Rabbits being picky about Fodder

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pyralisdawn

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So, I posted about having some mold issues with my some of my fodder, but am also having some feeding issues even when feeding nice clean fodder with no mold. Right now I feed primarily organic pellets and hay with fodder as a supplement, but want to have it the other way around eventually.

I have four Californians, nice body condition and great health. 3 females are 4mo old and 1 male is 2mo old. Ladies are 7lbs and the male is 5lbs. The Breeder I got them from raised them on organic pellets, fresh veggies, and grass hay. I feed organic pellets (3/4 cup daily), fresh grass, fodder, and grass hay. I have two (the male and one female) that will eat the greens of the fodder first and the grains later in the day, and two who only eat the greens off the fodder and leave the grains behind every time. Can't seem to get them to eat the grains. They all eat the grass hay I give, but the two who eat the fodder better definitely eat a lot more hay than the other two. Everybody eats the fresh grass, always the first thing they go for.

For about a week I started giving the ladies less pellets and more fodder, thinking they might be more inclined if they were a little hungrier, but they still refused to eat the grain part, and lost weight that week (they have otherwise been in steady gain), so I went back to my previous ratio.

Then I have one newcomer, a Silver Fox in quarantine right now, who devours whatever fodder I give her immediately and with relish. The person I got her from had been feeding alfalfa cubes, fresh veggies/greens, and chicken scratch grain mix. She is a bit bony and underweight (5.25 lbs at 6 months), though no other health issues apparent to me. I'm offering her the organic pellets in addition to fresh grass and fodder to help her gain up to normal, she will eat the pellets too but definitely prefers the fodder and grass. I have also included a grass hay/alfalfa mix, she picks out all the alfalfa and won't touch the grass hay even if she runs out of everything else, just uses it as a nest.

Are my Californians just spoiled, or is there a way I can encourage them to eat their fodder better? Everything I've read indicates most rabbits just love the stuff, so I wasn't expecting mine to be so picky! At least the new girl will eat up whatever I have for now when the others don't.

Thanks :)
 
Sounds normal to me. They may improve over time. The kits should be different. I have a few of my original pellet fed rabbits who leave roots, and one that refuses to eat her fodder until she is sure that pellets won't be showing up. All my kits are now weaned on fodder. They are nibbling it as soon as they get out of the nest box and now, even though they have full feeders of pellets at all times, they go right for the fodder when it's served.
 

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