winter feeding

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
Rabbit Talk Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
B

Brody

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 21, 2009
Messages
1,603
Reaction score
0
Location
Ontario
I did so well all summer getting largely away from pellets and blancing fresh foods (plantain, leaves, mixed grasses, berry leaves, dandilion, clover, alfalfa, queen anne's lace etc) I fed pellets every 2-3 days depending on the rabbit - mostly to keep balance right but now that I'm stuck with hay not from our land and very little fresh (though I did put up a ton of sugar maple and willow leaves) I find myself relying more and more on pellets ..
what do the natural feeders do overwinter for their rabbits?

thanks

andrea
 
Spring is usually an easier time to make transitions, Ann. The abundance of fresh greens helps.

Brody, get a few dishpans from the dollar store and put about 2 inches of soil in them. No drainage needed. Sow heavily with a whole grain: wheat and barley both work well. Water until moist but not soggy and in about 10 days you will be able to harvest beautiful, vitamin-packed wheat or barley grass for the buns. They don't need huge quantities... even a little will make them very happy.
 
I have discovered that I can give them a bit of greens from what I buy at t he grocery. I often (like 2x a week) buy romaine. I now buy the largest head I can find, and chop off the top 1/3 (all dark leafy and the stuff I don't like) for the buns :) I also give them the outer leaves which are usually less crunchy, as well. (I'm ALLL about crunch in my salads).

I'm trying to grow turnip greens, but it's not working so well, maybe the grasses will work better. I don't have much window sun (BIG evergreens in the way). I may have to dig out the greenhouse lights.
 
You won't need much sun for the grain grass, just ordinary daylight. What I like is how fast the grass grows and how many cuttings you can get before it gets tired and discouraged. Then I just pull the mat of roots and soil out and compost it... And start again.

Another good source of winter greens is a windowsill sweet potato vine. You probably did this sometime when you were a kid... using toothpicks to hold the sweet potato half in and half out of a glass of water. Sweet potato greens are rich... a little goes a long way. If you put the container on one end of a windowsill your can let the vine grow up and around the window and still have room for your grain grass. :)
 
I figure I can do this with our oats? We feed ground oats ($280 ton) and its a big savings on feed. Grow out is a little longer, but the meat is better IMO--and I know what is in it.
 
I'm assuming you have whole oats and not just ground oats. Yes, oat grass is excellent for rabbits too. I find it sometimes takes slightly longer than wheat grass, but as long as you keep up a rotation that isn't a problem.

The meat does taste better on grain than on pellets, doesn't it? :clap:
 
I read on the safe plant list that sweet potatoes were ok. Don't they have too much sugar? Are you talking about a very small serving or can I just dump a whole small one in the cage! That would be awesome as we have a couple of bushels of them sitting around.
B~
 
man I wish I was near you - i have a dog who can only eat sweet potatoes and chicken ...
I would feed the greens from sweet potato no problem - it's rich though so I'd even limit the greens .. I'd double check the potato part and start with a small amount first for sure ..
 
Yes, do keep the portions small for sweet potato. My understanding is that the tubers are okay... but that means a little slice, not a whole one even if it is small. They are very high in sugar. If I had the tubers to spare, I'd feed a bit on very cold days when the buns can use an energy boost. I fed the cooked peelings once or twice last year when I was cooking them for ourselves and peeling them to candy. The buns enjoyed them... but the amount was very small.
 
;) so....a bowl full of leftover candied sweet potatoes from Christms dinner is RIGHT OUT, eh?

I was afraid of that. I did actually try a small piece of that on Trufflebee...he doesn't like ANYTHING I've given him...and he liked that. Little troublemaker
 
Thanks for that clarification- I had always surmised the sugar levels were too high. Nothing wrong with the latex stuff they make in the tops either? Just something I have never given them. We certainly could provide plenty as we grow them and they go nuts all over the place. Our dogs love them too! B~
 
we switched to a rolled grain ration this summer, occasional apple or carrot over winter. just got some radish seed and was going to plant that as they love radish tops! will try some grain as well, fellow we bought the farm from back in 1969 had a hydroponic system for spouting grain for cows, very thing old is new again!
 
Sprouted grain is great for poultry, rabbits and larger livestock too. You're lucky to have the set-up, Steve. The main thing to watch out for is mould forming as the sprouts grow. Just germinated grain - one to two days - is also very nutritious and it avoids the mould problem. But the buns do love having the grassy leaves.
 
One of the things I grew last winter was oats and I was happy with the results.

This year I want to see if I can get some carrot tops to sprout green, I kind of remember doing that as a kid, think it was a science project. I imagine it would be much slower growing but a nice change for the buns.

Does anyone know if corn sprouts are ok to feed rabbits? I have an abundance of corn seed I saved and thought I could use it for the rabbits. I know it would probably be slow growing and low yield compared to oats and barely but it would add variety to the diet. I feed dried corn stalks but I just can't seem to find out if corn shoots are safe for rabbits.
Marian
 
Nice to see you here, Marian! :hi:

I grew carrot and beet tops for the buns last winter. They didn't give much of a yield, but the bunnies did enjoy them. The grain grasses seem to give the best yeild for me. I use rectangular plastic dishpans from the dollar store because I can grow more than in a round pot. Corn shoots should be just fine for the rabbits, as long as they don't go mouldy before they are ready.

I took a peek at your blog. Very nice! I'll be going back there when I get a chance. :)
 
why not just plant the corn and give them the greens when they come up? if you wait until the plants are about six -eight inches high...SOME of them should regrow again (at least that's what happened for me in the spring this year).
 
Hey Maggie!

I was wondering if you'd remember me. I'm glad I can use the extra corn seed. Thanks for checking out my blog.

Ladysown, I never thought to may-be just trim down the corn shoots, I'll try that, thank-you.

Brody, love your blog, too. You are a great picture taker, something I will never be able to lay claim to.

Thanks for all the warm welcomes.

Marian
 

Latest posts

Back
Top