Common vetch for rabbits

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MaggieJ

MaggieJ

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Common vetch (Vicia sativa) is a useful weed or crop that can be fed fresh or dried to rabbits. We don't happen to have a lot of it on our land, so I fed it only now and again. I needed to look it up for a detail in my novel and I thought I'd stop here for a couple of minutes to post about it.

It is a legume, so fixes nitrogen in the soil. An annual, but it should seed itself. A prolific grower that can be seeded in waste areas unsuitable for other crops. Rabbits seem to find it palatable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicia_sativa
https://www.feedipedia.org/node/239

No time to post more just now . . . I'm in the middle of intense revisions and editing, so heading back to 1890 for a couple more hours before bedtime. :D
 
I have used fresh vetch for rabbit and chicken feed, as well as fed "vetch and grass" hay.. they seem to do well on it. The fresh vetch must have some "limiting substance" in it. The rabbits will eat a lot then take a break and eat other things for a few days..., then go back to it again. We have eaten it ourselves, steamed, boiled ,or added to soup, and stew.. "kind of" tastes like snow peas........
 
michaels4gardens":2ssm7pcj said:
I have used fresh vetch for rabbit and chicken feed, as well as fed "vetch and grass" hay.. they seem to do well on it. The fresh vetch must have some "limiting substance" in it. The rabbits will eat a lot then take a break and eat other things for a few days..., then go back to it again. We have eaten it ourselves, steamed, boiled ,or added to soup, and stew.. "kind of" tastes like snow peas........
Click to expand...

We have one kind of vetch that grows wild in our fields and is included along with grasses, clover, wild carrot, plantain etc. when we're cutting buckets of forage during the growing season. Also have a steep bank that was planted to crown vetch before our time here. When we cut that there is more vetch in proportion to other things. Sometimes the rabbits eat it eagerly but we observe what you mention, that at some point they seem to leave it until they've finished everything else. Think I remember seeing somewhere warnings against feeding the crown vetch (sorry, Maggie, I haven't checked the Latin name) but we haven't had any problems so long as we follow our general rule of providing a variety in the forage mix.
 

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