Produce Scraps Regular Large Quantities

[mommaebear]

I have an arrangment with our local grocery store, all of their unsellable produce and scraps and they put in garbage cans that I provide. Every few days when the cans are full I go pick them up. Of course I go through every can, alot of the food has just tiny blemishes so I take out what is clean that we can use, and remove plastic, stickers, rotton/mouly food, and onions(and anything else they shouldn't be eating), wash what needs and go feed the rabbits. We are colony style, and have 2 buck pens outdoors, all large sized pens. I just dump an appropriate large pile, and leave it to them the eat as they please. They are provided hay, pellets, and grain, as well as thawed water once a day(Which is such hard work especially since they don't seem to drink it at all and prefer to eat the snow). There are bunnies and does of all ages, I know young bunnies shouldn't have alot of anything from the cabbage family, which there most definately is in the pile, but I haven't noticed any gassy problems yet and figure they or their body will learn either to not eat alot, or to adjust to deal. And it's not like giving a head of lettus to a rabbit who has only had pellets, these rabbits are used to it. There are some things that are not as prefered such as citrus fruits(which I use myself mostly for juice so there isn't much)but with it so cold here what they don't eat freezes, and on days they don't have scraps they will naw on the frozen stuff if it isn't too cold out, and a few seem to really enjoy them in moderation. I figured what ever is left come thaw time in April I will clean as it melts.

Anyways I'm just curious what others think about this, or any concerns there may be with this. I went back to the people I bought these rabbits as bunnies off of in the spring, and not even a year old my rabbits are atleast 3lbs bigger than his largest, and still a healthy lean, their whole structure is just scaled up.

 

[MaggieJ]

My main concern would be that if the vegetables and fruits freeze and then thaw they will spoil quite rapidly. I don't like giving my colony rabbits more fresh foods than they can clean up within 24 hours.

 

[mommaebear]

My main concern would be that if the vegetables and fruits freeze and then thaw they will spoil quite rapidly. I don't like giving my colony rabbits more fresh foods than they can clean up within 24 hours.

I don't think anything gets a chance to thaw right now, as soon as it softens, or is just down to ice crystals instead of a frozen solid chunk they are wearing it down as far as they can. But you are right during the warmer months I will have to ration it out accordingly alot better. Right now when there is just too much we put in the garage overnight so it doesn't freeze into a block outside, or settle into mush in the warm house.

 

[MaggieJ]

You have some interesting approaches to raising rabbits, Mommaebear, and I hope you will post updates letting us know how they work out.

 

[Shara]

I would be interested in hearing how it goes, too!

 

[mommaebear]

I think I will be posting a full thread regaurding my set up soon, though I am not sure where best to put it

 

[PulpFaction]

I never put a HUGE pile out, but I used to do this with the kitchen scraps from the cafe I worked at.

I had rabbits and chickens together in a large pen, the rabbits stuck with the veggies and fruits and the chickens loved grabbing the bred, cheeses, meats, etc. If i noticed things lingering around or if it was warmer and drawing flies, I would go out and rake up what hadn't been eaten and compost it. Worked great. Really cut my feed bill! We don't have very hot weather here, but it seemed like the rabbits really just stuck with the premium stuff and when things went south the chickens picked up what was left. Very few "leftovers".

Look forward to hearing more, Mommaebear! Sounds like we have similar husbandry practices.

 

[mommaebear]

Just an update
While I did it it worked great, some things wer left behind but with such a large colony it seems everyone got their individual tastes met including a doe who loved oranges. We had no problems with spoilage with it being winter, and I found that since they were allowed to select their own foods from a selection early on they were not gluttons about their treats and self regulated their intake. I moved away from this method due to travel costs to pick up and my concerns about chemicles/pesticides. Even with the varying ammount of certain produce in each load they all did very well.

 

[DanaYares]

Thanks for posting Mommaebear! We have a colony system too with three Does and 18 babies so far, and more to appear soon. We also give our rabbits lots of garden and kitchen scraps along with their pellets. I've never seen any loose poops and everyone is SUPER energetic and growing like crazy! We have to share our scraps between the rabbits and chickens, so they are always able to eat all the goodies before they get more.

Imagine, all the food and scraps other people throw away that could go to feeding rabbits or chickens, and then turn into more food for the people.

 

[curlysue]

My mom always fed her rabbits scraps from the garden and dandelions,plantains and other weeds.they were never fed pellets only grain and hay.i guess we were organic before organic was popular.

 

[Miss M]

That grocery store idea is wonderful!

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

The rule of thumb when dealing with grocery store-- Do NOT refuse anything-- take it all and sort it yourself-- and do NOT miss a pick up--You must be reliable disposal method or it will not work out well.

 

[DanaYares]

Has anyone had a bad experience feeding orange peels? I dropped one in the pen and Flopsy was on it in a flash. Seems a waste to compost them if it is not bad to eat (chickens could care less about them). Thanks

 

[MamaSheepdog]

My goats love orange peels, but I haven't fed any to the rabbits.