Measured Feeding and Observations

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ladysown

ladysown

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So I switched to measured feed about a month or so ago now.
It has cut back on the amount of feed I've been going through. Down from 2 pails to 1.5 (and that with kits eating like mad).

First two weeks I continued feeding as always, all feed given in morning with only doing water at night.

That led to me giving additional hay at night for the gobblers who would like their bowls empty (figuratively speaking). Seemed an exercise in frustration....

So I switched to hay in the a.m. with grain/BOSS - nursing does daily, everyone else twice a week, pellets in the evening with any treats (household leftovers).

WOW...that has been a huge success. I find it fascinating. My gobblers will often have a tiny amount of pellets left in the a.m. (even with the same amount given). The hay is cleaned up better, and it is easier to give grain/BOSS when I do so. AND it has the lovely side-affect of evening out the work-load.

So my bunnies are happier. I feel less harried in the morning, and I have more time to do what I want to do... play with my babies. :)

----

and even better...I have now switched back to bottles, no more crocks, life is easier even more!!! :)
 
Excellent :) Cutting down on stress for you and making happier bunnies :) a Win/Win situation! gotta love it.

I suppose I should start measuring how much they get, but it's just so much easier for me to free feed them. <sigh> They munch a little all day. It's pretty cool with Peter. He has a dish that holds 1 pint (1/2 ltr) . I fill it in the morning every 2 days or so. Most times it's still got feed in it, then every once in awhile he apparently gets the munchies during the night, because every scrap of feed and all wisps of hay are gone and when I come in the room he's at the dish looking at me hopefully.
 
We've just been kinda figuring it out around here... we were giving Thumper and Pearl each a half of a Vienna Sausage can of pellets twice a day, so 6 ounces total per rabbit. Thumper doesn't usually eat that much, so we hold a feeding here and there if he's got a good bit of food left. We free-feed coastal bermuda grass hay. Seems to work. Of course, the kits now have tossed that out the window for Pearl!

So now with the kits raiding Pearl's food bowl, along with the extra Pearl needs for milk production, we have been free-feeding pellets for them.

I remember reading that if you ran your hand down a rabbit's backbone, and you could feel the spine, but it was gently bumpy, that was just right. The rabbit wasn't fat or thin. If it felt bony or spiky, the rabbit was too thin and needed some extra feed. If you couldn't feel the spine, the rabbit was fat, and you needed to back off the feed a bit.
 
Miss M":bi7a4638 said:
We free-feed coastal bermuda grass hay. Seems to work. Of course, the kits now have tossed that out the window for Pearl!

So now with the kits raiding Pearl's food bowl, along with the extra Pearl needs for milk production, we have been free-feeding pellets for them.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean by this statement. In general, grass hay is excellent for kits... helps to prevent weaning enteritis by providing great fibre. I'm not familiar with "coastal Bermuda grass hay". Ia there something about it that makes you feel it is bad for the kits?
 
MaggieJ":12b190e3 said:
I'm not sure what you mean by this statement. In general, grass hay is excellent for kits... helps to prevent weaning enteritis by providing great fibre. I'm not familiar with "coastal Bermuda grass hay". Ia there something about it that makes you feel it is bad for the kits?
Click to expand...

:eek: I can't believe I did that! I put that sentence in the absolutely wrong place! Sorry about that!

What I was referring to was the measuring of pellets... that has gotten thrown out the window, because she is eating more for milk production, and the kits are eating some too (and dropping plenty of it through the wire... :roll: )

They have all the hay they can eat as well. :)

Coastal Bermuda Grass -- the Bermuda grasses are a very common hay grown in the southeastern USA as well as tropical areas around the world. Coastal Bermuda Grass is particularly drought tolerant and soil tolerant, as long as it is reasonably well drained. "Cynodon dactylon. This species is pan-tropical and there are varieties adapted for a wide range of soils found in Australia, the United States, Fiji, Bangladesh, South Africa, South America, Cuba, and Suriname, among other areas." Coastal Bermuda Grass is one of those varieties that does particularly well here, apparently.

Sorry about that, Maggie! I need to proofread my posts! :)
 

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