ohiogoatgirl
Well-known member
was reading over another natural feeds thread and Zab (pretty sure it was Zab) asked about feeding grains and why we dont just feed hay and forage.
i was thinking that to me the reason we started feeding grains to rabbits isnt necssarily to the rabbits benefit just as to space benefit. first monks were keeping rabbits in the walled gardens and the rabbits were basically wild but they could harvest them more easily and watch how they acted and what they ate.
then when they started keeping them in smaller areas and didnt want to have to chase them all over and trap them and for more selective breeding. well honestly how many rabbits can you handle keeping when you have to cut and store all the hay and forage for them all? its alot easier and less space taken up storing grains then hay and forages. then after time people figured out that the rabbits grew faster on the grains and certian mixes did better than others. and that certian lines grow better then others.
after that i think we all know how things progressed into pellets and chemicals and additives, blah blah blah.
well i'm one of the likely very few people who would like to breed a hardiness back into my line for rabbits that would do alright on mostly hay and forage with just minimal grain mix and mineral block.
so other then the sake of storing the hay and forage, just talking about the rabbits needs. what are we talking?
personally i would like to even just be able to feed a trio and litters until butchering. and waiting a bit longer for larger growouts wouldnt be that bad.
so....
lets say i have a nice feild of alfalfa/timothy that i can cut for forage, and another feild that i can cut and have enough for all winter feeding. plus areas on overgrown feild (checkin for poisonous weeds of course) that i can cut for forage as well.
i would add chunks of mineral block. and feed sunflower seeds in winter at least.
if i were to do this is there anything else i should really add? i would like to do this and other then the mineral block have it all be things i can grow and cut myself.
thanks
i was thinking that to me the reason we started feeding grains to rabbits isnt necssarily to the rabbits benefit just as to space benefit. first monks were keeping rabbits in the walled gardens and the rabbits were basically wild but they could harvest them more easily and watch how they acted and what they ate.
then when they started keeping them in smaller areas and didnt want to have to chase them all over and trap them and for more selective breeding. well honestly how many rabbits can you handle keeping when you have to cut and store all the hay and forage for them all? its alot easier and less space taken up storing grains then hay and forages. then after time people figured out that the rabbits grew faster on the grains and certian mixes did better than others. and that certian lines grow better then others.
after that i think we all know how things progressed into pellets and chemicals and additives, blah blah blah.
well i'm one of the likely very few people who would like to breed a hardiness back into my line for rabbits that would do alright on mostly hay and forage with just minimal grain mix and mineral block.
so other then the sake of storing the hay and forage, just talking about the rabbits needs. what are we talking?
personally i would like to even just be able to feed a trio and litters until butchering. and waiting a bit longer for larger growouts wouldnt be that bad.
so....
lets say i have a nice feild of alfalfa/timothy that i can cut for forage, and another feild that i can cut and have enough for all winter feeding. plus areas on overgrown feild (checkin for poisonous weeds of course) that i can cut for forage as well.
i would add chunks of mineral block. and feed sunflower seeds in winter at least.
if i were to do this is there anything else i should really add? i would like to do this and other then the mineral block have it all be things i can grow and cut myself.
thanks