What do you feed?

[Deleted]

I used to feed hay and pellets, but the cost of pellets can bankrupt a person if you have very many rabbits.  I've been moving to a more natural feeding program by growing fodder, feeding grass clippings and weeds from the yard, and garden waste.  Also apples, oats, and a little bit of BOSS.  Today I introduced them to sweet potato. 

So what to you feed your rabbits? 

[Deleted]

Pellets and hay

[Wendy]

Pellets. I can get pellets at a local mill for around $10 per 50 lb. bag.

[Deleted]

We feed oats and peas at different stages of growth, green and some cut as hay. Whole oats, grass and clover hay, vegetables, apples and green grass and clover from the pasture. We do feed 18% pellets to the youngun's, 1/2 cup a day to a litter of 8-12....James .

[whisperwindkat]

We feed oats, alfalfa pellets and peas as our main feed. Like James we do give a small amount of pellets to the young ones growing out. They also get grass hay and a large pile of weeds or greens from the garden as well. yesterday their pile of greens was a mix of roses, sweet gum, oak, turnip greens, catnip, peppermint and crepe myrtle. Happy happy bunnies.

[Deleted]

Apr 26, 2015 17:41:40 GMT Wendy said:

Pellets. I can get pellets at a local mill for around $10 per 50 lb. bag.

What brand?

[Deleted]

I feed pellets, either producers pride or Purina, just depends on where I am, seems like a sack (50#) is about $16-17 dollars. Where I really was losing was on hay, I used to buy timothy or orchard from feed stores. I started buying square bales of good quality bermuda, seems like when I switched to that they quit eating as much pellets, and my rabbits stay in good condition. I only have a single buck, a couple does and a pet mini lop and any kits I am growing out.

[nctoni]

@spinner  regarding fodder or anyone else who grows it.  What type of grain do you use for fodder and where do you purchase that grain?  is it very costly?  Is the trouble worthwhile?

[tenbusybees]

Pellets and hay also.
I was going to ask about the fodder too.

[Wendy]

Apr 27, 2015 21:31:59 GMT @dba said:

Apr 26, 2015 17:41:40 GMT Wendy said:

Pellets. I can get pellets at a local mill for around $10 per 50 lb. bag.

What brand?

They make them. The mills name is Lowe's Pellet & Grain.

[Deleted]

Oh, ok.

[katievt]

I feed a mixture of pellets, whole oats, and sunflower seeds. When I can get them, I also add barley and/or wheat. They also get mixed grass hay - we purchased a large (700 lb) square bale and are going through it surprisingly fast.

I would like to feed a variety of fresh feed and planned to have a section of the garden dedicated to that this summer. With my health problems, we'll see if that happens. We'll at least plant plenty of sunflowers for them to eat.

[motdaugrnds]

This is an interesting thread. I am wanting to start a "colony" of rabbits and am considering growing certain types of vegetation that will throw its seeds into the rabbit pen each year. Has anyone done this type of feeding?

[woolybear]

Pellets, hay and a grain mix of oats, wheat, barley and in the winter I add in BOSS. In warmer weather I also pick various weeds, leaves and grass.

[Deleted]

Apr 29, 2015 23:40:35 GMT nctoni said:

@spinner  regarding fodder or anyone else who grows it.  What type of grain do you use for fodder and where do you purchase that grain?  is it very costly?  Is the trouble worthwhile?

I learned by reading a fodder forum on fb.  I used 7 buckets with tiny holes in the bottom and 1 bucket to soak the seeds.  I feed fodder on the 8th day.  I feed one and start seeds soaking in one every day so the seeds soak 24 hours until they go into a drain bucket the next day.

I use winter plot mix, but you can use just about any seed.  People use wheat, barley, and others. 

First I feed the fodder that is 8 days old so I had an empty bucket to grow the seeds that started soaking the day before.  The water slowly drains out, usually in less than 5 minutes.  Then put more seeds in the soak bucket.  Every day bucket #8 gets fed and a new bucket gets started.

I try to fill the buckets with water at least twice a day, but you can do it more often or less, it's ok as long as the seeds do not dry before the next watering. 

It does not need sun, just light from a window is good. 

Lots of online sources want to sell expensive kits to grow fodder, but you can grow it at home with whatever stuff you want.  Some people use buckets, some use cake pans, some use plastic trays.  Anything that you can put seeds on will let them grow.  I started out using those round disposable cake pans from dollar tree, they were 3 for a dollar.  They worked very well for growing, but didn't last long when they got heavy and bent when I picked them up on the 8th day.

I put the seed about 1/2" deep, any deeper and you waste a lot that won't sprout, any more shallow and you need to use a smaller container to keep it over 1/4" but not over 1/2". 

Here's a link that has good photos showing what it should look like on each day.  Mine didn't take off until day 4, but it was ready on day 8.  www.peakprosperity.com/blog/growing-sprouted-fodder/72618

Some people feed earlier than I do, on day 3 or 4, some on day 8 or 9.  The seed I use is perfect on day 8 so I use enough buckets to have one ready every 8 days.  Your seed might be ready on day 7 or day 6.  It depends on the type of seed you use and the growing conditions. 

Fodder grows best around 68°. 

My rabbits acted like they were scared of it the first 3 or 4 days, then one brave bunny tried it and liked it.  Now they are like piranhas attacking it when I take it to them.  They prefer it over pellets, and they are all healthy so I have faith in fodder feeding. 







  

[Deleted]

I used to have a colony. I didn't grow food for them back then, I just picked grass and fed pellets.



I also used rabbit tractors for a while.  I liked the tractors, but they were hard to move around.  This year I plan on building new tractors out of pvc pipe to make them lighter and easier to move.

[nctoni]

Thank you so much for the information on fodder @spinner.  This looks very interesting and doable.  Thanks also for the link for more information.  I just need to find a local source for seed. So, your opinion, do you think that the time involved everyday (and money spent)  is worth it for the nutrition and happiness of the rabbits and chickens? Better than an all commercially produced pellets and scratch diet? I appreciate your comments.

[manygoatsnmore]

Spinner, how does fodder feeding compare in cost with feeding pellets? I am interested in trying this when I get rabbits again, and would like to know if it will save me a substantial amount of money. Pellets are so expensive!

[AD in WNC]

I tried fodder one winter. I wanted to give my rabbits some fresh food in the middle of winter. I used wheat. 50# cost about $4 less than pellets. The neat thing about fodder is all of the soaking expands the volume of the wheat considerably. Plus, it grows to 5-7 inches tall before I fed it to the rabbits. I only fed it as a supplement to the pellets. I would estimate it to be about one quarter to one third the cost of the pellets, excluding my time.

[Deleted]

Growing fodder has cut my costs but I haven't figured out exactly how much. I'd say AD in WNC is probably real close by estimating about a quarter to a third the cost of pellets.

It only takes me a few minutes to pull the fodder and measure out new seed to soak, then flood the buckets and let them drain.

I'm pretty sure the fodder is healthier for the rabbits than pellets. I learned that reading the book "Beyond the pellet". I think some of the new methods of growing and processing the ingredients in pellets might be causing a lot of health problems in young rabbits, like the rise in instances of weaning enteritis. I haven't had any health problems with fodder and other natural foods from my yard, like the kale, plantain, dandelion, clover, and grass.

[Deleted]

I've learned about many plants that rabbits can eat. This year I'm planting a lot of sunflowers which do double duty by providing some shade until the seeds are ready to harvest. Also a couple of willow trees and some grape vines. It's amazing how many plants are good for rabbit food once you start digging up the info. I want to try to get totally away from pellets and feed like the old timers did. If I get totally natural, it can cut the cost of raising them down pretty low.

Here’s a list of some plants that are safe for your rabbit.


Apple ( but not the seeds ) Leaves, branches and fruit

Basil ( A favorite of rabbits! )

Blackberry- leaves, stems and fruit

cattail leaves

Clover, red and white

Comfrey is another favorite of many rabbits

corn stalks

Dandelion-

icicle radishes, tops and all

Lambs Quarters - also called “fat hen”

lemon balm

Maple, sugar and silver. Leaves and branches

Mint

parsley

Pear ( fruit, not the seeds )

Plantain ( a favorite of many rabbits )

Romaine Lettuce, but never iceberg!

Strawberry

Sunflower ( Black Oil Sunflower Seeds sprouted are a great winter feed, seeds are also good )

Willow- leaves and branches

Branches are also good to let your rabbit chew on to help keep their teeth trimmed. Rabbit’s teeth grow continuously; so they need harder items to chew on to keep them in good shape.

[Wendy]

I have often fed my rabbits iceburg lettuce with no ill effects.

[Deleted]

Wendy the iceberg won't hurt them, but it's empty of nutrition. It's mostly water.  If you are growing lettuce for them, why not grow a type that has nutrition? 

[Deleted]

Regarding oats, I have roughly 30 pounds of "cleaned oats" that I have stopped feeding to my goat. Is this the same as the "whole oats" that y'all are feeding your rabbits? It would be great if I could substitute those for some pellets since they're going to waste if I don't find a way to use them.

[Deleted]

I would think they would be ok, in addition to pellets, but not as s replacement for them.

[Deleted]

Yes the rabbits can eat oats. I buy the steamed rolled oats for mine, but many people feed the seed oats or other types. An oat is an oat, just the amount of processing is the only difference in them.

[jamiecatheryn]

I bring mine piles of dandelion, grass, etc most days and give them MannaPro pellets as their main diet. My friendliest one I take out to browse a little bit free range while supervised too.

[paquebot]

If you are in the country where there are town or county roads, they have to mow near the shoulders. That was my summer source for a few years when I was raising meat rabbits. Had a station wagon so I could pack a lot of garbage bags into it. Rabbits preferred it fresh but ate it even if it had dried for a week. Some areas was just quack grass but others had some clover, alfalfa, and various weeds. Wasn't much that they wouldn't eat and only expense was gas to drive a few miles into the country. With up to 80+ rabbits here at a time, that was a big savings. Like bringing home 3 or 4 bales of hay once a week.

Martin

[grandmotherbear]

Shepherds Purse, also called rabbit nettle, is good too. Grows like crazy here.