gathering forage when it's wet?

[Rainey]

We're feeding about 6 4-gallon buckets of fresh forage a day now. We try to gather it after the dew has dried or before it rains. All of it is fed within 24 hours of being gathered. When there is a wet spell, day after day when nothing really dries out, we wondered whether it is better to gather it wet and feed it promptly or try to gather enough ahead when a wet spell is coming and feed it over several days (which would mean it was sitting in the buckets longer) How do others handle this? Or do you just not feed fresh stuff when it's wet? :?

We're also feeding hay and some grain (oats and wheat, with BOSS for nursing does) so nobunny would starve. I know mold is a killer and would guess that rabbits could pick up parasites from wet green food just as goats can from a wet pasture.

 

[MaggieJ]

Wild rabbits don't stop eating greens when it rains, so I long ago quit worrying about feeding greens in rainy weather providing they are fed promptly so they are not sitting in conditions where mould might develop. For the most part, my motto is "as in nature." I've had no problems from feeding fresh wet greens in quantities that are eaten fairly promptly.

 

[akane]

Wet greens are perfectly fine. If they not overly bruised or have a very large cut to separate them from the ground they should not rot in a day. If they do seem a little rotted you can try throwing in paper towels the next time. Pretty much all methods of keeping damp salad greens includes paper towels to absorb some moisture and many are testing over 5-10days before the greens get slimy.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

When I fed lots of gathered weeds and greens, I always had a bucket of water handy to swish off the dirt and another with clean cold water to soak them in as I picked more.

It kept them cool and fresh, and gave the bunnies a bit more water as well.

 

[Rainey]

Last summer we were cutting everything with long-bladed hand cutters--don't know if they were intended for shearing hedges or trimming grass or ? My son bought a walk-behind sickle bar mower which we've been using to cut off the goat paddocks when they need it and to get various hard to reach edges. So when the red clover was suddenly all ready at once on a steep hillside and it was raining every day, we used the sickle-bar to cut a swath, feeding some to the goats that were more confined in the wet and some to the rabbits. The clover was mixed with grasses and weeds. And we still hand cut plantain which isn't tall enough for the sickle bar to cut effectively but grows in profusion with chicory and dandelion and some white clover in the disturbed ground in front of the sawmill. And I carry a bunny bucket as well as a compost bucket when weeding my gardens. The bucket to swish off dirt is a great idea. Purslane is just starting up in my herb garden but when I pull it there is so much dirt on it. Thanks for the hint!
I'm finding that the rabbits make me more aware of what is growing in the hedgerows and roadside--all kinds of plants I would have just dismissed as "weeds". Learned prickly lettuce last summer and have already found some this year and now recognize the chicory early when it's best instead of not until it starts to bloom.