Grain hulls....

[PulpFaction]

For those of you that feed whole grains, do your rabbits spit out the hulls? I've started transitioning and am feeding whole oats and barley and the rabbits leave a little mound of hulls in their dish every day. This is annoying!

I'm also concerned about the waste factor if I'm free feeding a large group, as it seems that once they get a good layer of hulls on top, either they dig feed out or simply don't eat the bottom layer.

 

[ottersatin]

Rachel,
some do not eat the hulls of whole Oats, this is why I use rolled oats.
Another trick is to not feed as much, do not fill the feeder.
When you have scrabblers feed less and when you go back for the next feeding
on the morrow and they seem hungry, that is a good sign. Feed just a bit more
if the feeder is empty and the feed was not scrabbled. If the feeder is not empty
feed a bit less. You will soon arrive at what amount they are actually eating per day.
Feed each rabbit as an individual. This will also help to cut down on wasted feed.
Ottersatin.

 

[trinityoaks]

Mine don't. They get whole oats and wheat, and they eat the hulls and all. The only barley I can get here is crimped, but they get that, too. Now that the weather is getting colder, I'll add BOSS back in. They eat all of that, too.

 

[MaggieJ]

Good advice from Ottersatin on adjusting the amounts to feed.

Most of my buns seem to eat the hulls but one or two do not. If the dish looks like it has mainly hulls, I toss it to the chickens or geese waiting outside. They clean it up promptly.