Questions and comments about plant safety for rabbits.

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Hello all!

I have a question about cow parsley (wild chervil.) There's an absolute abundance of it growing beside my house (although it has flowered now, so rather past its initial best - still plenty of leaves under the flower-heads though.)

Firstly does anyone know whether more than a handful for each rabbit is too much cow parsley? I can't find anything that would indicate it's an "only in moderation" sort of food, so while it is there and happily growing like well... a weed... I'd quite like to take advantage of it, but want to check that no-one knows of a reason why not to first!

Secondly, has anyone had any experience of trying to dry it for overwinter use, and if so how successful was it? There's just masses of it out there. I have inspected it all closely enough to be sure it is definitely cow parsley and not fool's parsley (or worse, hemlock :eek:) but if I were to go out there with my clippers and start hacking down swathes of it I would of course be extra careful to make sure there wasn't a single sneaky hemlock plant nestled amongst the tasty parsley that would rather ruin the whole operation :x

Essentially, I don't want to hang up a bunch of it to try and dry it for "storage" and have it end up spoiling/being wasted, when it could've just been eaten here and now. I very much want to take advantage of the great big pile o'free food in the area just outside my garden wall, but I also don't want to throw great handfuls of the one plant at my buns alongside their dandelions and dock leaves and fresh grass and hay (and pellets) when it isn't the best thing to give them lots of.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks in advance :)

(I posted this over on another forum but I think their "rabbit section" is rather empty so I followed some signature links to here - much more likely to find knowledgeable folks here I think :D)
 
Can't find what this is via internet, do you know?
Edit: found it: Anemopsis californica
Seems to have medicinal values. Has anyone tried to feed this? I am going to try it, well, one of my rabbits is going to try it :)
Will let you know.
 

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Ok. I have a plant I'm curious about which hasn't been commented on in the entire site as a food source for rabbits. Camellia. I am aware that tea is made from the leaves. And, I am also aware that the seed pods are pressed for cooking oil, which btw is quite pricey if you happen to find any. So, it's apparent that the pods and leaves are not toxic to humans. Has anyone ever tried them on their buns? I have several very large camellias in my yard, (over 10 feet tall). A search on google, "camellia toxicity rabbit", gave conflicting information.
 
I fed my rabbits some fresh cut mulberry branches. I noticed the sap is a little sticky. Should I age them before feeding? I've fed them before but this is the first time I noticed sticky sap.
 
Found... clover(?) popping up in my yard and wanted to make sure it was rabbit-edible before I fed it to them. I DEFINITELY have oxalis all over the yard and know that it's poisonous to buns so I stay far away from that, but while I'm familiar with white and red clover, I'm not familiar with this yellow flowering clover. Edible?

Screen Shot 2017-03-10 at 5.09.47 PM.pngScreen Shot 2017-03-10 at 5.09.54 PM.pngScreen Shot 2017-03-10 at 5.10.41 PM.png
 
It might be this:
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/f ... den-clover

I have fed something that looked like this to the rabbits, but never in any quantity because I wasn't positive about it. I always fed it in a good mixture of other plants and had no visible ill effects. But I'm not positive it was the same plant, so do a bit more research before using it.
 
I think you're probably correct, Alforddm. Black medic seems like a more likely ID.

This part of the text could be used to be sure which it is:
IDENTIFICATION: Medicago lupulina: Multi-branched, slender, prostrate, slightly hairy stems, 12 to 24 inches long, spreads low to the ground, does not root from nodes. Leaflets of three, center leaflet on separate petiole. Resembles hoop clover but as longer leafstalk, leaflets often bristle-tipped. Tightly coiled one-seed black pod. Re Black Medic and Hop Clover: Stems of M. lupulina are downy (they have white hairs.) The stems of T. dubium are almost hairless and more redish.

It sounds as though there are reasons to consider this a dubious source of forage for rabbits. Proceed carefully, 2CrazyFools!
 
Can any one tell me if it's safe to feed ferns? I have lots of different types, so I was wondering if they are ALL safe, not safe or if i need to pick and choose?
 
BunnyAuntie":1523kn4d said:
Can any one tell me if it's safe to feed ferns? I have lots of different types, so I was wondering if they are ALL safe, not safe or if i need to pick and choose?

I don't know off-hand if any ferns are safe to feed to rabbits, but they are a huge family of plants and I think you would need to research each species individually by scientific nameto determine safety. Don't rely on the common names you know them by . . . those names are often regional and can result in mistakes that could be fatal to your rabbits.
 
Ok thank you! I just thought I'd see if anyone had already done the research :oops: Once they start growing I'll check each one out! :)
 
It's taken me a while to identify things since everything was so late this year, but it seems most of my early weeds are NOT safe for rabbits. So I'd like to double check some trees that I think are safe. I know apple and sugar maple are ok, what about American Beech? Are all willows safe? All parts of the willow, even seeds? Are all Elms? I haven't yet been able to narrow it down to the exact species but I think I can if I have to.
alforddm- That's really interesting! That's the only fern I've seen the wild rabbits eating! Maybe that's why I haven't seen any wild rabbits this year! :eek:
 
Sometimes you get plants that are safe for one species and not others (such as Avocado). If you've seen wild rabbits eating it, it could be rabbit safe or maybe they were using it to self medicate. Unless it's really common forage items it is sometimes hard to find information specific to rabbits so in general it's safest to avoid anything that causes problems with other species. I would be very hesitant to feed it.

All willows are safe and I'm pretty sure all Elms are safe. Mulberry and American Sycamore are safe and I believe Sweetgum is safe. I've fed the sweetgum and they really like it. I've never had a problem although it's not something they get everyday. If you have any Persian Silk Trees aka Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) the leaves, bark, and flowers are safe and very high quality forage, but there are reports of a neurotoxin in the seeds themselves so just don't feed the seed pods.

What kind of early weeds do you have? We can probably help you sort through what you can feed.
 
Yeah, I'm really curious about what unsafe weeds you're seeing. We're filling our buckets pretty fast now--all those dandelions and now the plantain and clover and wild carrot (Queen Anne's Lace) are coming along to take the place of the docks which we feed early but not later in the season. Pretty much anything you'll find on somebody's unsafe list, but I hope you'll find things you can identify and feed with a little help.
Willows are great. Our rabbits really like them--we have 7 different kinds and some they like more than others. We feed it year round, dried when it's no longer available fresh.
 
I do have grass and dandelion which he loves. As for unsafe ones, I have a lot of ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea), common golden alexanders (zizia aurea), wood sorel (oxalis montana), small pussytoes (antennaria howellii), mayflower (lysimachia borealis), and partridge-berry(mitchella repens). I also have many different types (6-8?)of ferns, plus some things I have yet to identify. I'm more forest than field.... most of these I could find no info on, safe/unsafe wise so I assume it would be better not to feed them.
RaineyI don't think I have dock... and it will be another month or so before I see anything like Queen Anne's Lace or clover. To give you an idea my Lilacs have only just started to open, there should be more option when it warms up. :)
alforddmI don't have any Mulberry, Sycamore, Sweet Gum or Mimosa. I have Sugar, Red and Striped Maple, Yellow Birch, Beech, Elm, Willow, Black Cherry, Oak and Hemlock. I'm really interested in knowing if the Beech is safe, I have a lot of those. :)
 
I know sugar and red maple are safe. I'm not sure about the stripped. Beech is listed on at least one toxic list for rabbits so it would probably be better to avoid those. Do you have poplar?

Wood sorrel can be fed in moderation.
 

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