MamaSheepdog
Well-known member
I bought flax seed to add to my herd's diet, but don't have solid bottomed feeders so I needed a way to feed it conveniently. I also wanted a way to add salt and/or minerals to their diet since they are not fed pellets and I am currently rotating mineral blocks through the cages since I haven't gotten around to cutting enough chunks off of my mineral block nor collected enough tuna cans to contain it.
I adapted a horse cookie recipe I found here: http://www.moniteausaddleclub.com/horse_treats_2.htm to make rabbit cookies.
This is the original recipe:
Breezy's Favorite
1 cup uncooked oatmeal
1 cup flour
1 cup shredded carrots or apples
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons corn or vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup molasses
Mix the ingredients into a large bowl in the order they are listed. Make small balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Leave them in the oven until they are cool, and they will harden. I have found that horses don't like soft treats as much as if they are hard.
This is my modified recipe, with greatly increased quantities since I have a LOT of rabbits, and reduced sweet ingredients:
2 1/2c rolled barley
2 1/2c crimped oats
1c flax seed
6c whole wheat flour (plus 2 additional cups*)
6c shredded vegis- I used 5c Zucchini (overgrown ones from the garden) and 1c carrot
4 TBSP salt (Reduce by half (or more) if feeding pellets or a salt source.)
3 TBSP dried Basil
3/4c (12 TBSP) olive oil**
2 1/2c water
1/2c molasses
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes for cookies, 45 minutes if prepared as bars. They will have a rather springy rubbery texture. To hasten the drying process I then set the oven to convection at 200 degrees and left them for a couple of hours. A food dehydrator or a good dose of patience would probably work to dry them as well.
I combined all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and added the shredded vegis. I mixed the water, oil, and molasses in a measuring cup and whisked to mix.
*When I mixed the liquid in, the batter was very wet, so I added an additional 2c flour. It was still very sticky. I decided to refrigerate the batter over night to make handling it easier.
**Any oil can be used, but I didn't want to use corn oil or soy based vegetable oil.
I used a TBSP to scoop portions of batter to form into balls. It was still very sticky, so I powdered my hands with flour between rolling each ball. I baked the first batch in balls, thinking they would flatten out when they cooked. They don't.
I pre-flattened the next round in the hope that they would dry out and become crisp faster.
For the last batch, I decided to see how it would work if baked as a sheet since forming the dough into balls is time consuming. I floured a cutting board and glopped the batter onto it and flattened it out with my well-floured hands. I then took the dough and put it in an oiled cookie sheet. I scored the batter with the edge of a spatula so it would be in convenient serving sizes.
Here is the finished product- the lighter looking ones had an additional coating of flour on them to make them less sticky:
I am pleased to say that the rabbits love them! Here they are enjoying their cookies:
I adapted a horse cookie recipe I found here: http://www.moniteausaddleclub.com/horse_treats_2.htm to make rabbit cookies.
This is the original recipe:
Breezy's Favorite
1 cup uncooked oatmeal
1 cup flour
1 cup shredded carrots or apples
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons corn or vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup molasses
Mix the ingredients into a large bowl in the order they are listed. Make small balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Leave them in the oven until they are cool, and they will harden. I have found that horses don't like soft treats as much as if they are hard.
This is my modified recipe, with greatly increased quantities since I have a LOT of rabbits, and reduced sweet ingredients:
2 1/2c rolled barley
2 1/2c crimped oats
1c flax seed
6c whole wheat flour (plus 2 additional cups*)
6c shredded vegis- I used 5c Zucchini (overgrown ones from the garden) and 1c carrot
4 TBSP salt (Reduce by half (or more) if feeding pellets or a salt source.)
3 TBSP dried Basil
3/4c (12 TBSP) olive oil**
2 1/2c water
1/2c molasses
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes for cookies, 45 minutes if prepared as bars. They will have a rather springy rubbery texture. To hasten the drying process I then set the oven to convection at 200 degrees and left them for a couple of hours. A food dehydrator or a good dose of patience would probably work to dry them as well.
I combined all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and added the shredded vegis. I mixed the water, oil, and molasses in a measuring cup and whisked to mix.
*When I mixed the liquid in, the batter was very wet, so I added an additional 2c flour. It was still very sticky. I decided to refrigerate the batter over night to make handling it easier.
**Any oil can be used, but I didn't want to use corn oil or soy based vegetable oil.
I used a TBSP to scoop portions of batter to form into balls. It was still very sticky, so I powdered my hands with flour between rolling each ball. I baked the first batch in balls, thinking they would flatten out when they cooked. They don't.
I pre-flattened the next round in the hope that they would dry out and become crisp faster.
For the last batch, I decided to see how it would work if baked as a sheet since forming the dough into balls is time consuming. I floured a cutting board and glopped the batter onto it and flattened it out with my well-floured hands. I then took the dough and put it in an oiled cookie sheet. I scored the batter with the edge of a spatula so it would be in convenient serving sizes.
Here is the finished product- the lighter looking ones had an additional coating of flour on them to make them less sticky:
I am pleased to say that the rabbits love them! Here they are enjoying their cookies:
