Laughing at myself reading your posts

[Dreamerz]

I can't help but laugh at myself as I have been reading this section of the forum. You guys are great all the hard work you put in to finding the best natural foods for your critters ... to the point where you get disappointed by mowing or you sneak on to other peoples property just to get the best weeds.

If you only knew (okay I will confess but don't tell anyone okay it's just between us) My yard is about an acre & it hasn't been mowed in over a year <ducking & hiding my face in shame> . So right outside my door is basicly a jungle, oh I think I forgot to mention that the 4 acres next to mine has never been built on or anything so that's basicly 5 acres of weeds ... excuse me critter food just sitting there. Now you may be thinking why am I wasting my time on the computer when I could be harvesting a ton of critter food for free (you know something like that has past through your mind ... admit it). Well the short easy answer to that is I'm plant stupid & can't figure out what any of the darn buggers are ... :lol: Yes, I have tried looking them up online with no luck.

If any of you are brave enough to look at any pictures & take any guesses feel free I'll post some in my album in the gallery section.

<sneaking off head held down in shame> Jane

 

[MaggieJ]

Jane, I'd be glad to look at pictures and try to ID the weeds for you. Since you are in Upstate New York, your weeds should be pretty much the same species as mine. Once you can identify a dozen or so common weeds with full confidence, you will find it suddenly gets much easier to learn some of the others. Right now you are seeing a field of weeds, but pretty soon you will see it as a wonderful bunny buffet. Remember to start slowly, just a few leaves per bunny per day, and then a few more and a few more. That will give you time to learn and the bunnies' GI systems time to develop the necessary flora to deal with the change in diet.

Some very easy to identify weeds are dandelion, red clover, white clover, common plantain, chicory and common mallow. Any of them familiar to you?

 

[Dreamerz]

Thanks !
With all the weeds in the yard there are suprisingly few dandelions, we do have a bunch of what I believe is clover. Anything other then that & I'm totally lost.

I think I just found out what one of my weeds are, I think I marked the picture as Lace looking flower. Well it looks just like the WILD CARROT
Daucus carota
at this site http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/singlerecord.asp?id=530

 

[MaggieJ]

There you go! If it is Wild Carrot/Queen Anne's lace, it is botanically identical to garden carrot, which has simply been selected for improvement over the centuries. It will smell like carrot when the foliage is bruised or broken. It is the right time of year for it to be in bloom, although some of the flowers will be past their prettiest.

All parts of the plant are safe for rabbits except the seeds. If some of the flower heads have dropped their petals and begun to curl, it is best to cut those off before giving the rest of the plant to the buns. Remember, though, that when you pull a plant out instead of just cutting it off, you may be damaging next year's supply. In addition, many plants will give you repeated harvests of new leaves if you just cut them off at soil level, leaving the roots intact.

Chicory (Cichorium intybus) is another easily identified plant that is in bloom in July and August. It has very pretty sky blue flowers on a weedy stalk. The leaves at the base look a lot like dandelion leaves, but are coarser. All parts of the chicory plant are edible for rabbits and even for humans. This is a very useful plant both as a food for rabbits and as a medicinal to prevent intestinal parasites. My rabbits eat it by the bucketful. Take a look in your fields and see if there is some there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicory

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

New York-- that means MAPLE leaves!!! DO NOT use the Norway, crimson, etc-- those are the 'p=urple' leaves but Acer Rubrum (red maple) has a green leaf with red stem, sugar maple, silver maple-- are edible. tips off rose bushes-especially the invasive multiflora rose, berry brambles,...Gosh, can i come over and shop in your yard?

 

[MaggieJ]

Just looked through the gallery pictures, Jane. What a jungle... I can see why you are having problems identifying the plants. I saw some good ones in there and will post comments directly to the images as soon as I have time. A little rushed in the mornings, because of all the critter chores, so perhaps this evening when things quiet down.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Ok-- quickly, I saw Plantain , clover, Multiflora rosa,(wild rose) a member of the poplar family (that long branch that came down) Perhaps some elderberries, goldenrod, queen Anns Lace (wild carrot) The plant with the weird 'Bud"-- get a picture when it opens-- it May be one of the native sunflowers! I did see some oxalis-(sorrel)in a background- DO NOT feed that!!!

 

[Dreamerz]

Thanks for all the help trying to figure my jungle out. The only thing I have let my younger buns eat from out there so far is the plant that I marked as all the critters like, but no I don't know what it is. I know it isn't going to hurt them because "the Snow family" (my EA Snowball, Blizzard & Avalanche) have been crazy for it for a lil over 7 yrs now.

What part of a wild rose bush do you feed the buns ? The Cherry tree that is going to be cut down, is the wood safe to give them to gnaw on ? So that long branch is poplar, I had no idea ... is it a safe chew toy ? The Maples that are pictured have red/green leaves, do they sound (or look if you peeked at the pic)edible ?

I'm sorry, I am probably driving you crazy with my questions & pictures.

Jane

 

[MaggieJ]

It's good you want to learn about this stuff. Poplar (the long branch) is gold for rabbits. The leaves are high in protein and most rabbits love them. They also dry well for winter. The rabbits will eat the twigs and clean off the bark from branches. Very, very good.

The plant you have been feeding is Common Plantain (Plantago major) and it is one of the best. It should put a "flower" stalk with seeds soon. The seeds can be used to start more plants for your buns. Can't have too much plantain!

So you have four to start off with: plantain, poplar, clover and Queen Anne's lace (wild carrot). Remember not to feed the flower heads of wild carrot once they curl up and begin to go to seed. Introduce new foods slowly and all will be well.

I'll get to the other plants when I can. Still crazy rushed here.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Thanks for all the help trying to figure my jungle out. The only thing I have let my younger buns eat from out there so far is the plant that I marked as all the critters like, but no I don't know what it is. I know it isn't going to hurt them because "the Snow family" (my EA Snowball, Blizzard & Avalanche) have been crazy for it for a lil over 7 yrs now.

What part of a wild rose bush do you feed the buns ? The Cherry tree that is going to be cut down, is the wood safe to give them to gnaw on ? So that long branch is poplar, I had no idea ... is it a safe chew toy ? The Maples that are pictured have red/green leaves, do they sound (or look if you peeked at the pic)edible ?

I'm sorry, I am probably driving you crazy with my questions & pictures.

Jane

Use the softer parts of the branches of the wild rose. Yes, the cherry can be used for chewing toys.
Maples-- IF the leaf is green (not including the ornamental Japanese maple), it is safe-- the tender end growth is what I feed--if the branchlet is green, it gets included in the trimming process. Mark your wild roses-- and when the rose hips ripen-- harvest and dry them for the winter. Be watchful, the wild birds do snag the rose hips faster than lightening.

 

[hoodat]

Probably the reason you are seeing few dandelions is that they don't like competition from tall weeds that shade them out. They do best in sunny areas with no tall weeds. That's why they love lawns.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Oh, I forgot-- those little things that look like tiny pines-- I am willing to bet, the area is very wet at times-- they look like Horsetails-- do not bother feeding them-- they are full of silica. Horsetails are a wetland indicator plant..

 

[Dreamerz]

Oh, I forgot-- those little things that look like tiny pines-- I am willing to bet, the area is very wet at times-- they look like Horsetails-- do not bother feeding them-- they are full of silica. Horsetails are a wetland indicator plant..

I think this is the first one you were off on, I looked at pictures of Horsetails & they don't match.
Thanks for trying !