Is it a good idea to feed show formula for rabbits living

[a7736100]

outdoors in winter so they'll have more protein to keep warm?

 

[akane]

I didn't find a few protein percentages important. Most of the time I could only get 16% rabbit pellets anyway and feed brand made a bigger difference. I know a few people have found higher protein useful for certain breeds or individual groups of rabbits but not only during winter. My veterinary classes were limited to large livestock but we were taught conditions above 0F or with good shelter rather than open pasture usually did not require increasing protein or calories much. It does spend a month or sometimes a bit more as subzero here but that's a pretty limited time to need to buy a different feed and rabbits often aren't bred in winter. If anything I fed lower protein but higher fat when we had lots of rabbits in the horse stable over winter. We alternated days of pellets with some days of straight oats. Oats are around 7% fat and 10-12% protein.