Gravity feeders = wasted food

[CapellaFarm]

Almost all of my bunnies dig at the gravity feeders with their paws and toss a ton of food on the ground. So I am now feeding all of the local mice as well as my bunnies. Not cool. Does anyone else on here have that issue and what have you done to correct it? I have a chicken feeder i could try but it will take up a lot of room and doubt it would solve the problem. I would also have a hard time knowing when to expect it to run out of food.

Any ideas?

 

[UFCreel]

I use the feeders you are talking about. I dont have that issue. Maybe over feeding your rabbits? I have mine mounted up higher. Except in my grow out pen.

 

[alforddm]

Mounting them higher often helps. I believe they are supposed to be about 4" off the cage floor.

 

[Nyctra]

Using the same feeder for grain or treats, feeder too low, feeder not dispensing food properly, not liking the food and hoping to find something better in the bottom, and sheer boredom have all been causes to my buns digging at their Jfeeders.
To fix, my solution is usually to raise the feeder, but I've seen some folks run a bar through it so they can't get their paws in there to dig.

 

[MeadowView]

I've never had a rabbit that didn't dig in their food, it used to drive me absolutely insane. I started using those mounted crocks that screw onto the cage door instead and it's been helping a lot. I've been able to cut back how much food they get as well, so I'm going through less feed.

 

[Ozarkansas]

My rabbits only do that when they are:
1. overfed
2. I mixed in a supplement
3. They are a new rabbit and I am mixing transition food with the pellets I usally feed.
It has never mattered what kind of feeder I am using. I have had some rabbits that liked to tip over feeders that are not secured properly just for the fun of it though :?

 

[SableSteel]

Raising the feeder can help. The only times that I see rabbits digging out of J feeders is when the feeder is too low (set on the ground, or only an inch or two high -- mine are mostly four inches up) or when supplements are added in. If you add supplements, try putting them in a separate dish if they're still digging after raising the feeder.

 

[TheChad]

I had the same issue. I did two things that helped.

1. I stopped mixing in boss or oats with the feed. I now put it on top.
2. I changed to a better feed (I think this is the real reason they stopped) If some pieces smell sweeter, they dig to get them. Once I changed the feed, they stopped immediately.

FYI - I use manna pro or gro depending on the situation. Hope this helps.

 

[CapellaFarm]

All great suggestions. Thank you. I think I definitely had them too low, probably also overfeeding them. I really like the bar idea too. I would rather not overfeed my rabbits by having food always available for them but adding the right amount of food to their J feeders every day or so kind of defeats the purpose of the J feeder in the first place. So raising the feeder and possibly rigging up a bar. <br /><br /> __________ Mon Aug 28, 2017 6:22 pm __________ <br /><br /> Interesting idea about them looking for sweeter pieces of food too.

 

[Miss M]

Another solution, which worked for us, is to install a wire or spring in the top of the tray from one end to the other. It doesn't need to be tight. The rabbit tries to dig, but the paws keep catching the wire. This has always stopped them for us.