New to natural rabbit feeding

A couple years ago I raised meat rabbits. Mostly NZ, Cali and Rex mixes. I had about ten 5 cage rows and did a pretty good business. Then I had to stop (health reasons).

Now I want to get back into raising meat rabbits but not on that big of a scale. Just a handful of does and a couple bucks. I raise them for dog food - for my dogs and a couple friends.

I've been researching raising free range rabbits (no cages, just a set area for them) and how to feed using more natural means.

We live on 3 acres so I have plenty of room to grow some stuff and we have a large field next to us that is left to go wild. I can get in there to pick whatever I want.

I saw the list of safe plants for rabbits - that's going to be a BIG help!! I do have a couple questions.

First, can someone outline a good diet for rabbits for me? For example, what MUST they in their diet? Since I live in WI I'll be limited to what I can get during the winter. I do have access to locally grown hay (might be able to find alfalfa) and a barn to store it in (old hay barn).

What would be the best thing for me to plant to give me the best bang for my buck (and sweat and hard work)?

Can I harvest green things and freeze them for later use or would drying be better? We have TONS of dandelions on our property. I used to pick the flowers and give them to the rabbits as treats. I don't mind spending an hour or two harvesting the leaves as well!

Any help for a beginner would be greatly appreciated!!

In my experience most greens once frozen, thaw out mushy. I would dry stuff, personally, but I don't know that it would make alot of difference to the rabbits, but you could always experiment on a smal scale and see if it feasable... What do you mean by free ranging? Without any sort of pen at all? I don't know that that would be a great idea, but I do know a few people colony raise here, I am sure they'd love to chime in...

I personally can't wait to do a colony system for my rabbits. Seems like they'd have so much more fun.

Hello LASGSD and welcome to RabbitTalk! :hi:

It sounds like you want to have a rabbit colony... We have a whole forum for that, so you'll find lots of info there. A lot of people these days are moving to keeping their rabbits together in a more natural community. It has advantages and drawbacks, same as anything else.

Regarding diet, rabbits need a good quality hay with a fairly high alfalfa or clover content. I feed the hay free choice. They also need a small quantity of grain - barley, oats and wheat are all good. Most of my rabbits will only eat what they need of grain... It's not such a big deal for them. In addition I feed as much fresh food, mainly weeds, as they will clean up. At the height of summer, five rabbits were eating a five gallon bucketful, twice a day. They weren't very interested in the other foods at that time. Now that the greens are not quite so choice, they are eating about half that, but a bit mroe hay and grain. In winter, the fresh component is more or less treat-sized. They get root crops such as carrots and beets, pumpkins, grain grasses grown in plastic tubs (quick, easy and cheap), outer leaves of romaine etc. and dried greens such as willow, hard maple, raspberries - just about anything on the safe plants list. Drying is better than freezing. Just make sure everything is well dried before storing to avoid mold. Same as hay, really. Dandelions dry well as does clover, chicory and lots of others. The main thing I aim at in winter is to use fresh and dried greens for variety to prevent boredom and possible nutritional deficiencies and also to keep their GI tracts accustomed to fresh foods. In spring, when the grass starts to grow, they get amounts of fresh that increase with the season. Hope this is helpful.

It sure is helpful to me!!

how about lamb's quarter? i like it, can rabbits have it? and is like spinach or kale as in they should have very little?

Lamb's Quarters is fine when it is young. Later in the year, after it "flowers", I feed it sparingly. I notice the rabbits will not eat huge quantities of it later in the season. I suspect the flavour changes.

It is always best and safest to feed a variety of greens at one time, rather than a whole meal of just one or two greens. Rabbits are nibblers... If you watch the cottontails, they eat a bit of this, a leaf of that and then... hop, hop, hop... a leaf here, a flower there, a few bites of a windfall apple... hop, hop, hop... and so on. Our buns don't have that freedom, but we can choose their meals as they would themselves.

Thanks for the help! Yes, I plan to have a colony (getting ready to post in that section).

grain grasses grown in plastic tubs

Click to expand...

Do you grow those indoors? That sounds like a great idea for winter!! What type of grasses do you grow?

Yes, I grow the grain grasses indoors. I use dollar store rectangular dishpans and don't bother with drainage. They can sit just about anywhere then without leaking. They grow nicely even without a lot of light although it is nice to give them a windowsill for a day or two before harvesting.

I put about two inches of soil in the dishpan, water it and sow heavily with whatever whole grain I am feeding the critters. I cover the seed lightly. Wheat grows very easily and is extremely nutritious, but barley, rye and oats will all work too. In about two weeks you will have a lovely pan of luscious wheat grass. Cut it close to the soil with scissors and watch your bunnies go crazy for it. I can usually get about three harvests before it gets too spindly. Then I just compost the root mass and soil and start fresh.

Wheat grass is what they sell as "cat grass" at $2-3 dollars a pot in the supermarket. What a rip-off! It is also the same as the increasingly popular wheat grass grown for juicing. Full of nutrients. Google growing wheat grass for more info.

Sprouting is another way to go. Just beware of mold. I'm short of time right now, but here's a good link:
http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Sprouting.html

You can grow sunflower sprouts the same way from black oil bird seed type seed. The only difference is that when you cut the tops they wont re-sprout. But don't let anyone taste them or the bunnies may never get any! They are like giant nutty-tasting alfalfa sprouts and my kids love them.

Can you give us some details of how you sprout them, Eco2pia? Do you just use bird feed grade BOSS sunflower seeds from the feed store? I'd like to do more sprouting this winter, both for me and for the buns.

Yes, the bird seed grade BOSS. You can sprout them just like wheat grass, they need barely any dirt under them, like 1-2 inches, and they only need that so they don't fall over--that keeps them straight and pretty, because we are growing for us to eat. I want to try a soil-less experiment at some point too. I imagine if they were packed tightly enough they might hold themselves upright.

I use a foam take out container with no drainage holes. I then spread them on the damp soil fairly thick, and cover with a damp paper towel (dampen daily) until they germinate. Water lightly to keep moist. Don't worry about any mold fuzzy you see, that will stay on the shells which will be shed. When they are about 2 inches tall I start snipping them for salads and sandwiches, and when they start to flop over I throw the whole mess to the chickens and start over. Remember to rinse before eating, sometimes dirt sticks to them or the shells hang on, I just knock those off. They are really crisp and pretty and still taste like sunflower seeds!

Sounds great, for the bunnies and for me! (I doubt if the guys will try them.)

YUM
thanks