Feeding grass.

[brownsfarm]

I recently started a meat rabbit farm in Jamaica, my rabbits are fed pellets and hay. my questions is i have an abundance of Pennisetum purpureum (Napier grass). Megathyrsus maximus, (Guinea grass) and Urochloa mutica (para grass) should i choose one and feed them only that one or will i be ok giving them all three. I also have a lot of mulberry tress that they seem to love but its packed with vitamin C.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Hi Brown'sFarm!

Welcome to RabbitTalk!

Jamaica, eh? I think you are our first Jamiacan member! :bouncy: Would you be so kind as to add your country flag to your profile?

*Ahem* On to your questions- mulberry is an excellent fodder, as you already know.

As for the others, I had to do a little research. http://www.feedipedia.org/ is an excellent resource that has nutritional breakdowns of plants used as animal fodder.

Here is what I found thus far:

Pennisetum purpureum (nothing specific re: rabbits):

http://www.feedipedia.org/node/395

Megathyrsus maximus, from http://www.feedipedia.org/node/416 :

Rabbits

Guinea grass is palatable to rabbits (Adehan et al., 1994). Rabbits fed on Guinea grass had a higher feed intake and Guinea grass voluntary intake was 75% of the overall intake (Taiwo et al., 2005). It was also a good fibre complement in water spinach-based diet (Khuc Thi Hue et al., 2006). However, it was reported to decrease digestibility coefficients when added at 25 % of the diet (Gupta et al., 1993). Replacing Guinea grass by water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) resulted in higher body weight gains in growing rabbits and higher milk yield and litter size in does (Tran Hoang Chat et al., 2005).

Urochloa mutica, from http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plan ... t/all.html :

IMPORTANCE TO WILDLIFE AND LIVESTOCK:
Palatability and nutritional value: Para grass is widely cultivated in tropical regions throughout the world for its value as livestock fodder [18,40,56,59]. Its consumption by livestock supports milk production in some areas [40]. However, para grass grown in high-nutrient conditions may accumulate enough nitrates and oxalates in its foliage to be toxic to livestock [41], including domestic rabbits [47].