GBov
Well-known member
As many of you know, I have been feeding fermented whole grains to my rabbits for the last few months and they all did really well on it. Now however, all but one are gone.
They tasted GREAT!!!
When I switched them onto the grain it took some of them much longer to adapt and I am trying to figure out if I can shortcut the adjusting period.
Today I picked up 9 big meat rabbits for $5 each - SCORE!!! - and would like to get them onto the grain as easily on them as poss. so I can get them into freezer camp in 6 to 8 weeks, instead of the 4 months it took last time.
When people need a gut boost they eat yogurt and other things high in probiotics but that isn't going to help here as its rabbits and grain so I was wondering........
Would it get the proper gut bugs into the rabbits if I take dried rabbit poo - proper poop, not the tar-like stuff - from the one remaining grain eating bunny and crumble it up over the feed before giving it to the new guys? Or even add some of it to the ferment bucket?
The idea comes from watching my best does and their kits. All my best does in the past have, right around 3 weeks, starting pooing in the nest boxes. Not a lot and never pee but I noticed that the kits from nests with does that did that always did better than the ones that didn't and, having seen the kits sucking on the "berries" when very young and eating them when they got a bit older, it looked to me like they were not only getting a meal but also inoculated with all the mothers gut flora/fauna.
The grain experiment rabbits had a hard time of it but their kits? Never a problem, they could eat like champs anything it took their mothers weeks, or even months, to learn how to digest properly.
What do you think?
They tasted GREAT!!!
When I switched them onto the grain it took some of them much longer to adapt and I am trying to figure out if I can shortcut the adjusting period.
Today I picked up 9 big meat rabbits for $5 each - SCORE!!! - and would like to get them onto the grain as easily on them as poss. so I can get them into freezer camp in 6 to 8 weeks, instead of the 4 months it took last time.
When people need a gut boost they eat yogurt and other things high in probiotics but that isn't going to help here as its rabbits and grain so I was wondering........
Would it get the proper gut bugs into the rabbits if I take dried rabbit poo - proper poop, not the tar-like stuff - from the one remaining grain eating bunny and crumble it up over the feed before giving it to the new guys? Or even add some of it to the ferment bucket?
The idea comes from watching my best does and their kits. All my best does in the past have, right around 3 weeks, starting pooing in the nest boxes. Not a lot and never pee but I noticed that the kits from nests with does that did that always did better than the ones that didn't and, having seen the kits sucking on the "berries" when very young and eating them when they got a bit older, it looked to me like they were not only getting a meal but also inoculated with all the mothers gut flora/fauna.
The grain experiment rabbits had a hard time of it but their kits? Never a problem, they could eat like champs anything it took their mothers weeks, or even months, to learn how to digest properly.
What do you think?