How to introduce fodder?

[mwtrees]

I see people with alpacas just taking the hay and giving out the fodder one day. Can we do the same with rabbits? I have about ready to harvest my first 2 biscuits and not sure how to start off....

What supplements do you also give?

 

[mystang89]

When I switched mine from pellets to fodder/hay I did it slowly. For the first week or so I put a bit of fodder in the cage, not much, just something to nibble on along with the normal amount of pellets. After that I started steadily decreasing the amount of pellets they received and increasing the amount of fodder they received till they got the full 5% body weight of fodder.

I just didn't want to take the chance of them getting poopy butt, can't remember what the name of the condition is, something like enteritis or something like that. Someone else smarter than me will know.

 

[MaggieJ]

Gradual change is always safer with rabbits. I'd do exactly what Mystang has done, including making hay available in addition to the fodder.

 

[Happy]

enteritis

This is what it's called in humans. It literally means "inflammation of the intestines". In humans it's often prefaced by a descriptor to differentiate between the causal pathologies of the enteritis.

 

[mwtrees]

Rabbits that are getting fodder are getting about 1/2 1/2 right now. Still with pellets but with a chunk of fodder in there too. Hope to get my new trays soon and get something set up in the barn. This growing in my kitchen is getting old lol

 

[Frecs]

This growing in my kitchen is getting old lol

Yeah...mother kicked my fodder project out of the house. She didn't like the smell of sprouting wheat. The benefit for me is that it is much easier to rinse with a hose than in the kitchen sink.