feeding hay

[ladysown]

commercial operations don't feed hay.

you just need a pellet that has a good amount of fibre to it and your rabbits will be just fine. Feeding hay makes it easier if they go off feed to get them going again.

 

[MaggieJ]

Pelleted feed could be different in Europe than here in North America, Starchild. Here pellets are usually alfalfa-based. If the ones you are feeding are grain-based, then hay would definitely be needed.

 

[Starchild]

Yeah, it looks like alfalfa based products are more widespread in general in the states than in Europe, at least as far as Norway goes..

I asked about grain based cow pellets (as its the only organic feed I can find) on a norwegian forum and was seriously bashed.. how on earth I could think of feeding rabbits grains.. is this also less of a no no in the states?
The people on the norwegian forum seemed fixated on numbers, grams and percentages.. like 4% fat being the absolute maximum, and not even take into consideration that there might be a difference between white red eyed rabbits in a laboratory and rabbits running relatively free in a colony, which they also condemned seeing colonies as some kind of breeding torture..... ?
The scientists can't even agree on what we humans should eat, but the rabbits diet is written in stone? Come on..

I'll see if I can start a new thread and list the ingredients of my pellet alternatives tomorrow... now it's 5:40 in the morning here .. good night! =o)


ladysown: go off feed to get them going again?

 

[akane]

Getting above 4% fat will cause problems except that hay has no fat. If you are feeding hay you are countering some of the fat content.

Most rabbit pellets are made of grain. Just go read the ingredients list. Grass like timothy or alfalfa will come first followed by guess what... grains and maybe soy, ended with vitamins, minerals, and probiotics. That's what makes up rabbit pellets. So you can quite easily break it apart or find substitutions in other animal feed provided you do pay attention to the numbers and make sure everything is included. I would watch cattle feeds because they are one of the herbivore feeds that sometimes include animal products. Organic feed would be less likely to. I've used horse and debated the goat and llama feed.

The fat will be a problem even with hay in some feeds and with some rabbits. I've cut the fat % in horse pellets by mixing with barley which is a very low fat grain but the rabbits like to leave the barely behind unless you make them clean their dishes before getting fed again. It's not really a problem with my meat rabbits who are high production and I can just not feed the horse pellets 1 or 2 days a week and make them eat all hay but the mini rex turn in to fat blobs if you aren't careful especially while not breeding them and does who have finished growth spurts but not started breeding may put on a little fat in between.

A fully customized grain mix would eliminate the problem, again provided you make them clean their dishes and not pick through it, but then you are missing the added vitamins and minerals that come in a complete feed and are lost when plants are dried to hay. This needs to be made up by fresh foods and/or good mineral blocks and mixes not just trace minerals. We get some blocks that are grains, soy, and vitamins plus minerals which are soft. The rabbits love them so we use those with grains or sometimes horse pellets and organic clover mix hay. I've debated trying just loose mineral/vitamin mix, hay, and the occasional grains for the bucks to cut cost since they don't need a lot but right now my meat buck eats about 1/20th what the does do even when free fed so I'm not worrying about it. The netherland bucks seem to live on air. I bet our hay silos and feed bins designed for a single rabbit in a cage would last them 2-3weeks.

Numbers, percentages, and amounts are important when feeding a homemade diet. You cannot ignore these things. I'm going nuts right now because my postage scale is broken and I can't measure things down to the exact gram when mixing diets for our little zoo. To say all the parts of the diet can't be made up by individual ingredients instead of a commercial feed by someone willing to do the research and work is just plain wrong though. Animals fed on fresh homemade food instead of items processed in to a homogenous pellet, kibble, or lump tend to be much healthier so long as it's done right and things aren't skipped. The reason we started raising rabbits was to feed the dogs on something other than kibble. The reason I have gerbils is to not just play with color genetics but to feed the cats. Everything here eats a fresh homemade diet as much as possible with all the ratios weighed and accounted for.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

commercial operations don't feed hay.

you just need a pellet that has a good amount of fibre to it and your rabbits will be just fine. Feeding hay makes it easier if they go off feed to get them going again.

I am a commercial breeder and i feed hay. The fryers gets hay every day. But only about a handful depending on size of litter and age. The does and bucks gets it about every second day. Lots of people like me dont want to do the hay because it is messy to clean up.It is very time consume to open every cage. I take the time .Just like i give other things like carrots ,apples ect. Others dont.So i guess i am a different commercial breeder.
I wanted to know why some people feed hay and some dont in my area , But from being here asking questions and reading others posts and doing more research. I am not taking any chances on not feeding hay. A round here. Commercial breeders feed medicated food. I dont want that. But they dont feed hay either.THey rather have medication in there food to help prevent problems over giving hay. I dont see the sense in that.

 

[Secuono]

I feed hay, but one buck hates the stuff, another 2 eat it real slow, 1 inhales it, 1 tosses a lot and the last nibbles a bit and uses most as bedding.
So, I hate feeding it to them, lol. I stuff the cages w/grasses when I can, cus they all eat it like it's crack. =D

 

[ladysown]

ladysown: go off feed to get them going again?

sometimes rabbits go off feed...as in they are stressed by something and don't eat. They for reason go on strike against your pellets... hard to know sometimes why they do that. If you feed hay it gives you something you can give them that might tempt them to eat.

I feed mine rabbits a variety of things for a few different reasons.

1. I like the additional fibre hay gives them
2. Most of my young bunnies go out as pets and pet people think treats are a necessity. If mine are used to treats it causes less upset.
3. I've purchased rabbits that are fed a pellet only diet. Trying to get them going again if they go off feed is a job and a half and a WHOLE LOT of work and worry.
4. Variety in a diet is a good thing

If the rabbits are used to having hay and parsley and oats ...then I have safe foods I can use when I get a rabbit stressed over the neighbourhood cat coming by, or a major snow storm that shakes and rattles their housing.

I like having options with my rabbits and THAT is the biggest reason why I feed more than just pellets.

I've had rabbits go on pellet strikes, hay strikes, oat strikes... but never on a parsley strike. So it all works to keep them functioning well.