GBov
Well-known member
I know this MUST have been asked before, in fact, every fall! :lol:
But are acorns safe for rabbits?
But are acorns safe for rabbits?
Acorns?
- Thread starter GBov
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The WW II era British book Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on Scraps that has been recommended on here before cites acorns as good concentrated feed. According to that book, the acorns should be thoroughly dried before feeding. Nothing said about the kind of oak trees and I don't know how different oaks are in different parts of the world.
Has anyone on here fed them? Were the rabbits willing to eat them? Any problems? Did you dry them first? What kind of oak did they come from?
Has anyone on here fed them? Were the rabbits willing to eat them? Any problems? Did you dry them first? What kind of oak did they come from?
The squirrels and most other small critters tend to chew a hole in the acorn to get the meat without ingesting large amounts of the shell. The actual nut should not have high tannins. It's also different when an animal has a wide variety of foods to choose to eat and can moderate what they eat on their own. Our captive animals are often given a limited choice at a time and so lacking anything else might over eat on something they otherwise wouldn't
GBov
Well-known member
akane":ocmyakua said:
So should I shell them or just give a few?
The reason I asked in the first place is the ONE wild rabbit I ever managed to bring home to the pot was in an acorn rich part of the woods and it was very fat and tremendously, richly, flavored. The only thing I could come up with was it had been fattening itself on acorns and perhaps my home bunnies could do the same.
Hm, would be something to try, after introducing slowly I would trust my rabbits to not to eat more of something than they can stomach.
The nuts are high in tannins (I don't think many animals actually swallow the shells), for human consumption (they are pretty good food, ah, can't yet tell about culinary quality, but they are high in protein, starch and fat) you have to water the cooked, crushed nuts for several days to get the tannins out.
Sprouting them is another way to reduce the tannins, I'm sure that would be a great winter treat :dinner:
The nuts are high in tannins (I don't think many animals actually swallow the shells), for human consumption (they are pretty good food, ah, can't yet tell about culinary quality, but they are high in protein, starch and fat) you have to water the cooked, crushed nuts for several days to get the tannins out.
Sprouting them is another way to reduce the tannins, I'm sure that would be a great winter treat :dinner:
Michaels4 had posted before that he feeds them in winter. I asked him if he fed them cracked or in the shell. He fed in the shell,and as part of a varied diet so the rabbits could pick & choose if they wanted them. Last winter, most of mine were big babies about chewing through the shell although this fall most if them did. They are definitely worth drying and saving if you have a lot of oaks. See how the buns respond and decide shelled/unshelled from there. (Remember, moderation--start out with one and slowly over time ad more if they eat it.)
the reluctant farmer":2n7iq6jw said:
Haven't tried them yet but they're on my list to learn more. Did you dry them before feeding or begin feeding them as you gathered them in the fall?
I have done both. This winter I haven't stored as many as usual, since I've been very tight on time and the animals keep getting to them before I do, but I will dry & deshell before feeding this winter. (They'll use up fewer calories trying to get their food, and I think it's going to be cold this year. I've had a hard time getting my hands on large amounts of acorns and other nuts because the wild animals have been very thorough in stocking them away!)
GBov
Well-known member
the reluctant farmer":2jx11zhd said:
How do you dry them? And do you crack them before or after drying? My place has no oaks but I can get my hands on them several places we go and would like to try them. At least, on one being fattened and see if I can replicate the taste of teh wild bun. :twisted:
GBov":20ojunnd said:
Sorry it took me so long to reply--having a few life delays here....
I put them in an empty mesh onion bag & hung them in my laundry area. I cracked them after drying, just before feeding them. I nibble a bit just to see how bitter that particular tree 's acorns are (the more bitter--the more tannins. Not very scientific, but a good thumbnail guide.) I keep mental notes on which trees have the "sweetest" nuts so I pick from those trees the next year. Incidentally, if you wanted to use them as people food, you need to soak the shelled acorns in multiple changes of water--at least three times. When the water is no longer "tea" colored and looks clear, you have soaked out the tannins. Water from the first soak can be used as a dye. Then spread the soaked 'corns on screens and let them dry so they don't mold.) If you have room in your freezer they can be stores there in ziplock bags (shelled would save room.)
I would imagine any nut (not peanuts) would get you the same result. We used hickory nuts for awhile but we had a heck of a time getting them before the squirrels and keeping the rodents out to feed them over time. When we helped empty that house the person had stored pounds of hickory nuts in the basement and they had been dragged everywhere by mice. It was guaranteed by every mouse nest we found would be a stash of hickory shells with holes in them to eat the nut meat out of. In the out buildings we found the same thing with acorns which had not been collected by the previous people and all stored away by animals in piles with little holes into them. The place had an insane squirrel population for a good reason.
akane":3656xqb7 said:
Do you know what kind of hickory you used? We have bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis) and red oak and beech for nuts. See acorns and hickory nuts but the beech I mostly just see the hulls after someone else got them. Interested in gathering some nuts for rabbits and chickens another year--have to figure out the drying/storage so we don't just end up feeding mice, rats and chipmunks
