How to raise Rabbits when the lights go out

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

why? What's wrong with giving rabbit peanuts? it's not like I give them a handful, they get one or two perhaps once a week tops. they are a legume, not a nut (even if many classify them as a nut).

They could cause digestive issues, they have alfatoxin, and a lot of protein. (However you said only one or two so it's not that extreme)

 

[ladysown]

Being unsure what alfatoxins are I looked into them. They can be found in soil, any decaying matter, hay, and various staple food stuffs. if push came to shove and I had peanuts on had to feed my rabbits and it helped them as part of an overall diet... I'll feed them. Rabbits can eat so much more then we give them credit for I think. And it's hard to think beyond pellets, hay and green feed.

 

[Cindy in SD]

For insects , clean up in the fall by burning the residue, do not put plants left in the garden in your compost pile the reason being you give the bugs a place to winter , you want to burn the dead vines and bushes , anything that could carry eggs larvae or bugs

Interesting... I dump any remaining plant matter above ground in with the poultry. They eat what they want (esp bugs). Maybe they eat everything, eventually. At any rate it all disappears though some bits take longer than others.

 

[Cindy in SD]

Being unsure what alfatoxins are I looked into them. They can be found in soil, any decaying matter, hay, and various staple food stuffs. if push came to shove and I had peanuts on had to feed my rabbits and it helped them as part of an overall diet... I'll feed them. Rabbits can eat so much more then we give them credit for I think. And it's hard to think beyond pellets, hay and green feed.

I know that some (maybe all) legumes need roasting or boiling or fermenting, etc. in order for them to be edible. It's odd that one of our main staple foods has this characteristic, yet few people know it. We don't really need to know it I suppose, as the uncooked taste and texture is enough of a deterrent to keep us safe.

I tried to feed my poultry dried field peas but they wouldn't touch them. That's why I started researching. This doesn't apply to green beans or garden peas since they're eaten at an immature stage and they haven't developed the protective toxin. I know there are *some* mature legumes that can be eaten raw, but most can't or at best, shouldn't be.

 

[ladysown]

That's great to know. The peanuts my buns get are the plain roasted ones that have gone past the "before date" at the foodbank. I had a friend grow peanuts one year and she roasted them before eating.