Put weight on a doe

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

I moved a mother from her 5 week old today. I noticed that she was to thin for my liking. She gets old fashion oats and boss one morning. the next morning she gets supplement pellets. that isnt enough for her. I have also given her straight alfalafa hay once a week then grassy hay rest of the time. I was going to start giving her some whole oats .. To try to bring her weight back up. Is that a good idea and how much should i give her or should i use rolled oats instead. I also have barely.<br /><br />__________ Fri Oct 05, 2012 5:11 pm __________<br /><br />Nobody knows here.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

How much are you feeding her now? Maybe free feed her. I don't think a rabbit can overeat on grains- mine get free fed when the kits are out of the nest.

 

[MaggieJ]

I'd give her the alfalfa hay more often and also feed her more oats (either kind) and a little more BOSS.

Last summer when our doe, Alice, was thin after back-to-back litters and then an abscess, we gave her an extra bunch of tonic plants each day as well: plantain, dandelion, sage, mint, clover, yarrow and willow. In addition we often gave her a piece of baked potato. I know a lot of people don't like feeding potatoes to their rabbits, but Alice is extremely fond of them and it helps to keep weight on her. They must be cooked.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

My house rabbit Hassenpfeffer loved baked potatoes! It was her favorite treat.

Hmmm- I wonder if I could bake about 30 of them at a time? Warm baked potato would be a nice treat for them on a cold winter day.

 

[MaggieJ]

Alice agrees with you. She much prefers them warm. I've even caught MidnightCoder warming a leftover potato for her.

Potatoes were commonly fed to rabbits in Britain during World War II when rationing was in effect. You could not get grain for rabbits, just a bit of wheat bran if you were registered as a producer. A lot of wartime rabbits were raised on potatoes, bran and weeds.

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=we ... Vw&cad=rja

 

[skysthelimit]

Alice agrees with you. She much prefers them warm. I've even caught MidnightCoder warming a leftover potato for her.

Potatoes were commonly fed to rabbits in Britain during World War II when rationing was in effect. You could not get grain for rabbits, just a bit of wheat bran if you were registered as a producer. A lot of wartime rabbits were raised on potatoes, bran and weeds.

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=we ... Vw&cad=rja

Interesting. Wonder if I should try it with my culls in the meat pen. All they eat are plants.

 

[garden lady]

Alice agrees with you. She much prefers them warm. I've even caught MidnightCoder warming a leftover potato for her.

Potatoes were commonly fed to rabbits in Britain during World War II when rationing was in effect. You could not get grain for rabbits, just a bit of wheat bran if you were registered as a producer. A lot of wartime rabbits were raised on potatoes, bran and weeds.

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=we ... Vw&cad=rja

I read through the article and have a question. I have been pulling grass and since it is colder I have noticed the stems looking brown. Should I cut the grass and leave any brown? They have been eating it, but kind of wondering if this is good. Would the brown be considered wilted? I will paste what the article said below.
All the weeds were fed as far as possible in a young condition before flowering.
Occasionally, if gathered after rain, they were spread out to dry off, but they were not
fed wilted.

 

[3mina]

The brown would be fibre, if they don't want it they won't eat it. It won't hurt them

 

[Cindi Davis]

I had not thought you could feed taters to rabbits hmmmmmmm will have to give it a try see what mine think of that. Thanks all<br /><br />__________ Sat Oct 06, 2012 8:02 am __________<br /><br />I do the same as MSD Free feed nusring does, hay daily grass when I think about it LOL sweet COB and some sunflower seed mixed once a week

 

[MaggieJ]

Potatoes are controversial as food for rabbits. The plant itself is toxic, as are any shoots or green spots on the tuber itself. The potatoes must be cooked.

I certainly am not suggesting we all rush off and add potatoes to our rabbits' ration. But I have seen no ill effects from giving a piece to the rabbits on occasion and they did seem to help Alice get back into good condition.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I used to feed mashed potatoes to my mice and rats. They loved them.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

I picked up some rolled oats. Everyone is getting some everynight. She was free feed. Right now she isnt as i dont want her to produce to much milk as i just took away from the babies. So she is limited to her food. But hay is unlimited ... I will give her more alfalafa hay than grass hay until she gains more weight. Then i am going to deworm everyone in a month time.

 

[Secuono]

Potatoes are controversial as food for rabbits. The plant itself is toxic, as are any shoots or green spots on the tuber itself. The potatoes must be cooked.

I certainly am not suggesting we all rush off and add potatoes to our rabbits' ration. But I have seen no ill effects from giving a piece to the rabbits on occasion and they did seem to help Alice get back into good condition.

Must always, 100%, no matter what be cooked, never raw? That sucks...I plan on growing a huge area of just potatoes, corn, cukes and tomatoes next year for all my critters. The pigs are loving what I have this year.

How is cooked so different from raw? Baked or boiled or it doesn't matter as long as it's soft? I really don't see people back in the day wasting time and energy to cook them...

 

[3mina]

CnB cooking changes the structure if the starches and proteins in food making it easier to utilize.
Back in the day they put a lot of effort into their stock since it was the only thing between them and starvation.