variety in forage feeding

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Rainey

Rainey

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Often in discussions of natural feed, the importance of feeding a variety so the rabbits can choose what to eat, not eat too much of a particular plant because they're really hungry. Today my son mentioned that we used to feed trimmings from other trees--apple, birch, maple, sumac--but now we feed willow every day and don't feed the other trees. We're also feeding quite a lot of non-woody forage--plantain, grass, clover, chicory, wild carrot, radish tops, trimmings from the herb garden, dandelion, etc. They also get wheat and oats and hay.
I guess I've focused on the willow for a couple reasons--we have lots of it, the rabbits really like it, and I've believed it to have higher protein content than most other woody feed. (We don't feed pellets or alfalfa so I have protein on my mind) So I try to feed as much chicory and dandelion as I can, thinking it is more nutritious than the grass or some of the other forages.
So when forage feeding, do you choose more variety or what you consider more nutritious plants?
 
I tend to go by what the rabbits are asking for, which is where providing variety comes in. When they have lots to choose from, I can tell what they are craving.
After a couple years of such, I'm sure we get a feel for what the rabbits will probably want during various seasons.
Perhaps you already know from last year that willow will be favored? The need to experiment by offering different plants probably reduces as we gain experience.

I personally don't worry too much about protein.

Partially because we still give some amount of pellets and oats, or squash and pumpkin seeds on occasion, but mainly because
these already-slower-growing buns of mine seem to do just fine without me worrying about it. :)
 
Yeah, we've been doing this for over 2 years now and willow was always preferred to the other woody choices. And borage leaves are definitely a favorite. I noticed that both of these--borage and willow--tend to become bug chewed pretty quickly after they appear so the rabbits aren't the only things that really like them.
Some things they'll eat--goldenrod before it blooms comes to mind--but it isn't a favorite. It's sometimes the one thing there is still some of left when we remove the green feed before offering fresh. And some things they eat eagerly sometimes and not others--comfrey comes to mind, and burdock. (I know not to feed the burdock or dock once it is flowering or gone to seed, although the goats especially like the seedheads of the dock) I find it quite interesting--who eats what and when--and it makes me much more aware of the wild things growing all around the edges :)
 
ladysown":3mwpsbcx said:
why can't you feed burdock after flowering??
Click to expand...

maybe you can feed burdock then. Our rabbits eat it readily earlier in the spring and not so readily later. Might be because there are so many other choices later or because it tastes different. I think I remember that the dock builds up something not so good for them later in the season and again, they seem to prefer the early young leaves.
There are just so many variables that sometimes I find it confusing trying to figure out what would be "optimal" forage. Other times I just am thankful for the abundance. Every day there is variety in the buckets we gather and feed and when considered over seasons, not just day to day, there is a lot of variety.
We've been doing this a couple years and are pleased with how it's working, with the meat we get. Still we're looking for ways to improve and to make gathering and feeding easier so we keep tweaking what we plant and gather--and asking those of you who've been at it longer and know more than we do.
 
No matter how long you've been doing natural feeding, you'll always be learning about new plants and more about the plants you're already feeding.

Some plants - curly dock is a good example - take up nitrates from the soil and can be a problem later in the season, especially for cattle. I suspect that is why the rabbits are not as enthusiastic about them in late summer as they are in spring.

Old timer sources often use vague guidelines for plants such as "do not feed once the flower stalks develop" for dock or "Not to be fed before Christmas" for mangels. I pay attention to these, but I do regret that explanations are often lacking.
 

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