ohiogoatgirl
Well-known member
I got this young black dutch doe at the auction on Monday. She hasn't eaten hardly anything. I mean like half or less of "oh ya my dutch are great, they eat nothing compared to my other rabbits". Very little.
She has eaten a decent amount of hay. I estimate it at less than my young dutch (from the ones I had years ago) would eat. She seems to be about 2months old. She didn't appear to eat any pellets at all the first two days here (Monday afternoon, Tuesday all day) and ate a decent handful of hay. On Wed I mixed a bit of sweet feed with the pellets. ((the sheep get sweet feed and cracked corn right now)). I did that because I have seen and heard local people using sweet feed and horse feed for their rabbits. I saw her nibble at the feed bowl twice that morning feeding the other rabbits.
It is now Saturday. I have put down about 1/2 cup pellets and about 1/4 cup sweet feed total since Monday. Of all that she only seemed to have eaten maybe a tablespoon worth. ((some of it got rained on the one overnight bc she had pushed the bowl over to where it could get wet. and some of it she pushed out of the bowl and was on the ground.))
I also gave her a small handful of grass and forage the last two days. she ate that.
Since Wed she has eaten another small handful of hay.
:shock: she does *ACT* like she is hungry or anything from what I can tell. of course she is a new rabbit but she isn't acting like it compared to any of the rabbits I have had before.
Could she just really be needing so little?
she is quite light and I was hoping to fatten her up and fill out. If she fills out decently I would like to do at least a test breeding with her and my buck. but if she stays this light and lean (not lanky, but quite light) I won't be doing that.
I don't have BOSS but should I try some 'old fashion oats'?
She has eaten a decent amount of hay. I estimate it at less than my young dutch (from the ones I had years ago) would eat. She seems to be about 2months old. She didn't appear to eat any pellets at all the first two days here (Monday afternoon, Tuesday all day) and ate a decent handful of hay. On Wed I mixed a bit of sweet feed with the pellets. ((the sheep get sweet feed and cracked corn right now)). I did that because I have seen and heard local people using sweet feed and horse feed for their rabbits. I saw her nibble at the feed bowl twice that morning feeding the other rabbits.
It is now Saturday. I have put down about 1/2 cup pellets and about 1/4 cup sweet feed total since Monday. Of all that she only seemed to have eaten maybe a tablespoon worth. ((some of it got rained on the one overnight bc she had pushed the bowl over to where it could get wet. and some of it she pushed out of the bowl and was on the ground.))
I also gave her a small handful of grass and forage the last two days. she ate that.
Since Wed she has eaten another small handful of hay.
:shock: she does *ACT* like she is hungry or anything from what I can tell. of course she is a new rabbit but she isn't acting like it compared to any of the rabbits I have had before.
Could she just really be needing so little?
she is quite light and I was hoping to fatten her up and fill out. If she fills out decently I would like to do at least a test breeding with her and my buck. but if she stays this light and lean (not lanky, but quite light) I won't be doing that.
I don't have BOSS but should I try some 'old fashion oats'?