I found some alfalfa pellets today at my local Tractor Supply. I know some people feed there rabbits on a alfalfa hay diet (with other things thrown in), but does this particular "substitute" look good enough to be my rabbits bulk feed? And the information given below is all I could find on this product. It does say that the only ingredient is alfalfa hay. Would this mean that all the nutrition that would be in alfalfa hay make into the finished pelleted form?


Ingredients:
Sun-cured alfalfa hay.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein, (min.) 16.0%; Crude Fat, (min.) 1.0%; Crude Fiber, (max.) 28%; Moisture, (max.) 12.0%.

It has none of the benefits and the rabbits mostly ignore them. Your rabbit pellets already should have alfalfa in the same form as plain pelleted alfalfa. Hay provides long stem fiber for wearing down all the teeth (pellets tend to miss the molars) and keeping the digestive tract moving. It also is more appealing to rabbits, a natural form of food for them, keeps them busy picking through it and chewing up all the long stems for the whole day instead of meals (rabbits are not designed for meals), and should have fresher nutrients.

Alfalfa pellets can be useful but pretty much only in a diet avoiding commercial pellets and looking for substitutes. We've also used them as emergency rations. Really the rabbits are not fond of them. They eat them if they get hungry enough but it's the same as a rabbit pellet minus the added vitamins/minerals that round out the diet and usually in a harder, larger form the rabbits don't care for.

Now the hay cubes are somewhere in between and many who don't want the mess and storage of hay get bags of alfalfa cubes to feed their rabbits.

Hello Man-alive.
One man's choice is another Man's Daisy.
I would NOT do it, but you are your rabbits keeper
and must do what you feel is best for your herd,
though I feel you will be making a grave mistake.
Ottersatin.

Alright thanks guys, I half figured I would get that answer, but I tried. Another question. I have purchased a few does but I was wondering if I should let them acclimate to there new surroundings before I bred them... you know a calm down period?

You might want to wait a day or two,
but then again: If you check their genital area
to see if they are ready to breed and they are,
why waste time! I'd say "Go for it".
Dennis, C.V.R.

I would wait a few days until they seem calm and relaxed in their new home. Rabbits are vulnerable to stress and numerous stresses at the same time (new home, new owners, new food etc.) all add up without the additional stress of being put in with a buck. To an extent, however, it depends on the doe. Some settle in almost immediately whereas others may be jumpy and nervous for quite some time.

Well I purchased two does that are old enough to breed, and two young ones that still have some growing to do. On of the older rabbits I have good hope for, whenever I get around the smaller ones she will come and try and protect them. Not bite or anything but gets between my hand and them. In all the excitement of making the purchase I forgot (sorry) to check them out physically to see if they were healthy. Once I got them home I remembered and I couldn't be any happier. They are wonderfully active, nervous at the moment, but not totally fearfull. Its a colony style at the moment because thats what I could do the best with. I put a chair inside there enclosure and when I sit there they come and sniff my boots and such. I am so excited to get this thing going.

I once tried alfalfa pellets with my rabbits (I grain-feed, so no alfalfa in their feed), and my rabbits wouldn't touch it. I fed hay for several years, but I've moved, and where I live now I can't buy alfalfa hay (at least not this time of year, and timothy is $50 for a small, 50-lb bale). I decided to try the alfalfa cubes, and they seem to be taking those ok. The cubes are twice the price of the hay I was buying before, but at least they don't waste near as much of it.

Well until I do more searching the most reliable source of alfalfa hay is my local tractor supply and its 12 something a bag. Wich is better than the 14.49 I pay for the complete rabbit feed I buy but not by much. I'm not too concerned about it cause I know that my complete rabbit feed is giving them everything they need. And when spring rolls around they should be getting quite a bit from the family garden.

__________ Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:17 pm __________

I decided instead of starting a whole other thread I would just post another question here. I have a colony style setup and I remember where someone on this site didn't like using a traditional nest box in a colony. Well I figured I would make a tunnel-style then, but I don't know how tall and wide it would have to be. More specifically the heighth and width of the entrance?

All does I've bought bred the day I bought them or bred right away failed to take no matter how eager.

The tunnel needs to be about the size of your doe. Get a piece of string to lay on rabbit and then on tape measure (more accurate) and measure a stretched out rabbit, condensed rabbit (commercial or compact type judging pose), and around the rabbit. Now you have your measurements. You do not need it to be as big as the rabbit can stretch because they don't stretch in their box but it gives a max size and length of tunnel idea. We plan to do this with mortar bricks and I haven't decided. Gutter material would make a less slick tunnel than pvc but rabbits may eat it.

I think Ann was using clay chimney liners for nest tunnels? Something like that.

Well that sounds easy enough, thanks a bunch