dietary needs of rabbits

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I read through the article quickly--mostly the parts about recommended diet since I'm always tweaking the natural feed. The natural diet suggested here has little or no grain or roots. Our buck and the does when not nursing do well on that type of diet, but the kits and nursing does seem to need the grain and/or roots. Maybe they'd just grow a lot slower on grass/hay and green plants. And that wouldn't matter so much if cage space weren't an issue. I need to think more about this. Thanks for drawing attention to the article.
 
I found it interesting.
The hay and veggie diet seem to be mostly tailored toward small-type, non-breeding pet rabbits which tend to not require anywhere near the amount of calories that larger type, faster growing types may require.

I disagree with the statement that the best diet for all domestic rabbits is as close to a wild rabbit's diet as possible. My logic being that our domestic rabbits, especially fast growing commercial types, do not have the same metabolisms as wild rabbits.
For comparison, in regards to wild european rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
wikipedia states:
Weight can range from approximately 1.1 to 2.5 kg (2.4 to 5.5 lb)

Some domestic rabbits can reach 5 lbs in as little as 2 months, and potentially grow up to 20 or more lbs.
I'm positive that type of growth only ever becomes possible on diets with caloric sources not commonly available to wild rabbits.

If you count grass and seeds as grain though, wild rabbits may actually eat quite a bit, especially in winter.
 
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