Fermented Foods Okay for Rabbits?

[Amy]

Has anyone ever heard of or given their rabbits fermented foods?
It's so good for your gut, basically feeding your good bacteria. I am wondering since rabbits have sensitive digestion systems if they would benefit. It has sure helped my digestion.
Lacto Fermented veggies and sourdough bread both have lactobacillus (spelling?) and (I think) other probiotics in them.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

As far as I know, you should not feed them fermented foods. It is precisely BECAUSE of their sensitive digestions. There is nothing wrong with them, it is just that they digest totally different from humans. They have their own set of resident gut bacteria, and it may not be the same as we have in our stomachs....I would avoid them.

 

[caroline]

I'm actually using Kombucha in my bunz water specifically for the probiotics. I decided to try it out because it was getting VERY expensive, at the rate of 2 TBSP/gal, to keep using the ACV [apple cider vinegar] with the mother that had been recommended for those probiotics.I am brewing some vinegar in my water heater closet but it can take up to 6 months for it to become ready to use. The Kombucha, on the other hand, is ready in a week or two. I'm sure enjoying it myself and so far the bunz seem to be doing fine with the switch. The only thing that I have found is that I have to be VERY diligent about using a brush on the drinking tube or the particulate mater in the kombucha can stick up the roller balls so the bunz have trouble drinking.

 

[Amy]

My kombucha mother got neglected, it dried up and got moldy
But, I can get another one!
FYI-My ND told me to be careful with kombucha, as it tends to clean your system out too much-he says as long as you're eating other fermented foods daily it wouldn't cause problems. Could be different with rabbits though.?

 

[dobergoat]

I also don't understand why rabbits can't get a little fermented feed. Not saying that their entire diet should be fermented, as that would change their gut ph, but a portion should be okay shouldn't it? Everyone says to put apple cider vinigar with mother in the water weekly or during stress situations...wouldn't that be the same as feeding a portion of fermented feed daily?

Just wondering as I'm seeing benifits with my other animals with fermented added to their ration

 

[dangerbunny]

In the wild a rabbit would never eat fermented food except for maybe windfall fruit. They have a very different digestive system than we do.

 

[Frecs]

I also don't understand why rabbits can't get a little fermented feed. Not saying that their entire diet should be fermented, as that would change their gut ph, but a portion should be okay shouldn't it? Everyone says to put apple cider vinigar with mother in the water weekly or during stress situations...wouldn't that be the same as feeding a portion of fermented feed daily?

Just wondering as I'm seeing benifits with my other animals with fermented added to their ration

Intuitively, one would think that if a bit of ACV is good in their water, that a bit of fermented grains would be good in their feed.

AND, check out what is in MannaPro Gro pellets: Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Casei, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract,

AND, MannaPro Gro pellets contains: saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation solubles

so...perhaps the fermented hay/grains is not so bad after all? NOT as the complete diet, but as a fractional portion???

Oh, and then there is this comment pulled from the Rise And Shine Rabbitry blog about natural feeding (http://riseandshinerabbitry.com/2012/09 ... ng-rabbits):
From Kent King: I would like to weigh in here. I used to be big in raising rabbits, got out because of “life” and plan to get going again. Anyway, I tried feeding [corn--added because he clarifies this further down] silage, but it had too much fiber and the rabbits just didn’t thrive. I tried haylage, that is alfalfa that is silaged/fermented. I was impressed with it and the rabbits had no problems with it what so ever. .They loved it and did well with it. So if you have some green chop hay/alfalfa just take care of it like the dairies do, in rabbit raising, maybe just use big plastic contractor bags, fill them up, tie them off, then after a few days let the air out, seal them and then after several weeks you can incorporate it in to the diet.
I also tried working with different diets, I ran some dried alfalfa through a grinder/mixer, added some grain, oats and barley (no corn-corn not good), mixed some molasses. Fed free choice. In both cases, the friers came up to weight a full 2 to 3 weeks sooner than on pellets and were perfect, ie; proper meat profile, etc.

__________ Tue Dec 03, 2013 10:19 am __________

Oh, and another thought based on the MannaPro ingredients...

Perhaps it would be better to take an extra SCOBY from making Kombucha...or extra Mother from vinegar...dry that, and add to feed? or in t he case of the SCOBY, give as a chew toy?

Just thinking out loud...

__________ Tue Dec 03, 2013 10:37 am __________

I found this article that might prove interesting...

http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ats.201 ... 3-0014.xml<br /><br />__________ Tue Dec 03, 2013 10:48 am __________<br /><br />And, Feedipedia.org talks about Brewer's grains...and about using Brewer's *dried* grains as part of a rabbit's diet:

http://www.feedipedia.org/node/74

 

[Demamma]

A friend of my and I have been brainstorming about trying out some silage. We were thinking of testing it out on some mutts and see how they do. He grows a lot of legumes and rye grass on just a few acres. Not enough to go through the work to make hay.

 

[dobergoat]

I haven't had a chance to read the link. Hopefully I'll get to tonight as my dog decided to slice his paw pad in half again, so have to tend to that....

But I have haylage ( we feed to the sheep and goats). I was thinking of starting the colony on small amounts and see how they take to it. You have to be careful with haylage as it must be eaten within a week of breaking the seal. So the hay has to be portioned and cleaned up if they don't eat it...thinking allowed on how I will deliver it to them. I can just steal haylage of the sheep round bales....But the big thing with haylage is that you keep the protien level higher then fully drying. That is why we feed it and less waste with the sheep.