How to get rabbits to lose weight?

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CanucksStar#17

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Two of my rabbits are overweight, one is my female who is supposed to be bred right now but she is so fat I am going to have to wait until she loses weight, during the winter I was trying to get her to gain weight but then she gained to much and I want her back to the right weight, Every night all the food I do give her is gone since she doesn't have free food, just two handfuls a day. The other overweight rabbit is my only male. Is there a way to get them to lose weight?
 
It's very hard. Actually attempting to breed is one of the best ways. You may get misses and small litters at first but it uses up the most energy of any option. Keeping the fat doe bred back constantly will take the weight off her and shouldn't be that much strain since she has so many calories to burn. You just have to make sure she's getting enough calcium if you are on restricted feeding with no alfalfa hay. Adding grass hay also helps because it is pretty much no fat, low protein, no carbs, but it fills them up. Barley instead of pellets, a mineral mix like goat or horse, and some grass hay does a pretty good job of at least maintaining weight without gain. Some people increase exercise by putting an obstacle in the cage. Set the food on one end, the water on the other end and slide a wooden dowel, pvc chunk, etc through the center at a height they have to jump over.
 
Do your rabbits have any way to get exercise? We bend a handful of hay in half and stick it through an opening in the cage ceiling, bent middle in first, so the ends are sticking up in the air. We also weave apple branches through the top wire. This makes the rabbits stand on hind legs to eat the hay and get the branches. Of course, we also keep their hay racks full - but our buck always eats his "ceiling" before hay from the rack, and all three always get their branches out. The does also usually eat the hay from the top, but occasionally they leave some. I'm sure there are other ways for exercise even if you're like us and keep them in their cages.

Also, putting shelves in might cause more movement.
 
Comet007":zkoncm1j said:
Do your rabbits have any way to get exercise? We bend a handful of hay in half and stick it through an opening in the cage ceiling, bent middle in first, so the ends are sticking up in the air. We also weave apple branches through the top wire. This makes the rabbits stand on hind legs to eat the hay and get the branches. Of course, we also keep their hay racks full - but our buck always eats his "ceiling" before hay from the rack, and all three always get their branches out. The does also usually eat the hay from the top, but occasionally they leave some. I'm sure there are other ways for exercise even if you're like us and keep them in their cages.

Also, putting shelves in might cause more movement.
Click to expand...

They haven't had any exercise all winter but since 3 days ago they have been getting it. A while ago my Dad built a massive grazing ark for my chickens (we stored 20 chickens in there at once) but we are now getting out of chickens so I am now putting the rabbits in ever day. Right now it is just one full pen and since I have 3 rabbits (max) in each cage ( only the meat rabbits, I keep my breeding males and females in separate cages) I put one cage of rabbits in per day.
 

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