Potatoes?
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Once or twice in winter I have given the buns leftover baked potato. They ate it but weren't wild about it. In wartime Britain, feeding potatoes and greens (weeds) was a make-do way of raising rabbits. This was pre-pellets and all grains were restricted because of the war effort. Small amounts of bran could be had for rabbits but that was all. So potatoes (cooked and dried off with bran) were very useful.
eco2pia
Well-known member
what do you mean "dried off"? As in the cooked potatoes were dehydrated, or just drained really well and mixed with the bran to make it more palatable? I'm very interested in "make do" feeding! 
I think they meant that the potatoes were well drained and then mixed with bran. Not really sure, eco2pia.
I agree with Brody... potatoes are not the best thing on a regular basis, although it is useful to know about "make-do" measures because one never knows when such information may be useful.
I should have stressed that during WW2, there were no rabbit pellets and grain was reserved for human use and especially for the war effort. Everything was rationed, so people were forced to use less-than-ideal means to raise necessary meat for their table. Rabbits could be raised and used for home consumption and were very important for that reason. "Butcher's meat" was strictly rationed.
There were a lot of studies done during that time. They found the addition of potatoes to the diet of mainly weeds made for a plumper rabbit on the table. Fryers fed greens alone were too lean for the tastes of the time, especially when one considers the other dietary restrictions due to rationing.
I agree with Brody... potatoes are not the best thing on a regular basis, although it is useful to know about "make-do" measures because one never knows when such information may be useful.
I should have stressed that during WW2, there were no rabbit pellets and grain was reserved for human use and especially for the war effort. Everything was rationed, so people were forced to use less-than-ideal means to raise necessary meat for their table. Rabbits could be raised and used for home consumption and were very important for that reason. "Butcher's meat" was strictly rationed.
There were a lot of studies done during that time. They found the addition of potatoes to the diet of mainly weeds made for a plumper rabbit on the table. Fryers fed greens alone were too lean for the tastes of the time, especially when one considers the other dietary restrictions due to rationing.
We never have any potatoes left over when I make them to feed to ANY critter.
eco2pia
Well-known member
LOL, that's true at my house too! Potatoes are THE staple here. I'd have to fight my husband for them if i wanted to feed them to the buns. But I do want to get a cheaper plan than pellets alone...These are livestock and they have to be economical or I might as well just buy chicken...I'm reading all I can.
Eco2pia, the grasses are definitely worth checking on. My rabbits are just FIENDS for the GREENS! The lady I got my does from does a 3 day rotation...day 1=hay; day 2=pellets; day 3=greens. Unlimited during the day, then that was removed and the next day's ration put in. Her Angoras are in excellent shape with glorious wool. Maggie's feeding goes further away from pellets. handfull of grains and loads of greens and hay. I've stayed with a mix of pellets and grains simply because for some reason the pellets are less expensive than the grains I suspect it's a supply problem here. Most farmers grow soy and corn here, and the wheat and barley are shipped in.
I suspect it's a supply problem here. Most farmers grow soy and corn here, and the wheat and barley are shipped in.
Just to clarify Ann's last post, if you are planning not to feed pellets at all, the hay needs to have a good legume content - alfalfa or clover usually - or you need to look for other sources of protein for your rabbits. Unfortunately, the usual other sources (roasted soybeans, cottonseed or peanut meal etc.) are not ones easily digested by rabbits and I don't recommend them. Rabbits are herbivores... give them what they would naturally eat and they should do well.
I like Ann Kanable's book Raising Rabbits for information on natural feeding. (Not to be confused with the Storey book with the same title by Bob Bennett). You can usually find used copies on www.abebooks.com for a dollar or two. Ask about shipping charges before buying... They vary widely.
I like Ann Kanable's book Raising Rabbits for information on natural feeding. (Not to be confused with the Storey book with the same title by Bob Bennett). You can usually find used copies on www.abebooks.com for a dollar or two. Ask about shipping charges before buying... They vary widely.
Potatoes (as well as tomatoes) belong to the family "Solanaceae" AKA the nightshade family. While the tubers of the first (unless green skinned) and the fruits of the latter are perfectly safe, the foliage of either contains alkaloids which are poisonous and may cause gastric distress and even death to both people and animals if consumed in sufficient quantity. The warnings which one sees posted is for the foliage only, which includes green buds or sprouts on the potato tuber. I don't know how much quality the starch of a potato is worth as a food stuff, but it is perfectly safe toxicity wise.
Thanks for the reminder about the dangers associated with tomato and potato plants, AVD. You are absolutely correct.
eco2pia
Well-known member
alfalfa and grass hay are easy to get here, but I was being given the impression that somehow they weren't enough on their own...grain of a single type (ie whole oats) costs less than pellets by about a third. plus I would assume I would be feeding less of it...but I have limited storage space and mixing my own grains is just silly if I can arrive at something more reasonable...Maybe I need to start a new thread here, I seem to be pretty off topic! follow me to Meat rabbit catagory?
eco2pia":1qhw1m60 said:
Yes, we're off topic for potatoes, but I'll answer briefly here. Alfalfa and grass hay are the foundation of natural feeding... but they are not enough on their own. Adding a small quantity of grain helps... I've been feeding wheat lately. Sometimes I feed a mix of wheat, oats, barley. Grain goes much further than pellets because you feed so little - a quarter to a third of a cup. The rabbits also need fresh foods... mine get mainly weeds and twigs/leaves from safe trees. Off to the Meat Rabbit forum to see your post there.
Ground up alfalfa can be mixed with corn. Rabbits will eat it but it is great for chickens.
Short Story:
Our goats were wasting a lot of stems and some of the small pieces eating from their hay rack. About 2 months ago started putting the hay in tubs. From our 4 goats we get about a #10 can (like a large coffee can) packed full of ground up clover or alfalfa -- what ever we are using per day.
I spread the tub contents through a box with 1/4 inch hardware cloth that was made to filter corn for the corn burner. The screening box works great. I dump the tub contents and rub with one hand for about 1 minutes worth of work I get free protein supplement for my chickens. So for 5 lbs of corn I get double the volume of feed. The chickens get this mixed 50/50 with cracked corn and I figure it works out to about a 16% protein ration. I have given it to the rabbits too but I think they enjoy the hay as hay.
The leftover stems get used for bedding.
What a bargain!
Short Story:
Our goats were wasting a lot of stems and some of the small pieces eating from their hay rack. About 2 months ago started putting the hay in tubs. From our 4 goats we get about a #10 can (like a large coffee can) packed full of ground up clover or alfalfa -- what ever we are using per day.
I spread the tub contents through a box with 1/4 inch hardware cloth that was made to filter corn for the corn burner. The screening box works great. I dump the tub contents and rub with one hand for about 1 minutes worth of work I get free protein supplement for my chickens. So for 5 lbs of corn I get double the volume of feed. The chickens get this mixed 50/50 with cracked corn and I figure it works out to about a 16% protein ration. I have given it to the rabbits too but I think they enjoy the hay as hay.
The leftover stems get used for bedding.
What a bargain!
mommaebear
Well-known member
My father in New Brunswick canada, has fed potatoes for decades as a staple to all his animals, rabbits, pigs, cows, poultry, they have other feeds available as staple as well, but chored out there include dumping 5gl buckets of potatoes in the colonies evey few days, he has stalls filled with potatoes because out there they are cheaper than dirt.
Shara
Well-known member
raw potatoes? that would be cool.
The toxicity in a potato is highly variable even between crops much less different varieties or from very different locations so one person can feed potato for years and be fine while another has issues feeding even a small amount. Personally after having researched it I will rarely feed potato to anything and I never feed the skin green or otherwise. In an emergency type situation or major feed shortage it would be a different story but I don't find the health risks to be worth the slight cost savings. It would cost me far more to replace or treat an ill rabbit than throwing away a potato.
I agree with Akane on the subject of raw potatoes... not worth the risk. Potatoes are not so cheap anyway... far better to feed a good grain like wheat, oats or barley for that part of their diet. As an emergency ration, cooked potato could be used, but I would not feed it as a regular part of their ration. Very occasionally, I have given the buns a leftover baked potato as a change from their regular feed.
mommaebear
Well-known member
shara- Yes raw. They always have hay, grain, pellets, and potatoes, and eat ALOT of the potatoes. One year he fed his cattle from a mountain of mashed potatoes, huge, we needed 3 huge tarps to cover it that winter, and we would have to shovel it into tubs to take to the barn right across the street. Out In NewBrunswick Potatoes are so cheap they buy them by th trailer load and store them in stalls to shovel out as needed. But NewBrunswick is a potatoe province.
He also has arrangements with all the local grocery stores for their scrap produce and backery goods, and as a result their family colony when supplmented with family grown and harvested hay and potaoes, are mostly fed for free, and keeping landfills less full They have been doing it for generations on the same farm, and have grown my families homesteads around it.
He also has arrangements with all the local grocery stores for their scrap produce and backery goods, and as a result their family colony when supplmented with family grown and harvested hay and potaoes, are mostly fed for free, and keeping landfills less full
They have been doing it for generations on the same farm, and have grown my families homesteads around it.
Tom in Kingman
Active member
Got a newby question . I am very interested in finding alternates to pellets at some time . Either as a less costly feed or as the only available feed . Hence my question . I looked a some photos and noticed that the hay was still in lengths of several inches . That allows it to be pushed around and eventually wasted . I have seen in office enviornments a useful tool . It is used to trim paper or crop printed photos etc. . It has a large handle on the right side that stays up until you bring it down along a straight "edge" for lack of a better word . Soooo if you had one of these couldn't you chop those lengths down to 1/4 inch or so ? This would probably fit right into their mouths with nowhere to go other than down their throats after a bit of chewing .It could be mixed with all the other good stuff . Since I have access to unlimited amounts of goat and horse manure the compost pile is already spoken for so I don't need it for a "sloppy eating habit" back up. I want them to eat what I give them so as to cut down on the "baby sitting" them .
