I know rabbits must meet certain weight requirements but points are taken off for being too flabby, or too lean. I feed 16% alfalfa based pellets and it's a good quality feed. I also normally feed timothy hay, but sometimes they just get bermuda hay that my horses get. So for rabbits a bit under the target weight, what is a good feeding practice to get them to the weight but not add too much fat? I know BOSS is good, but might throw them into a molt so if I were to start that, I should do that sooner rather than later. Does anyone buy any of the show supplements you add to their feed?
Any sudden increase in fat and/or protein can precipitate a molt, no matter what the source. The key is "sudden." So you can start by adding literally a few seeds, say 4-6, and increase by a few each day, and you *should* be fine. Even for a big meat rabbit, I don't give more than about 20 seeds/day to encourage weight gain. It generally doesn't take much BOSS to increase weight; when I am conditioning for show I weigh them daily. When they're within an ounce, I quit supplementing, but keep weighing until the show to make sure they're not dropping what they gained.
If it's possible, you can also give the rabbit more room to run around and get more exercise. Though it might take off fat, it won't necessarily take off weight, since they'll be building muscle mass, and that's what you want (on a meat rabbit especially, but it holds true for all breeds).
Day of show, make sure they're drinking and/or eating some food with high water content (get them used to that in advance, if you don't want diarrhea). I've seen rabbits lose more than 3/4lb on a show day because they weren't drinking.
I have used other supplements like Calf Manna and some others, but they all seem to work about the same, and are all more expensive than BOSS. The only reason I've found to use the others is when, very occasionally, I have had a rabbit that just wasn't interested in the BOSS (maybe 2-3 times in almost 20 years).
In my experience, most judges won't quibble over an ounce either way, except for the tiniest breeds. Most have developed a "feel" for the weight and will only weigh rabbits they perceive as being significantly too light or heavy. Of course it's best to have the rabbits squarely within the upper and lower limits of the standard; and you could technically get a judge that weighs every rabbit. However, most shows are too big for judges to take the time to do that. When I'm faced with the situation, I'd rather have a healthy animal that's an ounce underweight, that a fat, flabby rabbit - those just don't show well anyway.
If you're already feeding good-quality feed and your animals are healthy, your long game should be to breed rabbits that make weight easily, rather than having to supplement and risk making them fat. It might take a generation or two but it's not too hard to do with selective breeding. I used to struggle to get my Satins to make weight, sometimes never getting there or taking 2 years to do it. A focused breeding program has resulted in my rabbits making senior weight as early as 5 months now (senior is 8 months in Satins). In fact I am having to watch very carefully so that my does don't go overweight!
