How much feed should a 4mo old get? UPDATE on Bonnie

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Easy Ears

Easy Ears

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Hi! It's been a while since I've updated but if you remember my post from a while ago, you will be pleased to see that little Bonnie is doing well! (You can see my old post about hand feeding her here: kit-won-t-eat-help-t30400.html )
Anyway, Bonnie is just over 4 months old now and I was curious to how much pellets a four month old Holland lop should get. I don't have a very good scale yet so I can't weigh her but can you give me an estimate? I don't want her to get too fat since I'll be breeding her in another few months but I also want her to get plenty of weight before I breed her especially since she was handfed for most of her early weeks. How much do you feed your grow out Hollands?

She's growing so fast... :)

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I'd feed her about 1/3 cup, but it really depends on the rabbit itself, the weather, and the quality of feed, so you might have to adjust that.
 
Easy Ears, Bonnie is so . . . bonny! :D I'm so glad to hear she is doing so well after a rocky start!

I'm not very helpful as to the amount of pellets since it had been a very long time since I fed them to rabbits and I have no clue about Holland Lops, but you can estimate a rabbit's needs with a bit of trial and error.

Unless she is a piggy who will eat everything in sight, you can try feeding her a bit more than usual (measured) and see what is left over. Then try feeding a bit less and see if she acts like she's starving. It won't take you long to get a feel for her needs.
 
I always base feeding decisions on the animal itself by checking the spine.

Sharp and spiky= too thin
Gently rounded bumps= just right
Can't feel the vertebrae= too fat
 
I have Dwarf type rabbits(more like a small mixed breed) that are 3 pounds full grown.
I feed rabbits under 5-6 months unlimited pellets, and they eat however much they need, and stay a nice healthy weight. They also have enough to grow properly. At 5-6 months I cut down to 1/3 cup a day.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. :) The last month or so I've just been feeding her a half cup (what my adults get) I figured since she is smaller but still growing it should be a good balance. She didn't use to finish it all but in the last week or two she's been eating it all and is always excited to see me in the morning for food...I'm thinking maybe I should start feeding her more or give her 1/4 cup in the morning and 1/4 cup in the evening instead of feeding it all in the morning. Maybe I'll try that and see if she still acts hungry.
 
At 4 months - twelve weeks - she still has growth to make . . . You don't want to stint her. She may be having a growth spurt, and as mothers of (human) adolescents will tell you, when that happens they can eat you out of house and home. Use MSD's method of feeling the spine . . . it is a reliable indicator of optimum weight. As long as she is not fat, she can and should be fed enough to satisfy her.

I never worried about this in my colony. I fed free-choice hay (about 75% alfalfa and the rest "grass") plus as much fresh forage as the season allowed and small amounts of grain, usually whole wheat.

But, as my mobility diminished and I had to turn over the feeding to my son, MidnightCoder (sorry, David!) the does started to accumulate fat in the abdominal cavities. He was a little too generous with the grain. When we finally sent everyone to freezer camp (the end of my rabbit venture) the buck, Pudge, who had been a butterball as a kit was the only one with absolutely no excess fat. The does -- OMG!

Please treat this as a cautionary tale! ;)















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between a 1/3 and 1/2 cup.. depends on how well she eats and keep an eye on the spine. At four months she's probably about ready to breed anyways. If you breed earlier they are less likely to accumulate fat. :)
 
Thanks.

ladysown":14c3feh1 said:
between a 1/3 and 1/2 cup.. depends on how well she eats and keep an eye on the spine. At four months she's probably about ready to breed anyways. If you breed earlier they are less likely to accumulate fat. :)
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I'm very nervous about breeding any younger than 6 months. My close friend just had her rabbit die while giving birth. We think there was a stuck kit she couldn't get out. She was over a year old, first time being bred. She was on the small side for a Holland lop. Since this has occurred I've been really cautious and will probably wait until 7 or 8 months just to be safe.

MaggieJ":14c3feh1 said:
...Use MSD's method of feeling the spine . . . it is a reliable indicator of optimum weight. As long as she is not fat, she can and should be fed enough to satisfy her."[quote/]

I can feel her spine pretty well but her tummy seems pretty large. I've always been skeptical about this way of telling weight because my last DT buck had a pot belly but you could feel his spine quite well. He wasn't a piggy or anything and I know it wasn't worms since I deworm regularly. I'd give him 1/2 a cup of pellets and he'd eat a bit over half of it each day and leave the rest. So should I ignore the tummy as an indicator of weight?













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<br /><br /> -- Thu Jan 19, 2017 3:35 pm -- <br /><br /> Guess who just had her very first and very successful litter?
This girl!
15977416_606429846227428_8167991878397097644_n.jpg


3 healthy kits! All perfect, none dead! Born the morning of her due date, in the nestbox with plenty of fur. :D
16114352_606431962893883_2151525229412922261_n.jpg


I'm so proud of her, and so excited. She is my first "home grown" rabbit, so this is my first 3rd generation of kits! :p Yay!
 

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