Organic food for meat rabbits

[Starchild]

After a dozen phone calls I finally got hold of organic hay, but I still can't find organic pellets. The farmer I bought the hay from feed his rabbits organic cow pellets and said it didn't make any difference.

The ingredients and ratios are more or less the same. Like protein or fat being of by 1-2%, or magnesium being of by 0.25mg.
Does it really make -that much- of a difference for the rabbits, or is this feed ok to use?

Is there any kind of grain feed I can give them? Corn is not an option in Norway.

I thought rabbits should live mainly of hay, with pellets only as a supplement. But my rabbits are -crazy- about pellets. They even eat pellets rather than vegetables..
Are all rabbits like this?

From what I've read I should give each rabbit (dwars/mini) around 1dl and 0.5dl for 6-8 week old babies. But when I first start poring, they always get a little extra, so they shouldnt be starving when they also have all the hay they want?


Can I feed them sprouts like alfalfa, lentils, buckwheat, sunflower.. maybe not mungbeans, as its a bean? This would be an easy way of keeping a supply of fresh greens in the winter. Maybe not in exess, but let say a cup or two per rabbit.
Wheatgrass is even easier to grow. Would this be a good feed? I know to much wheatgrass juice has powerful medicinal properties and is very strong on the human stomach, but we are not grass eaters after all..

I already have a dedicated room for sprouting food for myself, so it wouldn't be much trouble expanding my operation for the rabbits.

 

[MaggieJ]

I agree that rabbits should eat mainly hay. You can supplement this with the cow pellets (since you already know the farmer uses them without problems) or with whole grains. Corn is not the best anyway... Whole wheat, barley or oats are much better.

You can feed sprouts to the rabbits, but I would avoid bean sprouts of any kind. Beans are not good for rabbits. I'm not sure about lentils either. Alfalfa, buckwheat and sunflower are all fine and wheat grass is wonderful for rabbits, especially in winter when you cannot gather weeds for them.

We have a whole forum dedicated to Natural Feeding for Rabbits. You'll find a lot more information there.

Remember to introduce new foods slowly. Rabbits have a delicate digestive system and can easily become bloated on unfamiliar foods. So go slowly and you should have no problems.

Edited to add:
It is important that rabbits not being fed commercial feed be given a trace mineral salt block to prevent deficiencies. Hay, grain and greens is a viable diet, but they do then need the access to minerals and salt. The wild rabbits here can often be seen in our driveway getting the traces of road salt from the gravel.

 

[Starchild]

How about putting some big chunks of himalaya salt in there?

How much grain should I feed per rabbit, as hay should be the main source?

 

[MaggieJ]

I try to feed about 1/4 cup per rabbit. Some may need a tad more... about 1/3 cup. Nursing does and kits get free choice feed.

I have no idea what himalaya salt is. You want a trace mineral salt block for general livestock or for horses.

 

[Starchild]

How much hay should a rabbit the size of a football eat every day? Seems like mine just chew some hay out of boredome waiting for more pellets.. lentils sprout seems ok.. they barely touch the alfalfa.. I'll try clover next time. But they are CRAZY! about pea greens. Even the grown ones might eat from my hand, but especially the yong ones.. climbing over each other to get to my hand. =o)
And I just found out that the peas will grow new shoots after a week of so. Probably not as nutritionus, but more then good enough for rabbits when it's so nutritious to begin with.. maybe even a third harvest.

I haven't grown any wheatgrass lately, but if they like that it's no problem to keep a steady supply of fresh food all winter. Wheatgrass is the easiest thing to grow, exept for pea shoots, which they LOVE!
Both can be harvested at least 2 times, maybe 3, maybe 4 if I give them kelp. I also just found out about aquaponics, and that opens up a whole new world to feeding myself and my animals..

Speaking of aquaponics. If I only have a small system with fishes to small for humans, could tiny fishes be used as chicken feed?<br /><br />__________ Tue Nov 22, 2011 12:46 pm __________<br /><br />*bump*

How much hay should a rabbit the size of a football eat?

 

[MaggieJ]

I feed hay free choice. Grass hay will not make them fat. Alfalfa hay would if they were also eating pellets, but not as part of a diet where commercial feed is not being used.

 

[Starchild]

Free choice, of course.. but how much do they eat? Mine seems to only eat "a handful" every day, at most, and sometimes some of them will barely eat hay at all. In the beginning I gave them 1dl, 0.4 cup of pellets.
But whem the rabbits seemed CRAZY about pellets I thought maybe I wasn't feeding them enough, so I gave them even more... so.. maybe it's not such a wonder why some of them wont eat hay.. and young ones grow as hell.. I've been giving them about half..

 

[fuzzy9]

If I'm feeding pellets, is it ok to replace grassy hay, with alfalfa hay, for a couple rabbits that need a little extra help weight wise? They are a bit more thin than I'd like. I'm supplementing with oatmeal, but it's not working like I'd like.

 

[MaggieJ]

If I'm feeding pellets, is it ok to replace grassy hay, with alfalfa hay, for a couple rabbits that need a little extra help weight wise? They are a bit more thin than I'd like. I'm supplementing with oatmeal, but it's not working like I'd like.

Sure it's okay, Geri. You might want to continue to give those couple of rabbits a bit of oatmeal or whole grain as well, or some BOSS. Working does in particular can manage a slightly richer diet... Nursing takes a lot out of them, some more than others.

 

[fuzzy9]

Thanks, Maggie! :goodjob: