HELSINKI: Otto would make the perfect chicken, except for a few hiccups.

Hatching eggs, scratching around the coop and roosting on a beam with the rest of the hens are great habits for chickens, but rather unusual for an eight month old male rabbit.

The confused bunny came as a free gift to Ville Kuusinen's home, when he bought nine Silkie hens and a rooster from a farm.

The Kuusinens and their three children live on a small island in Velkua some 210 km (130 miles) northwest of Helsinki.

"When I went to the hen house, I noticed he was sitting on the eggs. Later I watched through the window how he jumped on the beam, failed, tried again and with a lot of practice eventually he stayed up there," Kuusinen told Reuters.

Otto does not like to sit on laps or eat carrots like most pet rabbits. The rabbit, who has lived with chickens all his life prefers chicken feed and runs with the chickens outdoors and sometimes plays with them by jumping over them.

"For the chickens he is one of them. He often sits on the beam between the hens and under their wings'," Kuusinen said.

But he said Otto's rabbity instincts still take over when a visitor steps into the hen house. He runs away and hides, but can be lured out with raisin buns. (Reuters)